Riverside Opera Company
Conductor
Simon Toyne
Director
Richard Gregson
Designer
Cameron Lawrence
Cast for the
reviewed
performances:
Cavalleria
Rusticana
Santuzza
Helen Hardwick
Turiddu
Graham Webber
Alfio
Paul Sheehan
Lucia
Annette Dumville
Lola
Debbie Cottrell
I Pagliacci
Nedda/
Columbine
Bernadette Woods
Canio/
Pagliacco
David March
Tonio/Taddeo
Tim Baldwin
Silvio
Oliver Gibbs
Beppe/
Harlequin
Randy Nichol
Villager
Daniel Terry
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Cavalleria Rusticana
by Pietro Mascagni
I Pagliacci
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Richmond Theatre
26 February - 2 March 2002
There can be few cities in the world where, in the space of a week, five separate operatic productions are on offer. This is how it is in London now. In addition to the grand events at the Royal Opera House and the ENO there is Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall, contemporary opera at the Bridewell Theatre, and Riverside Opera's "Cav and Pag" on Richmond Green. Black-tied visitors to Richmond from the boxes at Covent Garden will find themselves having to make conscious adjustments to Riverside's two-thirds to one-third mixture of amateur and professional, and to the very uneven quality of playing in the orchestra and singing even among the leads; but enthusiasm and endeavour make up for it all, and the mere existence of Riverside Opera invites high applause.
Much is owed to the musical direction of Simon Toyne, whose intelligent and perceptive work on the conductor's stand is what nearly produces a silk purse out of the forces at his disposal. In Cavalleria Rusticana the full-bodied, convincing and accurate singing of Helen Hardwick is by far the best feature, seconded by a vigorous Paul Sheehan as Alfio. In I Pagliacci there are two genuinely good voices – Bernadette Woods as Nedda, who in addition can act, and above all Tim Baldwin, who has a fine mahogany baritone which preserves its force across its range.
When operatic works are performed by great international stars and orchestras, their underlying faults, if they have them, are masked by the sheer professionalism of the performance and its accompanying production values. It is interesting therefore to see an opera having to rely more than it usually does on its performance-independent internal merits. One thing becomes clear in the case of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci; that the latter is far the better work, with a deeper, more truthful, more carefully-wrought dramatic power, whose music is capable of thrilling and stirring to the very core with its unvarnished exploration of jealousy and pain. The celebrated aria in which Canio/Pagliacco dresses in his clowning gear – "vesti la giubba", "put on the motley" – is one of the sharpest emotional moments in all opera, when sung by a tenor of exquisite abilities. Mascagni, by contrast, pours most of his emotion into his long overture and orchestral interludes, which are beautiful and would heighten the same theme of jealousy and revenge had he given Turiddu, Alfio and Lola anything like the thought he bestowed on Santuzza's part. Leoncavallo has the better-organised libretto, indeed an artful one, which well exploits its device of the play-within-the-play. Tonio's desire for revenge after being spurned by Nedda is better built than the Cavalleria Rusticana parallel, which has Santuzza rather suddenly blurting-out to Alfio that Lola is being unfaithful to him with Turiddu – not a motiveless act, but a puzzling one given that she had shortly before being trying to protect Turiddu from the danger that would follow if Alfio found out.
Above the proscenium arch of the Richmond Theatre is the legend, "To wake the soul with tender strokes of art." Riverside Opera is a long way from Covent Garden, literally and figuratively; but it woke the soul last night, and that is the main thing.
AC Grayling
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