Fflur Wyn as Susanna and Phillip Rhodes as Figaro in Opera North’s The Marriage Of Figaro. All pictures:. Robert Workman
Opera North in The Marriage Of Figaro, Leeds Grand Theatre, February 1 ****
Further Leeds performances on February 8, 14, 19, 22, 26 and 29, then on tour . More details at operanorth.co.uk. Leeds box office: 0844 848 2700 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com
IT is strange how operatic revivals can vary so much from their originals, even when the same director is on hand to oversee them. Jo Davies’s production of Mozart’s opera buffa dates from January 2015. That is before the Me Too movement really took off in October 2017, when the treatment of women in Hollywood began to come under the microscope.
Its repercussions on this show are fascinating. The two leading men, Count Almaviva and Figaro himself, are by far the most charismatic here. That is partly down to the singers involved. But it also reflects the relative hardness of their ladies, the Countess and Susanna.
These men are having their very manhood challenged, even as they attempt their various conquests. It could help to explain why Quirijn de Lang’s relentlessly dim-witted Count (though the singer himself is clearly quite the opposite) comes across as a failed Don Giovanni, never quite achieving those desired notches on his cane. The man is libidinous beyond belief. Even at the end you wonder how long he can possibly remain faithful to his wife. He nevertheless sings with plenty of self-belief.
Heather Lowe as Cherubino
The New Zealand baritone Phillip Rhodes relaxes into the title role immediately, despite taking it on for the first time. The part could have been made for him. His Figaro retains unclouded optimism in the face of every setback, helped by warm, clear tone and a pair of eyebrows that crinkle with mirth at every excuse.
Opposite him, Fflur Wyn, also new to her role as Susanna, is a calculating creature – the gardener Antonio’s social-climbing niece – rather than a playful minx. Her soprano is light and clean, her diction less so. Nor is clarity Máire Flavin’s strong point as the Countess. Her first aria was too tense to excite sympathy, her second showed what might have been, with fluent control. But she moves beautifully and always has the moral high ground over her wayward husband.
The lower orders are well represented. It comes as no surprise to discover that Heather Lowe, the tousle-haired Cherubino, is a trained dancer. She is exceptionally nimble as well as vocally adept, not least as girl-plays-boy-playing girl.
Jonathan Best makes a diffident old fogey of Bartolo, well partnered by Gaynor Keeble’s earthy Marcellina. Joseph Shovelton is back with his oily Basilio, as is Jeremy Peaker’s rubicund Antonio. Alexandra Oomens is the peppy Barbarina. Even Warren Gillespie’s Curzio makes a mark, here as a censer-swinging priest. Real incense too.
Quirijn de Lang as Count Almaviva and Máire Flavin as Countess Almaviva
Antony Hermus makes his first appearance in the pit since being appointed Principal Guest Conductor. He is a mixed blessing. His rigid, hyperactive baton ensures taut ensemble, but allows his woodwinds little flexibility; the strength of his accents regularly swamps the singers’ words in ensemble. On the other hand, conducting from the harpsichord, his recitatives flow idiomatically.
Leslie Travers’s mobile set shows both the downstairs and the upstairs of this society, the former doubling as the outside of the house for the garden scene. Peeling wallpaper and rickety staircases speak of genteel poverty. Gabrielle Dalton’s socially-layered costumes could be from almost any era.
In the wake of Me Too, we should expect certain aspects of the comedy to be soft-pedalled. But there is plenty of amusement at the expense of the men. And that is as it should be.
Architect’s visualisation of the redeveloped Opera North estate, showing the Howard Assembly Room, new restaurant, box office and atrium on the left and the Howard Opera Centre on the right.
OPERA North’s redeveloped headquarters in Leeds will bear
the name of philanthropist Dr Keith Howard OBE.
The Howard Opera Centre will take on this title in
recognition of the Yorkshire benefactor’s personal gift of £11.25 million
towards the opera company’s redevelopment project, Music Works.
It is thought to be among the largest private donations ever made to a British arts company outside of London.
Dr Howard, a lifelong opera lover and cricket fan, is the founder of Emerald Group Publishing and president of Opera North.
The Howard Opera Centre will house Opera North’s rehearsal studios, costume and wigs workshop and administrative offices.
The redevelopment work on New Briggate and Harrison Street will
create a world-class facility to make opera; a new education studio and
additional rehearsal spaces, including a new rehearsal room for Opera North’s orchestra
and chorus and a suite of music coaching rooms.
The Howard Opera Centre will join another space named ten years earlier in recognition of Dr Howard’s support for the company, the Howard Assembly Room, a 300-seat performance venue offering a diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.
