Gazzaniga's Alcina's Island - a fizzing romp from Bampton Classical Opera at The Barn, Old Walland

Thomas Blunt (Conductor)

Jeremy Gray (Director)

Christian Hey (Assistant Director)

Karen Halliday (Movement Director)

Inna Husieva (Alcina)

Sarah Chae (Lesbia)

Charlotte Badham (Clizia)

Dafydd Allen (La Rose)

Monwabisi Lindi (Brunoro)

Jonathan Eyers (Don Lopes)

Magnus Walker (James)

Owain Rowlands (Baron Brikbrak)

The Orchestra of Bampton Classical Opera

Bampton Classical Opera

6.30pm, Saturday 31 August, 2024

The Barn at Old Walland, Wadhurst

Giuseppe Gazzaniga (1743-1818): L'Isola d'Alcina (Alcina's Island)

(libretto by Giovanni Bertati (1735-1815), translated by Gilly French) 

Sarah Chae (Lesbia), Monwabisi Lindi (Brunoro),
Owain Rowlands, (Brikbrak), Charlotte Badham (Clizia),
Jonathan Eyers (Don Lopes) & Dafydd Allen (La Rose) 
© Anthony Hall

A Frenchman, an Italian, a Spaniard and an Englishman all walk into a barn… And if that sounds like the start of a joke, well, Gazzaniga’s take on L’Isola d’Alcina, or Alcina’s Island, is a jolly romp, packed full of witty jibes at national stereotypes, all done with affectionate wit, and director, Jeremy Gray’s production really brings out the playful comedy throughout. So librettist Giovanni Bertati’s take here on the original story in Ariosto’s Orlando Furiosa (which in turn, drew on Circe in Homer’s Odyssey) is that the four men declare an oath to resist the enchantment of Alcina, but it takes the efforts of Alcina’s servants, and the late arrival of a German, Baron Brikbak to secure their escape (or do they?...). With three performances behind them in Oxfordshire & Gloucestershire, Bampton Classical Opera visited the charming setting of The Barn at Old Walland in East Sussex for another outing, before their final performance at Smith Square Hall (Friday 13 September). 

 

Magnus Walker (James), Monwabisi Lindi (Brunoro),
Jonathan Eyers (Don Lopes) & Inna Husieva (Alcina)
© Anthony Hall

In the considerably smaller space provided by the stage at The Barn, the cast nevertheless delivered a joyful performance, the restrictions of space somehow even adding to the comedic effect. For example, Brikbrak and Lesbia creeping back and forth across the stage in their attempt to escape from Alcina, only a couple of feet away from them made the nonsense of it all even funnier. However, I was nervous, thankfully unnecessarily, that someone – particularly the very tall Don Lopes – would crack their head ducking on and off the stage. Apparently, some scenery items had to be jettisoned (a lion was banished to sit on the lawn outside the stage door), but the staging and simple lighting effects were effective nonetheless. Costumes were bright and eclectic, with ample use of beachwear and props, and identifying features for the men – a fedora and red cape for the Spaniard, striped top for the Frenchman, you get the idea. Alcina had a couple of costume changes, ending with a glorious cape revealing lights and dragons for her parting curse on the escapees. 

 

Owain Rowlands (Brikbrak)
& Sarah Chae (Lesbia)
© Anthony Hall

The music is lively and bright throughout, and Blunt and his small band of players took things at a spirited pace. Ensemble was on the whole pretty tight, apart from a couple of pickups, and there was some fine playing from the horns in particular, with incisive harpsichord accompaniments to the brief recitatives from Alex Norton. Whilst there aren’t really any showstopping arias, the music pushes along the action well, and the balance between the band and singers was carefully judged throughout. And there are some fine ensemble pieces, with a glorious opening chorus from the four men, and a joyous septet at the end of Act I. Gilly French's translation also added fizz to proceedings, with some great rhyming puns and even a reversal of 'Your tiny hand is frozen' for Alcina when she realises Brikbrak's power in a handshake. 'The Frenchman has gone doolally' led to a clever string of rhymes, but unfortunately I couldn't quite catch them all at the rapid pace. And the Eurovision Song Conests even gets a look in, when the singers compete to find the best 'Arietta' to make La Rose feel 'better' after drinking too much of Alcina's potion.

 

Bampton Classical Opera at The Barn
© Nick Boston

Inna Husieva’s Alcina began on the lighter side, but gained in power as her role developed, achieving suitable scariness by the end. The strongest vocal performances of the evening came from Dafydd Allen as La Rose, with mellow tone and great comedic gusto throughout, and Charlotte Badham as Clizia, delivering the most assured vocal line with equally strong comedic instincts. But when it came to comedy, Owain Rolands as Brikbrak took this to even greater heights with a fine line in gestures and silent actions alongside his rich baritone lines. Monwabisi Lindi’s Brunoro had a suitably Italianate tenorial twang, with some deft coloratura, and Jonathan Eyers was commanding as Don Lopes, with some fancy cape work as well. Sarah Chae’s Lesbia was bright and playful, and Magnus Walker’s James was light and engaging, with suitably English reserve. As a company, they blended well together in the ensemble pieces. Although squeezing all eight on stage at once was clearly a challenge, they made it work and clearly were all having a ball.

 

All in all, this was another great success for Bampton Classical Opera on their third visit to The Barn, and we look forward to their return next year.

The Barn at Old Walland
© Nick Boston

Inna Husieva (Alcina)
 © Jeremy Gray

Alcina's Island at The Barn
© Jeremy Gra

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