Bampton Classical Opera bring effervescent Haydn to East Sussex

Madeline Robinson (Volpino) & Henry Ross (Mengone)
(from Northern Aldborough Festival)

Bampton Classical Opera is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Their focus has always been on performing lesser-known 18th century opera, and they work with young singers early on in their careers. Whilst their home is in Oxfordshire, they occasionally venture further afield, and last year visited for the first time the glorious setting of The Barn at Old Walland, near Wadhurst in East Sussex. This year they returned for a performance of Haydn’s opera buffa, The Apothecary (Lo speziale), Hob. 28/3.

Haydn wrote at least 15 or so full operas, yet compared to the rest of his output, they are mostly little known, and rarely performed. They are on the whole light affairs, mostly performed for the private consumption of the Esterhazys, and were perhaps eclipsed by the scale of Mozart’s operatic success. But this doesn’t entirely explain the neglect of Haydn’s works, and The Apothecary, despite its perhaps predictable plot based on rival suitors, disguise and triumph of love, actually anticipates quite closely Mozart’s Così fan tutte, even down to Mengone and Volpino’s disguises, firstly as bearded notaries and then as ‘exotic’ Turks. Whilst the full libretto has survived, most of Haydn’s original music for Act 2 is lost, and has been reconstructed by H C Robbins Landon. Nonetheless, the score is full of life and variety, with strong momentum driving the action forward at all times. The Orchestra of BCO, a 9-piece band (single strings, with oboes and horns), were sprightly and energetic throughout, with shapely conducting from Mark Austin bringing out the detail and spark in Haydn’s score, setting the scene right from the lively overture with its graceful central minuet.

Henry Ross (Mengone) & Iúnó Connolly (Grilletta)
(from Northern Aldborough Festival)

Henry Ross as Mengone set the scene well with his warm, winning tone, and he captured the humour of being put-upon by boss Sempronio but also being shown up as rather cowardly against Iúnó Connolly’s feisty Grilletta. By and large John Warrack’s translation of Carlo Goldoni’s libretto works well, although a few jokes suffer a little from over repetition (‘Detonate a motion’ and ‘Your bowels will surely move’ works once or twice, but…). Connolly’s Grilletta delivered the fullest, most rounded voice of the cast, contrasting sweetness with anger and determination, with a bell-like top. Madeline Robinson’s Volpino gave the strongest comic turn, with scene-stealing wry expressions behind the other characters, and indignation and frustration oozing from her nimble vocal lines. Guy Beynon’s Sempronio was clear and bright, and he portrayed the old apothecary well as slightly bumbling and obsessed with his newspapers. More weight in the voice would have given greater authority to his bouts of anger, but as a professional debut this was impressive - definitely one to watch.

Guy Beynon (Sempronio)
(from Northern Aldborough Festival)

The dodgy notary costumes brought an element of pantomime to proceedings, and Ross and Robinson made the most of the comedy here. Similarly, they had fun with their ‘Turk’ disguises, despite the libretto sailing close to the wind in terms of ethnic sensitivities. And of course, the rapid resolution ended with a joyful quartet. The set, given the constraints of space, was simple yet effective, the only main item on stage being the apothecary’s cabinet, with a few chairs. Subtle lighting also added colour and changes of mood throughout. The use of mid-air mimed locking and unlocking of a door stage left appeared out of kilter, but otherwise, good use was made of the space available. Otherwise, this was a clever and well-executed staging from Director Jeremy Gray, full of effervescent humour and a light touch throughout.

The cast, The Barn at Old Walland

The wonderful barn setting and heat of the evening added an air of intimacy and summer fun to proceedings, and all was highly appreciated by the sold-out audience. The Barn at Old Walland plan more events, not necessarily just opera, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for their future plans. Hopefully Bampton Classical Opera will return soon too.

The Barn at Old Walland