ENSEMBLES CONCERT (Royal Opera/Linbury Studio)****

 

By Dave

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v62xt34iI20

Available until: Unknown but most of the Royal Opera videos are available until 24^th November.

The Ensembles Concert was presented as part of Meet the Young Artists Week and it featured all the current Jette Parker Young Artists, along with their very welcome gatecrasher, last year’s graduate German Alcantara. They sing several duets (some of which became trios for part of the scene), some well-known and some not, before singing a quartet as a finale.

It would have been nice to see them all onstage together at the end but fitting eight people onto the Linbury Studio Theatre stage (even if a suitable opera can be found for the right voice-types) probably isn’t the most sensible thing to do at the moment and even the quartet didn’t look that easy. It’s better to stay safe.

Besides, what we did get was a brilliant concert with some very varied duets. One thing I really like is that they aren’t all love duets. Opera is known for its romance but here we also got to see siblings, friends (well, for some of the duet) and a mother and daughter. Opera has some great relationships of all kinds and it’s good to be reminded of that – or to learn it for the first time if you’re new to opera.

The concert could be said to have been set up as a story. Stephanie Wake-Edwards and Alexandra Lowe give us a playful opening as they take on the roles of Hansel and Gretel. But as the concert goes on, more and more dramas are brought into the story and although there is some sadness with Les contes d’Hoffman, we do finally get a La rondine happy ending. Not what you expect from Puccini (and the quartet isn’t the ending of the opera) but it’s a great way to end all the same.

Along the way there’s so much to enjoy. There are well-known duets from Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlo, a selection which are performed fairly often (though I admit I’ve never seen or heard La favorita), and a couple of much rarer ones like La donna del lago (which I have heard) and L’amico Fritz (which I haven’t).

The singers are fantastic, as they have been throughout this week (I wouldn’t have blamed them for fatigued voices, but there was no sign of it). Ksenia Nicolaeva (who later displays stunning bel canto coloratura) and Filipe Manu are a passionate couple in La favorita. Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha is touchingly anxious as Boccanegra’s Amelia, waiting for her ardent lover, sung by Andres Presno. Blaise Mataba and German Alcantara give an impression of mental and physical power to match their impressive vocal power in Don Carlo. David Gowland, Michael Sikich and Michael Papadopolous all feature as accompanists.

There is so much to enjoy here. I’ve always wanted to go to a Meet the Young Artists Week but I don’t think I’ve ever managed to see more than one concert in a single week. Much as I hate the reason for it, I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to ‘meet’ the Young Artists online and I’ve enjoyed getting to know them very much. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next.