Coenraad Visser
Escapism, or realism. Pretty girls in pretty dresses singing pretty, or the glamourless homeless, evicted from land and love. These are the opera choices in Gauteng this week.
The Three Sopranos is, above all, a feast of glitz. Producer Tibor Rudas, the man behind the ageing three tenors extorting vast sums of money from a public remembering them in their long- gone prime, has repeated his recipe for monetary success. Only this time, the generation is younger.
“Really, the hardship was to find three operatic sopranos who also would be outstanding in singing modern American musical comedies and songs, as well as Latin songs: it had to be a combination,” Rudas said before their first concert in Los Angeles. “To me, it doesn’t matter how great a soprano you are.”
Kathleen Cassello, Kallen Esperian and Cynthia Lawrence are not household names. But they are also not without distinction. Between them, in what are still early days in their careers, they have conquered most important opera houses; the notable exception is the Vienna State Opera.
But, significantly for this event, what they have in common is that they have all shared the stage with Pavarotti, whose manager is Rudas. He packaged the three in big hair and glittering evening gowns by Valentino and Oscar de la Renta, chose a few showstopper opera arias and had some show tunes specially arranged. The rest is a monument to musical escapism.
By contrast, Pact Opera’s world premiere of Roelof Temmingh’s Buchuland is fare of infinitely more musical substance.
Temmingh’s score is stunning in its expression and inventiveness. Ittreats traditional material like As Ek Moeg Word vir die Lewe in die Stad [When I Get Tired of City Life] and As Hy Weer Kom [When He Comes Again] as metaphors for transition, in which the outlines of the familiar float unanchored in hazes of uncertainty. At times, like with the leopard’s footprints or the galloping horse in the Buchuland Song, it is vividly evocative. The big band swing and smoky nightclub blues pastiches are deft. In the end, Buchuland’s emotional appeal and varied richness of orchestration mark it as a masterpiece in this genre. Conductor David Scarr does it justice.
There is hardly a weak link in the cast, assisted by the natural flair of director Michael Williams. Jannie Moolman, as the well-intentioned clergyman Andries Venter, is in superb voice, especially in his soul-searching “I remember”. Sibongile Khumalo, a stage natural as Ma Bantjies, makes the Buchuland Song a highlight of the second act. Fikile Mvinjelwa’s Johnnie Fortuin is assured and avoids slapstick. Dramatically, he is the perfect foil to Curtis Ryan’s serious Titus April. Ideally, though, Titus should have a slightly larger voice with more ringing tones. The only disappointment is Virginia Davids, who never quite gets to grip with the music or the words.
The Three Sopranos appear at Vodaworld on July 28 and 30 and August 1. Buchuland plays at the State Theatre until July 31