La Périchole, Garsington Opera at Wormsley, review

Rupert Christiansen can't help but be charmed by two performances which are flawed on paper in La Perichole at Garsington Opera at Wormsley.

 Naomi O'Connell (title role)  and Robert Murray (Piquillo) in La Perichole
Naomi O'Connell (title role) and Robert Murray (Piquillo) in La Perichole Credit: Photo: Johan Persson

La Périchole * * * *

The Mandela Trilogy * * *

When things are looking as bleak as they are now – not to mention the midsummer weather – a noble function of art is to provide amusing distraction which takes one’s mind off the world’s troubles. By this measure, Jeremy Sams’ new version of Offenbach’s deliciously silly and inconsequential operetta is a brilliant success: it may be as insubstantial and protein-free as cappuccino froth, but only the grouchiest sourpuss will feel inclined to complain about such innocent tuneful fun, delivered with flair and verve.

Périchole is a street singer who unwittingly gets involved with the scheming lecherous viceroy of some fanciful South American banana republic – the intrigue doesn’t bear much analysis, and provides little more than a row of pegs on which Offenbach hangs some scintillating little songs, ensembles and choruses. There is barely any sentiment, and nothing penetrates beneath the emotional surface, but the gaiety is infectious. I know opera critics aren’t meant to tap their feet, but I couldn’t help myself.

Sams’s staging is as colourful and energetic as David Parry’s conducting, and the excellent cast gets all the words of Sams’ wittily rhymed translation over crisply. Naomi O’Connell is a mite small­-scale in voice and personality for the title-role, but she has bags of gentle Irish charm to compensate.

Her boy friend, Piquillo, is beautifully sung by Robert Murray, and operetta mavens such as Simon Butteriss and Geoffrey Dolton have the perfect farcical touch. I went in weary, I came out smiling.

As a pendant to its national tour of Porgy and Bess, Cape Town Opera has presented two performances of a work based on the life of South Africa’s true founding father. Using a libretto written by Michael Williams, The Mandela Trilogy traces and celebrates the long road to freedom. Despite references to his womanising and a “dark night of the soul” monologue, Mandela is flatly revered and mythologised here: I admire the man as much as anyone, but the odd flicker of irony would not have come amiss.

Three composers work on different sections of the story, using a gamut of idioms stretching from tribal chant to Puccini’s Turandot, Bernstein’s Candide and the American minimalists. It’s a bit of a mish-mash, but it’s got heart and rhythm, and the South African singers and orchestra of Welsh National Opera, conducted by Albert Horne, delivered the package with irresistible full-blooded gusto.

La Périchole until July 3. Tickets: 01865 361636