Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 24-25 October 2009, and touring

The Italian Girl in Algiers - Adrian Powter as Taddeo, Karen Cargill as Isabella and Tiziano Bracci as Mustafa (Photo - Drew Farrell)

SCOTTISH Opera’s tongue-in-cheek rationale for staging these two Italian comedies side-by-side – that a bit of Italianate warmth and colour might not be unwelcome in another damp-ish British summer – was more than vindicated by the gales and lashing rain of this particular weekend.

It was vindicated on stage, too, in two very different approaches to staging classic comic operas. Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love is a revival of Giles Havergal’s 1994 production (actually a second revival ­ it was also done again in 2001), and it has more than stood the test of the passing years.

Russell Craig’s stage set is literally framed in a huge picture frame, and looked a treat from start to finish, if occasionally a shade crowded in the full chorus scenes. The cast was not only new to this production, but largely new to Scottish Opera, including the excellent principals, Elena Xanthoudakis as Adina and Edgaras Montvidas as the love-struck Nemorino.

Both were excellent singers and strong actors, as was Francesco Facini as the quack doctor Dulcamara, a gift of a comic role which he seized to the full without ever overdoing it. Much the same can be said of Marin Bronikowski as the pompous sergeant, Belcore. Both are fine singers, and neither ever lapsed into turning their characters into simple caricatures.

Sarah Redgwick – a more familiar face in Scottish Opera productions – was a characterful Giannetta, while Martin Docherty clowned in amiably Chaplin-esque fashion in the silent role of Gaetano, Dulcamara’s companion. The cast worked well as an ensemble, and the large chorus added colour and movement as well as strong singing to a hugely enjoyable take on a well-loved classic.

Francesco Corti, the Musical Director of Scottish Opera, was in the pit for these performances, but James Grossmith will be on the podium for the two performances in Inverness (see below).

Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers will also be seen in a single performance in Inverness, but if The Elixir of Love received a traditional style of production, the opposite was the case in an imaginative re-invention of Rossini’s opera. The production originated in New Zealand, where director Colin McCall has acknowledged that they are less bound by European traditions of opera.

Those with firm ideas on how Rossini should look would do well to leave their preconceptions at home – but on no account pass up the chance to see this hilarious production. The action takes place in a television studio rather than the Mustafa’s harem, where a Latino soap opera called Algiers is being made, complete with all the paraphernalia of cameras, mixing desks, etc (the set and lighting design by Tony Rabbit is wonderful).

The traditional chorus of eunuchs are now the television crew, while the actors perform on an area of lurid green, where their actions are projected onto a huge screen using green screen technology to create various backgrounds. The technical ingenuity at work here is superb, and is matched by the comic imagination which has gone into the show.

The visual jokes come thick and fast, but Rossini is not forgotten in the midst of all this wizardry. The Italian Girl is one of his most attractive and effervescent scores, and an excellent cast – led by Karen Cargill as Isabella – do full justice to the music, while entering equally fully into the fun.

Scottish Opera debutant Tiziano Bracci was a fine Mustafa, and Adrian Powter (Taddeo), Mary O’Sullivan (Elvira), Julia Riley (Zulma) and Paul Carey Jones (Haly) all provided strong support, as did the chorus, clearly relishing their re-invented roles, and orchestra under Wyn Davies.

Special mention on this occasion for Christian Baumgartel as Lindoro, who had flown in that day from France to replace the indisposed Thomas Walker, whose understudy was also unwell. Baumgartel sang the role in the original New Zealand production, and reprised it in fine style here on the back of a single run-through.

Presumably Walker will be restored to vigour by the time this unorthodox but irresistible production reaches Inverness.

The Elixir of Love is at Eden Court Theatre on 4 & 6 November 2009, and The Italian Girl in Algiers on 7 November 2009. The Elixir of Love Unwrapped is on 5 November 2009.

© Kenny Mathieson, 2009

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