Originally opened in 2009 after extensive restoration, the
Howard Assembly Room is closed during the Music Works redevelopment project. It
will reopen in 2021 with a new dedicated and fully accessible entrance and
atrium, an increased number of performances and a new restaurant and bar, replacing
a row of previously vacant shop units on New Briggate.
The redevelopment project began on site last summer and is being delivered by Henry Boot Construction, a Sheffield regional construction contractor with a commitment to reducing environment impacts.
The overall target for the Music Works fundraising campaign is £18 million. Opera North has raised £15.6 million to date, including the £11.25 million gift that combines £9 million with £2.25 million in Gift Aid. Leeds City Council has contributed £750,000, together with the lease of the vacant shops on New Briggate, and funding of £499,999 has been awarded by Arts Council England.
The balance of the funds raised so far has come from private
donors, trusts and supporters, including a £1 million donation from the Liz and
Terry Bramall Foundation, as well as a significant contribution from Mrs
Maureen Pettman and major gifts from private individuals.
Councillor Jonathan Pryor, from Leeds City Council, left, Dr Keith Howard, and Opera North’s general director, Richard Mantle, attending the <Leeds company’s 2019/20 season launch at Harewood House. Picture: Justin Slee
In addition, gifts have been pledged by the Wolfson
Foundation, Backstage Trust, the Kirby Laing Foundation, the Foyle Foundation
and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Although 87 per cent of the target has been raised, there
remains a funding gap of £2.4 million to close. Opera North is looking to patrons, Friends and audiences to
play their part in the success of the redevelopment at many different levels.
Work also continues to attract funding from further charitable trusts and
foundations and the business community in Leeds.
Richard Mantle, Opera North’s general director, said: ““Opera
North is delighted to be able to recognise the extraordinary generosity of our
longstanding supporter and friend, Dr Keith Howard, whose contribution to this
project means that we are able to create a new artistic home for the company,
as well as improving the infrastructure, access and visitor experience for the
Howard Assembly Room.
“The Howard Opera Centre will be a true centre of excellence, bringing together rehearsal spaces for world-class opera productions with coaching rooms, where singers can develop their vocal expertise, and specialist costume workshop spaces.
“A new hub for our education work will create an inclusive space
for our work with young people from across the city, bringing children and
young people right to the heart of our creative community.”
Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council,
said: “We are pleased to see this significant redevelopment now taking
shape, creating a vastly improved artistic and educational hub for one of
Leeds’s leading cultural assets.
“Opera North makes a huge contribution to the city, both in
terms of the vitality and diversity of work seen on stage, and also through its
work with children, young people and communities throughout our region.
“Through the revitalisation of a neglected section of New Briggate, the improved facilities for the Howard Assembly Room will work in tandem with our wider aspirations for the area as part of the Heritage Action Zones and Connecting Leeds programmes, creating a vibrant destination and supporting our plans for a better-connected city.”
Opera North employs more than 250 people, such as costume makers,
stage managers, electricians, stage technicians, props makers, sound and
lighting technicians, educators, designers and musicians, in addition to
working with around 370 freelance performers, creatives and artists each year.
Opera North’s opera productions are created and premiered in
Leeds, where the company performs at Leeds Grand Theatre each season before
touring its opera productions to theatres across the country.
The Music Works redevelopment is scheduled to be completed in phases, with the Howard Opera Centre opening in late 2020, and the Howard Assembly Room, restaurant and atrium scheduled for completion in 2021.
Watch a short film about Music Works at https://youtu.be/4xQU4q0xFD4
Work to replace the vacant shop units on New Briggate, Leeds, with a new restaurant and bar, December 2019. Picture: Tom Arber
MUSIC WORKS
“More live music, for everyone”.
More performances in the Howard Assembly Room every year;
A dedicated entrance for the Howard Assembly Room;
An open, welcoming building that is fully accessible at
all levels;
New public spaces and an atrium.
Music Works will enable Opera North to host a full
year-round programme of performances, workshops and small-scale productions in
the Howard Assembly Room, increasing the number of performances given at the
venue.
The best global musicians and artists will be brought to
Leeds each year, creating a
diverse calendar of jazz, world music, folk, classical concerts, children’s opera, talks, film and installations.
A new restaurant and bar, open to everyone all day;
A refurbished Opera North box office and reception for
Leeds Grand Theatre
Restoration of a Grade II listed building
A crane moves steel on to the construction site at the top of the new Howard Opera Centre, looking east towards the Quarry House government offices, January 2020. Picture: Tom Arber
Music Works will regenerate a row of vacant shops directly
beneath the Howard Assembly Room to
create a new restaurant and bar alongside a refurbished box office.
A new dedicated “front door” will be established for Opera North and the Howard
Assembly Room; the building will be open to everyone from morning until late at
night for coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks.
