Scottish Opera: Pop-up opera
Festival Theatre Courtyard, Edinburgh
Six months and three days after last hearing live music in Edinburgh, I and around forty others are sitting on stools on a pleasant September afternoon in front of a trailer in the courtyard of the Festival Theatre. We’re in pods – marked out circles which can seat one to four people – and the spacing is comfortably generous. As it’s outside, we don’t have to wear masks. The seats sold out last week within a couple of hours, but there are a few no-shows and one or two curious passers-by get in.
We’re waiting to hear ‘The Gondoliers’, its first performance at this venue. Five cast members in long blue double-breasted coats make their way on to the trailer and we begin!
Cellist Andrew Drummond Huggan and guitarist Sasha Savaloni strike up an abbreviated overture, and storyteller Allan Dunn begins a potted version of the story, aided by flip-chart illustrations by Otto von Beach, in an easy-to-follow comic book style. Aidan Edwards is soon launched into ‘We’re called Gondolieri’, and Stephanie Stanway soon replies with a verse of ‘Thank you Gallant Gondolieri’, and we’ve already accepted the premise that each singer plays several characters – without changing hats (or indeed voice type). Derek Clark, Scottish Opera’s Head of Music, has done a grand job of miniaturizing the two operas – all the hits are here from The Duke of Plazatoro, leading his regiment from behind, to ‘A Pair of Sparkling Eyes’. Mostly we have just a verse or two, with some transposition, and harmony for male and female voices. The voices are amplified, and every word is clear. The instrumental accompaniment is stylish, always rhythmical and lyrical when required. The duet ‘There was a Time’ is an affecting highlight.
Allan Dunn and his picture-book lead us wittily through the complexities of the plot and across the sea to Barataria. All too soon we’re ‘Dancing a Cacucha’ and then a reflective gavotte In a ‘Contemplative Fashion’. And back to Venice, and time’s up!
The next afternoon we’re back for ‘Don Giovanni’. The same quintet of performers are now in black coats. They have more need of them today, as an autumnal chill has the audience huddled up in padded jackets too. The format is as before, this time with illustrations by Tim Gravestock. These are oil paintings with some chiaroscuro to befit the dark themes, beautifully executed, but not always easy to see from further back. Allan Dunn’s text is in English and Aidan Edwards and Stephanie Stanway sing in Italian. Edwards clearly relishes the chance to sing all the baritone roles – some of the best in the repertoire. We hear longer excerpts than in the Gondoliers, which makes this a more satisfying musical performance – pretty full versions of Leporello’s ‘Catalogue Aria’, Giovanni’s ‘Finch hal da vino’, and ‘La ci darem la mano’, the duet with Stanway as Zerlina – the highlight of the show. “That’s socially distanced seduction for you,” quips Dunn. Stanway also delivers with panache arias for Donna Anna and Donna Elvira. Don Ottavio’s ‘Il mio tesoro’ becomes a pleasant instrumental interlude, and the guitar comes into its own as the accompaniment to Giovanni’s serenade. Edward’s lower register is shown to effect in the Commendatore’s echoing threats which prelude the Don’s descent to hell.
So well done to Scottish Opera for bringing back live opera to audiences round the country, with further performances over the next two weeks. Singers Sarah Power and Andrew McTaggart and guitarist Ian Watt provide an alternate cast for some performances. ‘The Gondoliers’, ‘Don Giovanni’, and ‘The Song of the Clyde’, a short opera for children, are on at Edinburgh Zoo on Sunday 27th September.
