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Tchaikovsky Iolanta and Puccini Gianni Schicchi Double Bill – Royal Academy Opera,
5th and 7th March 2007
Puccini – Gianni Schicchi
Royal Academy Opera's matched pair of Tchaikovsky and Puccini one-acters was a great success, underpinned, under Steuart Bedford's direction, by some of the best and most idiomatic romantic orchestral playing I have heard in student opera. Iolanta's first scene is one of the most beautiful in all Tchaikovsky, and the story as it unfolded was graced with some fine singing by a cast (one of two) directed tastefully by Orlan Phelan. This month, RAM had the upper hand over the usually excellent GSMD, whose Figaro was sadly misconceived. They had mounted an unforgettable poetic Iolanta in 2001 but, so far as memory can be trusted, the RAM singing and orchestral playing was better this time round. Super-titles, not yet ubiquitous in 2001, made the metaphorical tale of probable paternal abuse, with denial characterised as 'blindness', comprehensible in modern terms - (the screen was too high above the stage for the front rows). RAM’s choice of combination provides an interesting synergy. Both operas featured a daughter The prison within which Iolanta, with three 'nurses', was 'protected' from the wicked world outside was depicted by Leslie Travers as surrounded by a ring of flowers, and she was eventually 'cured' by psychological intervention... Leslie Travers’ designs use lengths of scarlet ribbon as a visual link between the two pieces. They form a warning “keep out” barrier to the circular magic garden in which Iolanta is virtually imprisoned, and repeated on her costume, as though physically restraining her. Orpha Phelan’s direction allowed the fairy tale nature of the story to unfold quite simply, though a deeper reading was there for the seeking; it is Tchaikovsky’s lyrical music that really makes this opera such a jewel.
She avoided the excesses which undermined Figaro at the Academy's easterly neighbour. The 'grieving' family members were carefully characterised and moved around smoothly in complicated patterns, but without jeopardising their ability to make their marks as singers. Singers Both operas involve a large number of roles and it is a real tribute to the strength of RAM’s Opera Course that they were able to double cast throughout.
Serena Fenwick and Peter Grahame Woolf
Photo credits Chris Christodoulou. |
and a father. The Princess Iolanta's over-solicitous and sinister father controls his blind daughter’s environment, and in Schicchi the pretty daughter coaxes her father into the plot, achieving her own 'happy ending'.