Cutting-edge facilities for making opera: The Howard Opera Centre:
A new purpose-built Music Rehearsal Studio;
Three new music practice rooms;
Refurbished Costume Workshop and Dye Room;
A new artist and Company green room.
A home for Opera North Education:
A new, flexible Education Studio;
A new music coaching room for students;
Break-out spaces and “secret garden” for school groups;
A shared entrance for students, artists and staff, placing young people at the heart of the company.
An environmentally sustainable cultural flagship for Leeds:
An environmentally sustainable and efficient estate;
Photovoltaic panels to generate energy;
A significant contribution to the New Briggate public
realm;
A major capital investment in the run up to 2023 Leeds
cultural celebrations;
Investment in digital infrastructure to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
Gillene Butterfield as Rose Maurrant and Alex Banfield as Sam Kaplan in Opera North’s Street Scene. All pictures: Clive Barda
Opera North in Street Scene; LeedsGrand Theatre. Box office: 0844 848 2700 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com
KURT Weill’s “American opera” is actually a hotchpotch of styles from both sides of the pond. Opera, both serious and light, musicals, jazz, and dance all jostle in song, speech and melodrama to reflect a cosmopolitan tenement in Manhattan.
It is also an ensemble piece, with a multiplicity of small roles that offer an ideal opportunity to showcase in depth the talents of Opera North’s chorus. It requires a director with wide-reaching experience, prepared for painstaking attention to detail. Though set in stifling heat, Matthew Eberhardt’s production is so far only luke-warm; it may yet come to the boil.
Francis O’Connor’s network of metal stairs and walkways in the midst of a beehive of apartments augments the bustle of life, allowing just enough space for dance. There is only a single exit from this ghetto on ground level, compounding the claustrophobia. So far, so good.
Giselle Allen as Anna Maurrant in Street Scene
His costumes are more debatable. Most of the cast are wearing far too much for the alleged heat – T-shirts, anyone? – nor is it likely that pantsuits would have been common currency in a down-at-heel 1940s neighbourhood.
There are two main story-lines to Elmer Price’s book, which is based on his 1929 play of the same name: the adultery and eventual death of Anna Maurrant, and the ultimately doomed, cross-faith puppy love between her daughter Rose and studious Sam Kaplan. Everything else is atmosphere.
Eberhardt does little to elucidate Anna’s dalliances with the milkman – admittedly Weill is not much help here – so that when her husband shoots them both, we are left relatively unmoved. Similarly, so little electricity illuminates the friendship between Rose and Sam that it seems bound to remain platonic from the word go.
Claire Pascoe as Emma Jones, Byron Jackson as Henry Davis, Amy J Payne as Olga Olsen, Richard Mosley-Evans as George Jones, Miranda Bevin as Greta Fiorentino, John Savournin as Carl Olsen, Christopher Turner as Lippo Fiorentino and Robert Hayward as Frank Maurrant, with children in Opera North’s Street Scene
The evening has plenty of compensations, however. There are several self-contained numbers that show Weill at his best. The Ice-Cream Sextet joyously led by Italian airman Lippo (Christopher Turner); a song-and-dance jitterbug by Rodney Vubya and Michelle Andrews; the raucous children’s game to open Act 2, superbly danced (choreography by Gary Clarke); the trenchant wit of the Nursemaids’ Lullaby (Lorna James and Hazel Croft, pushing prams) – all these are beacons of humour and entertainment.
The orchestra under James Holmes is especially alive to jazz styles and the rhythm section has a field-day. Act 2 has its longueurs after the children’s game and some of his tempos here are on the sluggish side. But colour anyway seems temporarily to drain out of the action, as if Eberhardt’s inspiration is flagging.
Giselle Allan as Anna makes the most of the work’s biggest aria, Somehow I Could Never Believe, a vivid picture of marital frustration. Less three-dimensional is Robert Hayward as her abusive husband Frank, who rarely takes leave of drink and anger, though forceful enough in Let Things Be Like They Always Was.
Michelle Andrews as Mae Jones and Rodney Vubya as Dick McGann in Street Scene
Gillene Butterfield is an engaging Rose, ploughing a difficult furrow between distance and engagement with Sam, and fending off the unwanted attentions of her Lothario boss (Quirijn de Lang). Sam is persuasively drawn by Alex Banfield: we feel his pangs for Rose in We’ll Go Away Together.
Among any number of good cameos, two stand out: Claire Pascoe’s Bronx-accented Mrs Jones, the ghetto gossip, and Byron Jackson as the janitor. Both are vivid and distinctive. American accents come and go, mirroring the way the action fades in and out of focus. There is much potential here. Things may well settle down as the run progresses.
Further performances on January 25, February 12, 20 and 28, then on tour.
