OPERA: Peter Klatzow
OPERA-LOVERS who attended the Cape Town Opera Festival’s offering of (what appeared to be) Carmen by Bizet were in for a rude awakening. The new title — La Tragedie de Carmen — might have alerted the wary, but after a few minutes it would have been apparent that this was not your Paris opera house de luxe version.
It is a radical revisiting of the sources that Bizet and Meilhac tapped, in an adaptation by Marius Constantin and Peter Brook. Essentially the drama and passion are highlighted, the trappings (including the ensembles and choruses) stripped away. This version needs actors who can sing, rather than the other way around. And it plays without break. So gone, too, is the interval gin and tonic.
Perhaps in an attempt to economise, perhaps to emphasise the workshop nature of the adaptation, the set used is the same as for Enoch, Prophet of God, premiered a few nights before. I have no problem with this. The central arena-like structure evokes bull- fighting and crowds. Nadya Cohen has emphasised the slums by adding a rubbish bin. Slops are hurled out early in the production. It is clear we are in rough
The production has all of director Marthinus Basson’s usual elan. And there are two real finds here which make this production worth seeing: Jannie Moolman as Don Jose, Carmen’s thickset, beefy lover, dripping with hormones and rage, and Katherine Henderson as Carmen, provocative, alluring, a bitch. Henderon is a newcomer, but given her multiplicity of talents, we will be seeing much more of her. No Paris prima donna here; instead a low slut with a voluptuous chest register. She fights well too.
I was altogether less happy with La Cenerentola, Rossini’s operatic version of the Cinderella story. This would work only with a highly disciplined chorus and an impeccable mezzo in the title role. This is a showpiece for singers who have good scales; if they don’t, there’s not much on offer.
The opera lay dead for many years (understandably). It was revived to display the talents of Conchita Supervia in a Covent Garden production in the 1930s with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting. I have no doubts her roulades were first class.
Canadian Deborah Milsom put up a brave attempt, but the voice sounds old and has little projection in the lower register. Marcin Bronikowski as the valet Dandini is saddled with a role which is a little too low for him, and the voice is a bit small, but in all he brings credibility and versatility to the part. Karl Dumphart gives us a ferocious and tyrannical father. His Italian diction is a bit rough, but he makes the part happen. Aviva Pelham and Margie Nel as the two ugly sisters were constantly eye-catching and vocally secure.
There is an excellent set by Jean-Pierre Ponelle and great costumes, but there it ends. Synchronisation in the ensembles was hazy to the point of disaster, and the subtitles were almost unreadable. This is strictly for opera afficionados who look for nothing more than an evening of mindless warbling. Otherwise you should give it a miss.
The Cape Town Opera Festival continues until February 6