Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
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An evening of many pleasures



by Michael Sinclair
Smetana: The Bartered Bride
NBR New Zealand Opera
22 September 2012

Photo: Neil MackenzieSmetana's opera The Bartered Bride is a simple tale firmly entrenched in Czech folklore, with love struck youngsters, frolicking peasants and a strolling circus troupe making it something of a cross between L'elisir d'amore and Pagliacci. Full of clichés and superficiality it runs the risk of being lost in a sea of saccharine. But wisely the NBR New Zealand Opera have imported Daniel Slater's 1998 production from Opera North which updates the work to 1972 bringing an eastern bloc aesthetic to the work at a time when Czechoslovakia was undergoing political turmoil.

Slater and designer Robert Innes Hopkins have set the opera in the real life village of Belcice which epitomises the dourness of Eastern Europe at that time. The sets for the production are spare and ugly - an electric pylon and cables dominate the left side of the stage, with a simple raised platform filling most of the centre. Hopkins costumes are equally grungy and cringe inducing- fashion and style has yet to hit this impoverished part of Europe.

But despite the glumness of the settings Slater has managed to imbue the production with life and colour. While the villagers may live in oppressed times they are an energetic and fun loving bunch of people who come across as individuals rather than as a massed group - one's eye is often drawn to an individual chorus member acting out his small but important character. The community created by the chorus is pivotal to the performance as are a number of larger than life characters: the overbearing Mayor, Kecal, the stuttering Vasek and his imperious mother Hata. Add to this a dazzling circus sequence and you have a performance that is full of exuberance, charm and wit.

Anna Leese and Peter Wedd make a charming young pair of lovers Marenka and Jenik. Leese's voice has grown and darkened since she last sang here, perhaps losing some its sweetness, but she nevertheless portrays effectively the passions of youth, while Wedd is suitably ardent in voice and demeanour. They have to work hard to portray their love as the grunginess of their costumes and Wedd's wig do nothing to help.

Conal Coad is a rather likeable rogue as the mayor and marriage broker Kecal. This updated production perhaps demands a more authoritarian portrayal, but Coad nevertheless uses all his vocal and acting abilities to create a thoroughly enjoyable character. Andrew Glover is impressive too as the bumbling Vasek, not overplaying his stutter and winning some sympathy in this very unsympathetic part.

The smaller roles are all extremely well etched. John Antoniou and Patricia Wright as Krusina and Ludmila, Marenka's simple peasant parents, contrast nicely with the Ceausescu-like portrayal of Micha and Hata by Richard Green and Helen Medlyn. Taryn Fiebig is an effervescent Esmerelda showing considerable talent as a circus performer!

In the pit Oliver von Dohnanyi and the Auckland Philharmonia give a sparkling account of the famous overture, and offer sensitive accompaniment throughout the remainder of the evening.

The Bartered Bride may not have the wit and charm of L'elisir d'amore or the drama of Pagliacci, but nevertheless in Slater's detailed and well crafted production it proves to be an evening of many pleasures.

Text © Michael Sinclair
Photo © Neil Mackenzie
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