At Music Theatre Wales |
| Music Theatre Wales- The Piano Tuner , Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House , October 12, 2004 |
| This review first appeared in the Western Mail... TAKE Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days and you have, well, a feel for Music Theatre Wales’ The Piano Tuner. This new opera by Nigel Osborne and Amanda Holden is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Daniel Mason and it does capture some of the flavour of the work as it rattles through the plot. This co-commission, between the Royal Opera House and its associate company Music Theatre Wales, is set in the times of Burmese colonial wars of the 1880s. Powerfully sung if a little too much of the wide-eyed naïve innocent by Giles Davies, the piano tuner Edgar Drake is sent by the army to travel to a Burmese outpost to repair an Erard grand piano. The secret jungle outpost is run by Dr Anthony Carroll, richly sung by Steven Gallop who manages to convey some of the intrigue and depth of this maverick character. Carroll runs a fortified hospital in the jungle and is supposed to be subjugating the princes of the Shan provinces and suppressing bandits using the unconventional power of Bach and Schubert – thus the piano. Drake is both seduced by Carroll, a Renaissance man, lover of botany, poetry and music, and, with wifey back in London, by his nurse Khin Myo. The two female roles are beautifully sung and acted by Emily Bauer-Jones and Donna Bateman. The set worked well with the ensemble placed in a triangular opening on the stage, reminiscent of an open grand piano with its strings running from ceiling to floor and a keyboard-like walkway at the rear for characters to promenade. Musically the work came into its own in the second act with the interesting fusion of classical and modern western composition and oriental music. Deftly handled by conductor Michael Rafferty, Osborne’s score combined the 11-person ensemble and singer/musicians Ratchavit Musikarun and Dusadee Swangviboonpong in a mesmerizing and fascinating way. Sadly the Prelude and first act form a largely unrewarding romp as we race from the scene-setting in London, boys-own adventures on the voyage and the arrival in Burma (cue Road to Mandalay. However, the second act, set in the remote Burmese jungle, slows down enabling the creation of atmosphere, a sense of the issues that the book embraces and some empathy for the characters. With a small ensemble cast is it inevitable singers have to take several roles but at times it smacks of a race through great granny’s Victorian dressing up box with Lynton Black and Gwion Thomas sharing 11 roles. Aberystwyth Arts Centre, October 12; Clwyd-Theatr-Clywd, November 14; New Theatre, Cardiff, November 21. |
Reviewed by: Mike Smith |
This review has been read 2091 times There are 24 other reviews of productions with this title in our database:
|
