I attended the School's Matinee of this production, I'll be seeing it again in a few weeks, so some leeway can perhaps be given to the singers (although why should they be giving anything other than their best to a filled auditorium of I suspect largely first time Operagoers) but regardless, barring a miracle, I can't imagine Deborah Voigt's iffy upper register getting any better. It's a pity because this is otherwise a very solid production with some very decent singing.
The piece divides into two very different halves and here the first is served exceptionally. The split-level set is perhaps a touch excessive but then I suspect that's the point. Highlighting the situation that we find our various characters in, the full cast (surprisingly the Dryads as well) mill about below the grand (empty) hallway above. Masterful characterisation from all. Thomas Allen is perfectly at home as the Music Master and he's so comfortable with the vocals that (as always) he's impossibly pleasant to listen to. Kristine Jepson might be getting on a little to be playing the young, naive composer but it hardly matters. She drives the first act along, stealing the stage from all others. Another singer who sounds like she was born singing the role, a constant delight, and a surprisingly emotive one at that. Voigt is strongest here boldly portraying the Prima Donna, but then she doesn't do much singing so that might be why. I worried at this point that Gillian Keith wasn't going to manage her Act II fireworks, she just wasn't loud enough, almost silent in the ensembles. She took most of her clothes off admirably (It perked up the young audience more than a little), and played the coquette with great verve. In the tiny role of the Wigmaker, Jacques Imbrailo was hysterical, a stereotype he might have been, but a very funny one.
Act II is staged with much less panache and suffered without a potent Ariadne. The staging seemed to bare no resemblance to the first Act (requiring a forty minute interval) which was a pity since the first was so brilliant. This is a more muddled affair, no specific period or setting. To be honest I was confused by the whole thing. Keith however had no problems with her difficult coloratura, sounding fantastic, and I don't think she missed any notes out either. A really impressive performance that won the entire audience over, albeit with less volume than I would have liked. With the departure of Keith and her entourage, a split bunch with Markus Werba and Jeremy White superb; Ji-Min Park and Haoyin Xue much less so, the final third of the piece dragged. Robert Dean Smith is a potent Heldentenor but he had a pretty miserable Ariadne to play against. He handled the off-stage singing particularly well though. In Voigt we have a disappointing Ariadne. She's robust enough in the mid range but stretching to the top it all just sounds hollow. Ignoring her subpar vocals, it wasn't that interesting a performance either. I never really got a sense of who Ariadne is, and if there's meant to be any remnant of the Prima Donna creeping through that definately didn't appear.
Despite my lack of enthiusiam over Act II, the staging and performances of Act I are worth the price of entry alone. The orchestra are on sterling form under Mark Elder and Jepson and Allen are absolute magic. Perhaps this was just a jittery afternoon for Voigt and by opening night she'll be fantastic but I doubt it. With a stronger performance from her this could really be quite an evening, sadly without, it really isn't.
The piece divides into two very different halves and here the first is served exceptionally. The split-level set is perhaps a touch excessive but then I suspect that's the point. Highlighting the situation that we find our various characters in, the full cast (surprisingly the Dryads as well) mill about below the grand (empty) hallway above. Masterful characterisation from all. Thomas Allen is perfectly at home as the Music Master and he's so comfortable with the vocals that (as always) he's impossibly pleasant to listen to. Kristine Jepson might be getting on a little to be playing the young, naive composer but it hardly matters. She drives the first act along, stealing the stage from all others. Another singer who sounds like she was born singing the role, a constant delight, and a surprisingly emotive one at that. Voigt is strongest here boldly portraying the Prima Donna, but then she doesn't do much singing so that might be why. I worried at this point that Gillian Keith wasn't going to manage her Act II fireworks, she just wasn't loud enough, almost silent in the ensembles. She took most of her clothes off admirably (It perked up the young audience more than a little), and played the coquette with great verve. In the tiny role of the Wigmaker, Jacques Imbrailo was hysterical, a stereotype he might have been, but a very funny one.
Act II is staged with much less panache and suffered without a potent Ariadne. The staging seemed to bare no resemblance to the first Act (requiring a forty minute interval) which was a pity since the first was so brilliant. This is a more muddled affair, no specific period or setting. To be honest I was confused by the whole thing. Keith however had no problems with her difficult coloratura, sounding fantastic, and I don't think she missed any notes out either. A really impressive performance that won the entire audience over, albeit with less volume than I would have liked. With the departure of Keith and her entourage, a split bunch with Markus Werba and Jeremy White superb; Ji-Min Park and Haoyin Xue much less so, the final third of the piece dragged. Robert Dean Smith is a potent Heldentenor but he had a pretty miserable Ariadne to play against. He handled the off-stage singing particularly well though. In Voigt we have a disappointing Ariadne. She's robust enough in the mid range but stretching to the top it all just sounds hollow. Ignoring her subpar vocals, it wasn't that interesting a performance either. I never really got a sense of who Ariadne is, and if there's meant to be any remnant of the Prima Donna creeping through that definately didn't appear.
Despite my lack of enthiusiam over Act II, the staging and performances of Act I are worth the price of entry alone. The orchestra are on sterling form under Mark Elder and Jepson and Allen are absolute magic. Perhaps this was just a jittery afternoon for Voigt and by opening night she'll be fantastic but I doubt it. With a stronger performance from her this could really be quite an evening, sadly without, it really isn't.
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