I have felt for many years that introducing young people to opera
needs the right choice of work. The challenge lies in an attractive staging
of the story and has nothing whatever to do with the difficulty or
popularity of the music. Thus all three of my children started opera with
Janáček's
The Cunning Little Vixen in David Pountney's
gorgeous realisation at the Welsh National Opera. Had they seen this present
production at the Maggio Musicale in Florence they would have been equally
enchanted, and that is praise indeed, for Pountney defined the appearance of
this opera for many people in the UK. The Maggio Musicale's director Laurent
Pelly has gone for less subtle wit and more 'realism'. Clearly this story is
not realistic so what we have on stage is a cross between children's cartoon
and pantomime. It looks wonderful from first to last. The costumes, the
staging, the dancing insects, everything is well nigh perfect.
Am I suggesting that this is a children's opera? No. Janacek's great
masterpiece is a timeless tale of the cycle of life, love and death with
music so beautiful that one can only wonder at how he does it. Suitable for
all ages from 9 to 90 but understood better the older you get. The cast sing
with phenomenal accuracy and, yes, beauty. Isabel Bayrakdarian's Vixen is
wonderfully clear and firm-toned, as are Quinn Kesley's Gamekeeper and
Lauren Curnow's Fox. All the shorter roles - none could be called 'minor' in
this most subtly constructed score - are done with insight and accuracy.
Ozawa's orchestra rises to the occasion with the most transparent sounds and
singing tone. He understands this music completely and delineates
Janáček's complex rhythms to perfection. The score is radiant
from the opening in the forest, right through to the sad final scene between
the Schoolmaster and the Gamekeeper. The glowing ending where the frog
points out that he is "... not the same one! That was my grandpa", and thus
makes the final link in the circle of life.
Arthaus continue to put music over the menus and, in the case of the
Blu-ray disc, continue to restrict access to the sound and subtitles unless
one uses the player controls. If one selects 'play opera' rather than
'trailers' from the only menu choice available, one gets a stereo replay of
an opera without subtitles unexpectedly called
La piccola volpe
astuta, which is fine if one's Italian and Czech are up to it and one
lacks surround replay. However, the sound and picture are excellent, though
the camerawork is sometimes a bit too detailed and close-up when a more full
view of the stage is called for. Given the costumes it is understandable
that the video director might want to show them off. The booklet notes by
Steffen Georgi are excellent.
Dave Billinge
[103:00]
