by Whether traveling in the shadow of the cross or in the freedom of community lawlessness, the promotion is the same. Love becomes sour, reason is spoiled, feelings run unsatisfied. In each of the one-act works in Opera North’s latest double bill – one of Pietro Mascagni’s most popular works Cavalleria rusticana (1890) and Sergei Rachmaninov rarely staged Alecó (1893) – result of crimes of passion. This pair of operas offers no comfort, but its grip, thanks to an excellent cast, chorus and orchestra conducted by Antony Hermus, is distracting and muted.
The Mascagni from 2017 is a revival, the Rachmaninov on a new stage. Both are directed by Karolina Sofulak, who draws parallels between the works, written by young composers and first performed three years apart. Mascagni, 27, would never again match his enduring masterpiece, still in his 70s. For Rachmaninov, his student work, written quickly at the age of 19, praised by Tchaikovsky but now forgotten, was only the beginning of a brilliant compositional career.
Giselle Allen sings every note with trepidation. The transition from wronged lover to disbelieving lover is a painful one.
Not to be outdone, Sofulak points out that Alfio has been cuckolded Cavalleria rusticana (The rustic chivalry basically means to take justice in your own hands) could be the older Aleko, awkwardly exiled in a hippishish beach community, spied on by his younger lover. Such a connection is not needed for these independent works – I’d prefer none – but it adds coherence to the evening, especially since the singer plays both murderous roles, the bass- British baritone Robert Hayward, compelling as an actor and musician.
In the designs of Charles Edwards, the Mascagni is removed from its usual Sicilian village setting and given a Polish, communist makeover. Picture of Pope John Paul II, and Polski Fiat, tone and time set. Church, a family shop run by a desperate mother (Anne-Marie Owens) and a brothel are all juxtaposed on an open stage, creating a claustrophobic sense of betrayal. The soprano Giselle Allen, born in Belfast, sings every note with concern, reminding us that Santuzza’s suffering comes from the hurt of betrayal. Her transition, with her twisted faith, from wronged lover to devoted lover is a painful one.
The Uruguayan tenor Andrés Presno, a gifted and talented Turiddù played by Cavaradossi i Factors for Opera North, takes the self-righteous swagger of the guilty. The British-Cuban mezzo-soprano Helen Évora is charming as his susceptible married girlfriend, Lola. The orchestra, which inspired Hermus as much as possible, brought out the saturated colors of the score, especially in the celebratory interezzo.
Alecóbased on Alexander Pushkin’s narrative poem The Gypsies (1827), at once too emotional and underdeveloped in dramatic structure. Among the episodes are two dances, a cavatina and a chorus, each magnetic in their own way but not obviously related to each other. Opera North’s forces united the work’s stop-start shape with the coherence of their acting and singing, Presno returning as the adulterous lover of Hayward’s beguiled Aleko.
The object of their desire is Zemfira, noisy as she breaks her gray old love, coquettish in search of her new young admirer: the British soprano Elin Pritchard is entering a vocal and stage presence. As her father, bassist Matthew Stiff came together beautifully in stoic gloom. The set (again designed by Edwards), is colorful and buttonless in contrast to the stark look of bare wood. Cavalleria rusticana, it neutralizes the outrageous Roma racial stereotyping of the original. Sofulak cites Copenhagen’s Christiania Freetown commune as a touchstone.
Alecó It ends with a wonderful chorus, sung (very well by Opera North) with the deep resonance of Russian Orthodox chant that Rachmaninov later used in his Throughout the night Watch. Here, the text is the polar opposite of religious: “We are wild, we have no laws,” sang the “gypsies”. In their humanity they release the criminal Aleko to the worst freedom of their own loneliness, and ask for peace. This is a hugely effective double bill, and another feather in Opera North’s well-feathered cap.
The clean voices of Tenebrae, who opened the annual Bath BachFest with Gesualdo’s Tenebrae answers to Holy Saturday (1611), brought us back to the strict sackcloth and ash rites of Lent. Written in nine sections for unaccompanied voices, these sacred madrigals cross the extremes of dissonance and chromaticism, standing on the false language of the biblical texts: “They cast me into the lowest pit, into darkness and the shadow of death, ” as the word said. penultimate response states. Ten singers, directed by Nigel Short, brought the fluctuating intensity of this music to life with well-tuned singing. They were equally careful in JS Bach’s three motifs, including the exuberant Singet dem Herrn (Sing to the Lord a New Song), BWV 225.
The following day, harpsichord superstar Mahan Esfahani played a program of Handel (Suite No. 2 in F major), Buxtehude (La Capricciosa) and JS Bach (English Suite No. 6 in D minor). The expressiveness of the Handel and the really difficult Buxtehude – a series of variations in which Esfahani turned a million black dots into a skeleton – were led, with well-considered logic, to the Bach: palindromes, enigmas and a “mirror” fugue to hurt your head (in despite Esfahani’s clear preface), but ultimately, and without a doubt, is best heard as music.
There are currently two plays about Benjamin Britten and his circle: at the RSC’s Swan theater in Stratford-upon-Avon, Ben and Imo by Mark Ravenhill (music by Conor Mitchell), and at the new King’s Head theatre, London, Turning the Screw by Kevin Kelly, nimbly directed by Tim McArthur. So far I have only seen the latter. The cast will be led by Gary Tushaw (Britten), Liam Watson (David Hemmings), Simon Willmont (Peter Pears) and Jo Wickham (Imogen Holst), who can also sing. This is a sensitive handling of well-documented issues in Britten’s life, particularly his attraction to boys. The theatre, however, takes classical music seriously.
Star ratings (out of five)
Cavalleria rusticana/Aleko ★★★★
Bath BachFest ★★★★★
• Cavalleria rusticana/Aleko at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, until 24 February, then tours to Nottingham, Newcastle and Salford until 22 March
• Turning the Screw at the King’s Head theatre, London N1, until 10 March
