Gilbert & Sullivan, The Gondoliers. New production supported by the English Opera Group, dir. Martin Duncan: English National Opera at the London Coliseum. Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of the ENO, cond. Richard Balcombe. Saturday 18.11.2006 (ME)

 

 

David Curry (Marco),Toby Stafford-Allen (Giuseppe) & Donald Maxwell (Don Alhambra)

 

 

 Why, you could almost see the ghost of Reynaldo Hahn, louchely sidling along the Dorsoduro, admiring all those lovely Gondolieri and idly wondering why the flocks of girls were dressed in what looked like flowery tents. Conceived as a pop-up picture book of the city, viewed from the perspective of the Giudecca (well, of course) this was ENO’s first ever staging of Gilbert and Sullivan’s last great success, dazzlingly designed by Ashley Martin-Davis. When you put the phrases ‘ENO’ and ‘G&S’ in the same sentence you automatically think of the immortal Jonathan Miller Mikado, and I would go so far as to say that this sparkling production, vibrantly set in 1950s Venice and graced with some stellar singing, will be as loved and often revived as Miller’s classic. That this ‘Gondoliers’ also showcased an unusual number of house debuts including both director and conductor, only adds to the lustre of ENO's achievement.

 

 

Stephanie Marshall (Tessa) & Sarah Tynan (Gianetta)

 

Let’s be absolutely clear about one thing: The Gondoliers is not an English Così fan Tutte or Die Zauberflöte, whatever similarities to the former you might find in the farewell scene and the ‘In a contemplative fashion’ quartet, and to the latter in the ending: nor is it a deeply philosophical consideration of the relationship between kings and their subjects – it is an exquisitely, sometimes sharply funny romp, full of idiotic patter and short on narrative development, but who cares? ENO’s production puts singing and entertainment values first, and does so with great success.

 

Our two Gondolieri were sung and acted with delectable campness by David Curry, in a distinguished debut, and ENO stalwart Toby Stafford-Allen: both were as slick in their dance routines, as unctuous in their wooing, as anyone could desire, and both sang with ringing tone, nowhere more so than in Curry’s ‘Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes’ (in which Mike Leigh finds ‘appalling sexism’ – oh, come on!) Their sweethearts were delightfully taken by Sarah Tynan and Stephanie Marshall, and the ‘other lovers’ were given strongly characterized performances by Rebecca Bottone and Robert Murray, both making notable house debuts.

 

Ann Murray (Duchess of Plaza-Toro) & Geoffrey Dolton (Duke of Plaza-Toro)

 

The Duke and Duchess were in the safe hands of Ann Murray and Geoffrey Dolton: I felt that Murray was not quite her usual characterful self either in tone or stage presence, and I’m sure her role will ripen as the production progresses – Dolton’s ‘celebrated, cultivated, underrated Nobleman’ however, came to us as a fully rounded, delectably pompous creation – a treasurable performance. Equally notable was Donald Maxwell’s Don Alhambra: got up to look uncannily like Alun Armstrong as Inspector Bucket in the recent BBC version of Bleak House, his timing was spot on and his singing could hardly be bettered, with diction to render the surtitles superfluous: Maxwell was my standard for assumptions of the role of Wozzeck until Matthias Goerne came along, and it’s remarkable that one singing actor can so excel in two such widely different roles.

 

The Chorus entered into the spirit of the production with great gusto, although there were a few moments of indistinct articulation here and there, especially from the ladies. The orchestra likewise played enthusiastically for Richard Balcombe, but I imagine that first night nerves must have accounted for the occasional droop in cadence and the odd lack of volume at moments where one might have expected a but more in the way of ‘oompah-pah.’  

 

The production puts us in Venice at around 1955, perhaps in Film Festival time, and is a riot of lollipop colour from the bright bridges to the vibrant dresses and hats of the ladies who long for these fine examples of the best young men that Italy has to offer: the choreography, by Jonathan Lunn, is snappily conceived and offers a Cachucha which I can’t imagine being done better. The set piece routines for the two gondoliers are dashed off with aplomb, and as for the second act ‘Spa’ – well, darlings, I have never been quite so near to chortling ‘Oh yeah?’ when Giuseppe says of female society ‘We can do without everything else, but we can’t do without that,’ since there was everything here that any buff young fellow about town might desire, including an inviting piscina  which might have sprung from one of Hockney’s sketches for ‘Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool’ – and all those yummy chaps, invitingly clad in variations of the romper suit. Delectable. I loved it all, and so will you: ENO has a sure-fire hit on its hands -  the perfect Christmas show if you’d like a break from all that ‘Bah, Humbug.’

 

Melanie Eskenazi

 

Pictures © English National Opera and Tristram Kenton