Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- Moses in Egypt , Wales Millennium centre , October 5, 2014 |
Just when it seemed this company was sinking under theatrical excess along comes a more restrained, highly effective, clear rather than over fussy new production to restore our faith in WNO under the control of David Pountney.The first night show was preceded by the announcement of the 2015-16 season. While including some new innovative works, is a far more audience-friendly repertoire with several choices that I would swear demonstrates that the programming team can read my mind! But back to this awesome Moses, it is sumptuously sung, intelligently staged, and bathed in gorgeous orchestral playing under the baton of Carlo Rizzi who has been the cornerstone of this season when there have been rather more rocky contributions from elsewhere. After some lacklustre shows and pretty dire production concepts, it was almost if company boss David Pountney was saying to his critics “Got you, I really can do it”. This is a reassuring revelation not only of what we had hoped for from Pountney as artistic director-house producer; the gift of an infrequently performed Rossini work in a gripping piece of music theatre with not one but two fabulous female singers and a uniformly excellent male cast. The work is often seen as more an oratorio than an opera and when Pountney just allowed his singers to stand and sing, including wonderfully in the pitch black of the plague of darkness, the effect was as magical as when given stage directions. Ironically, rather than wanting to close my eyes as has been the case with some recent productions, I kept them wide opened for this spellbinding sensation. Pountney is not always a master of choreographing the chorus and there are a lot of hands in air or out in front (somewhat zombie-like) or holding sides of head and marching in and out. But this mirrored the starkness of the look of the work, a blue wall for the Hebrews (also dressed in blue and green including makeup) - which at times was prayed at as with the Wailing Wall - and a red wall for the Egyptians (similarly coloured red and ochre). This really was a case of two tribes divided and unable to reconcile. The end was rather trite as the two sides came together, particularly as when I switched on my mobile at the end another hostage had been executed in Iraq. The human element of the story is the well-used convention of lovers from across that divide (think Aida but with Biblical plagues), Osiride, Prince of Egypt and Hebrew girl Elcia. This allows for exquisite Rossini coloratura to temper the monumental chorus scenes. The music has echoes of other Rossini compositions plus hints of earlier works by others and also foretells musical devices to follow and all surprisingly enthralling. Designer Raimund Bauer’s set is just that, the two walls are spun round to reveal they are facades, yet facades that divide peoples, and while the parting of the Red Sea is a bit of a damp squib with a big blue wavy flag, the use of lighting by Fabrice Kebour is excellent for other pivotal apocalyptic moments. No need to say much about Marie-Jeanne Lecca’s costumes. Hopefully like the sets they didn’t impact the budget too much. Claire Booth’s Elcia and Christine Rice’s Amaltea steal the show and while Miklós Sebestyén is strong in the role of Moses the women are the powerhouses of this cast. David Alegret sweeps around the stage but is rather one dimensional as Osiride, not something you can say about his vocal performance and Andrew Foster-Williams is a more rounded interpretation of Pharaoh if a little zippy up and down the bleachers and on the table that divides the two rival parties. Nicky Spence is powerful as Mambre while Barry Banks is on fine form as Aronne. Further performances at WMC, October 5; Venue Cymru, Llandudno, October 24 and touring England. |
Reviewed by: Mike Smith |
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