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AND HEARD OPERA REVIEW
Cimarosa, The Secret Marriage:
Soloists, Orchestra of Scottish Opera. Conductor: Garry Walker.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 22.11.2008 (SRT)
Geronimo – Andrew Slater
Fidalma – Wendy Dawn Thompson
Elisetta – Renate Arends
Carolina – Rebecca Bottone
Count Robinson – Quirijn de Lang
Paolino – Matthew Garrett
Orchestra of Scottish Opera
Garry Walker (conductor)
Production:
Harry Fehr (director)
Tom Rogers (designer)
Johanna Town (lighting designer)
Kally Lloyd-Jones (movement director)
Cimarosa was a far more popular composer than Mozart during their
lifetimes. Now, however, his work is rarely performed. Based on
the merits of this production that seems a shame, though there are
problems with this piece, in spite of the great production it has
been given here.
Harry Fehr and Tom Rogers embrace this domestic comedy for what it
is. The naturalistic set gives us the interior of a solidly
bourgeois house in Britain of the 1950s. We see the central hallway
and a peep into the drawing room (for Act 1) and Geronimo’s study
and Carolina’s bedroom (for Act 2). The set is charmingly designed
and utterly absorbing, with some well observed touches, such as the
painfully pretentious Classical painting (or is it a relief?) that
adorns the upper landing. The Geronimo family are clearly desperate
to be elevated into the aristocracy through marrying the nauseating
Count Robinson to whichever daughter happens to be available. The
drawing room and study remind one of Hyacinth Bucket’s residence in
Keeping Up Appearances, while Carolina’s rebel credentials
are reinforced by her posters of Elvis and James Dean in her
bedroom. Costumes are the height of 1950s fashion for the ladies,
while solidly formal for the men, until, that is, Carolina and
Paolino change into leather jackets for their planned escape. The
approach works very well, and the movement of the singers is well
planned too: something is always going on somewhere, so that the
time doesn’t drag during the frequent ritornelli that
introduce arias.
The singing is of a great standard from everyone. Rebecca Bottone,
by far the best thing about last year’s lackluster Seraglio,
shines as the cheeky Carolina. She inhabits the character’s grace
and recklessness, while her crystal clear voice is perfectly suited
to Cimarosa’s light music. Her top notes, which she occasionally
has to summon out of nowhere, are pure silver. Her sister Elisetta
is just as well taken by Renate Arends, who shows off the
character’s more waspish persona. She copes admirably with her
character’s runs and leaps, and her sung English is remarkable for a
native Dutch speaker. The other Dutch member of the cast is Quirijn
de Lang whose English is every bit as good. He is a young and
interesting Count Robinson, no duffish old bore, and his warm
baritone fits the comic characterisation very fittingly. As
Geronimo Andrew Slater is a good contrast, with a voice which lies a
little higher yet still conveys the authority required for a father
figure. He manages the character’s mood swings with good comic
timing, while his patter and deafness jokes don’t grate in the way
that they could do. Wendy Dawn Thompson is a very strong Fidlama.
Only Matthew Garrett feels a little lightweight as Paolino: all the
notes are there, but the power is often missing.
Garry Walker conducts a sprightly account of the score with reduced
forces in the orchestra, while Donald Pippin’s English translation
fits like a glove, the colloquialisms bringing this tale a little
nearer to us (“Bloody hell: you’re my fiancée?!”). The company have
given us a near ideal performance of this work, though the evening
does still feel rather long, especially in the second half, where a
few judicious cuts might have helped the dramatic edge. Scottish
Opera are performing at the top of their game at present and deserve
to be well supported.
Simon Thompson
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