Reviews / A soul lifting operatic journey through Scotland
SCOTTISH Opera’s performance of its Opera Highlights Express train at Mareel on Saturday night provided the audience with a memorable adventure, entertainment and enjoyment, writes our reviewer Chris Horrix.
Devised by director Rebecca Maltzer, the performance provided exactly the right combination for a mostly joyous journey, and every arrival at a station was an operatic story waiting to unfold.
There was near enough a full house at Mareel, and it was good to see young folk in the audience, including a group from the Shetland Youth Orchestra.
The four young singers’ voices were well matched, all giving performances that were both technically brilliant and expressive. What also made the performances so special was their energy, combined with their dramatic and comedic timing. This worked particularly well in the longer operatic extracts.
The singers also took part in the announcements and sound effects of arrivals and departures at the stations, although we seemed to spend a long time in a place called Langholm!
The evening opened with a short scene from Beethoven’s Fidelio, perhaps not the most accessible opera, but it somehow moved seamlessly into a love scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, where the mellifluous voice of tenor Robert Forrest was outstanding.
The duet from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, with its theme of drudgery and hunger, entertainingly sung by Kira Kaplan and Chloe Harris, perhaps fitted less well into the train station scenario, though it did give an opportunity for some Scottish dancing!
The first half ended with a dramatic and murderous scene from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, showcasing the brilliant expressive soprano voice of Kira Kaplan.
In complete contrast, Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, involving a can of Irn-Bru, opened the second half. The appearance of baritone Ross Cumming wearing a kilt and singing with a pronounced Scottish accent was definitely appreciated by the audience!
Kelley Rourke’s English translation, using Scottish dialect, and some very questionable rhymes, (Adina, have yer seen her?), added to the enjoyment.
An expressive performance by mezzo soprano Chloe Harris of Handel’s Scherza, Infida about an unfaithful lover followed. Then it was time to get ready to party, with a drinking song from Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, sung powerfully by Robert Cumming.
And so we eventually arrived at the platform of the most definitely imaginary Lerwick station, which was also written in Gaelic. Liùrabhaig, for those of you who are wondering!
Songs from Rossini’s Soirées Musicales were the basis for a joyful celebration with dancing and merriment. We all know that Shetlanders love to party!
Mention here must be made of the non-singing star of the show, Joseph Beesley, the musical director, who sat on stage throughout and played the orchestra on the piano.
And finally, the sleeping cats who appeared on the station platform throughout the evening had their moment, with Rossini’s cat duet arranged as an entertaining finale for this quartet of fine singers.
By the time the performance ended, the audience had not only been on an operatic journey through Scotland, which lifted our souls, but we also left feeling we had been to a party.
