Tag: Chris Charlton-Mathews

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on York Opera in The Beggar’s Opera, The Citadel, York, October 23 to 25

Adrian Cook’s Peachum and Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera. All pictures: David Kessel

YORK Opera is back with a spring in its step. John Gay’s ballad opera of 1728, now nearing its 300th anniversary, was given lively and sometimes sparkling treatment by its director, Chris Charlton-Matthews, offering the company an opportunity to show its strength in depth.

The choice of venue, The Citadel in Gillygate, York was not an easy option. With the audience seated on three sides, mostly at tables in cabaret style, the performance was virtually in the round. This meant that much of the dialogue came and went, depending on where the performers were facing and, as so often with singers of all shades, words were clearer in song than in speech.

The production firmly reminded us of the wealth of our musical heritage, thanks to the composer Johann Pepusch – Berlin-born but London-based for more than 50 years – who gathered together its 69 songs mainly from British ballads, alongside several by living composers including Purcell.

This production gained immensely from its string quartet, oboe (Alex Nightingale) and harpsichord (Tim Tozer), conducted by John Atkin, who delivered a consistently vivid underlay.

Mark Simmonds’s Macheath: “Every inch the dashing womaniser” in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera

At the head of proceedings was Adrian Cook’s determined, ruthless Peachum, who was the undoubted mayor of this unruly parish, gamely supported by Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum and Hamish Brown’s Filch.

Alexandra Mather as their faux-naive daughter Polly and Sophie Horrocks as the more streetwise Lucy Lockit – rivals for the love of highwayman Macheath – were well contrasted, while Mark Simmonds was every inch the dashing womaniser they pursued.

There was a notable contribution, too, from Anthony Gardner’s gaoler Lockit – a David Jason look-alike – whose dialogues with Peachum were outstanding. The chorus was full-throated rather than subtle, but cameos from chorus members added considerable colour and kept up momentum.

Alexandra Mather’s faux-naive Polly Peachum

Even so, the performance lasted three hours and would have been punchier with half an hour excised.

The props by Teresa Carr and Jane Carr – a bar for the tavern, a desk for Peachum’s ‘office’ and a high trellis for the bars of Newgate prison – were more than enough to set the scenes, and Jane Woolgar’s choreography was consistently appealing.

The decision to dress the cast in costumes of every era (by the ever-imaginative Maggie Soper), to illustrate the maxim that the poor are always with us, was understandable but confusing.

The jollity of the proceedings was anyway inevitably at odds with the poverty-riddled story. The prologue and epilogue by the Beggar himself, Ian Thomson Smith, ensured a firm start and a happy ending.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on York Opera in The Elixir Of Love, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, May 18 to 20

Hamish Brown as Nemorino and Ian Thompson-Smith as Dr Dulcamara in York Opera’s The Elixir Of Love

WITH spring in the air, a young man’s thoughts turn to love. Nemorino is the love-lorn peasant in Donizetti’s melodramma giocoso – let’s call it a witty farce – and the course of his true love is bound to run less than smoothly. So he looks to a love potion to fix his problems and finds himself in even deeper water.

That is the essence of Romani’s libretto, sung here in Ruth and Thomas Martin’s English translation. York Opera’s new production, in the hands of Chris Charlton-Mathews, making his directing debut with the company, provides just the tonic we all need as the sap begins to rise again post-pandemic.

The focus here is the con artist who supplies the potion (actually alcohol), the travelling medicine-man Dulcamara. Ian Thompson-Smith makes the role his own. Smarmy and smug, self-assured and spivvy, he is just what this production needs, given that it has been updated to the 1940s, with Italy desperately seeking to rehabilitate itself after the war. His baritone is firm, his diction is clear and his charisma never deserts him.

David Valsamidis’s Sergeant Belcore and Alexandra Mather’s Adina

Naturally he has the down-trodden peasantry eating out of his hand; they have been through hard times. This includes Hamish Brown’s Nemorino, whose journey from self-doubt to amatory success is neatly managed.

Over the years, Brown has gradually acquired a confident stage presence and this is his best character yet. He provides the greatest pathos of the evening in his last aria – Una Furtiva Lagrima (A Furtive Tear) in the original – with eloquent phrasing.

The target of his affections is the Adina of Alexandra Mather, who makes an engaging transition from standoffishness to tenderness. Her coloratura is in good nick and at its best in the finale. Oddly enough, she is less well-focused in easier passages earlier in the show. But talent will out and she surmounts her difficulties.

Emma Burke in her York Opera debut as Gianetta

David Valsamidis brings a strong baritone to the role of Sergeant Belcore, leading a rag-tag platoon of GIs and posing as saviour of the wretched villagers. His acting is less fluent but he has potential. So too has Emma Burke, who makes the very most of her cameo as Giannetta. We may look forward to their return in future productions.

The chorus is relentlessly enthusiastic and brimming with bonhomie. They certainly take Donizetti’s catchy tunes to heart and sing as if their lives depended on it. Two cautions, however. There were several occasions on the first night when they raced ahead of conductor Steve Griffiths.

His beat was perfectly clear from within the auditorium, but perhaps his proximity to the stage makes his baton hard to see on stage. If so, he should raise his arms a little; if not, the chorus must pay more attention.

York Opera in Donizetti’s witty farce The Elixir Of Love

Secondly, it is an error on the right side to be involved, but when a soloist is performing, individual members of the chorus should not be reacting as characters in their own right. Group chorus reactions are fine, solo ones are distracting. The exception of course is when the chorus itself is in the spotlight, when choreographed unity is to be encouraged.

Griffiths keeps his small orchestra on its toes and it answers his every call. Highlights include some notable flute passagework, and a mellow bassoon accompanying Nemorino’s last aria. Rhythms are strong throughout and the spirit of the dance is infectious. Maggie Soper’s costumes, as always, are right in period: we know at once where we are without being told.

In general, Charlton-Mathews does an excellent job of marshalling his forces on this small stage. He just needs a touch more discipline in his chorus. But this is a company whose morale is definitely back in high gear, suiting the season perfectly.

Review by Martin Dreyer