LONDON CITY NIGHTS

Thursday, March 12, 2015

'Mozart's Die Entführung (The Abduction)' at Robert Kime, 10th March 2015

Thursday, March 12, 2015 - by londoncitynights · - 0 Comments

Pop-Up Opera's 2014 production of Cosi Fan Tutte marked the first time I genuinely, wholeheartedly enjoyed opera. It's not like I wasn't trying during the humongous ENO productions I attended, but the deadly combination of soothing music, extremely comfy seats and a dose of wine sent me into a cosy snooze. Not so with this company; their objective is to make opera "enjoyable and inviting", which they achieve via the comic/vocal talents of their players and their nose for tracking down fascinating venues.

That nose is how I found myself looking for an antiques shop in Bloomsbury as the sun set on Tuesday evening. Robert Kime's shop turns out to be a wonderful space to host an opera. The place has only been open a couple of years, but the wealth of antiques crammed inside makes it easy to imagine Londoners past reclining on beautifully restored Georgian sofas or imperiously sat behind mahogany Victorian desks. High above everything sits a painting of a classical ruin, the painting itself a ruin: oils fading into shades of brown and a small, worn hole in the canvas. 

It's a wonderfully relaxing place to be, the air heavy with the smell of old wood, perfume, tea and a smidge of varnish. The surroundings prove to be well suited to Pop-Up Opera's interpretation of Mozart's Die Entführung. This is the story of the hero Belmonte (William Smith) and his sidekick Pedrillo (Tom Morss). They're on a mission to rescue their girlfriends, Konstanze (Eve Daniell) and her assistant Blonde (Emily Philips) from the harem of Pasha Salim. Standing in their way is the brutish overseer Osmin (Marcin Gesla), bent on the impaling, torture and execution of any would-be knights in shining armour. To save the fair maidens, our heroes must use all their wits and guile as they pray that their lover's virtues are intact.

But Pop-Up Opera, though steadfastly sticking to Mozart musically and vocally (the opera is performed in German), certainly aren't purists. They approach the material with tongue firmly lodged in cheek, every opportunity for an irreverent comment eagerly seized and exploited. So, Pasha Salim's harem becomes "Big Brother's Beauty Booty Camp", Belmonte and Konstanze are engaged in an online relationship and character motivation is conveyed by Facebook status updates or iMessaging.

Video displays to the right of singers keep up a constant stream of asides on the action, often hilariously undermining the emotional intensity of the music. So, a beautifully performed, hugely melodramatic diva-like outpouring of sadness is summarised as "I miss my online boyfriend :'(". It's refreshing to be encouraged to laugh during the opera, Pop-Up Opera immediately defining themselves in opposition to the staid, buttoned down tradition where so much as coughing can attract the snootiest of snooty glares.

Silly though things can get (and boy can they get silly), the show is anchored by the considerable talents of the cast. Eve Daniell, who impressed me so much in last year's Cosi Fan Tutte, barnstorms her way through Konstanze, the virtuoso arias sending shivers down my spine. Neatly balancing the comedy aspects of her character with genuine affection she's a wonder to watch. Similarly excellent is Emily Phillips as Blonde, whose beautiful voice simply drips with personality, elevated by her expressive body language.

Mozart and Donkey Kong - together at last!

The men also impress, Paul Hopwood and Tom Morss hilariously puffing themselves up with swashbuckling confidence. There's a moment late in the play where they casually insult their girlfriends and must plead for forgiveness; each falling to their knees in melodramatic contrition. But it was Marcin Gesla's Osmin that stuck most firmly in the mind, his booming bass and slightly confused demeanour making every second he was on stage an absolute treat.

My only minor criticism is that at times things are a bit too irreverent. Die Entführung is undoubtedly a comedy, but tucked within are nuggets of high emotion - the constancy of Konstanze, the anger of Osmin and the shaky confience of Belmonte. Most importantly, the psychic pain of the separated lovers is never treated as something to laugh it. So when we're watching a character sing their heart out via Mozart's stunningly beautiful music, the tingle in your soul is a bit dampened when you glance to the screens and see some snarky comment about her keenly played misery.

That only slightly undermines the action and the soul of Mozart's opera remains firmly intact - but with the raw skill of these performers how could it not? Pop-Up Opera remain the single most engaging opera company I know, to the point of asking me to musically participate in the scene by banging some cups together!

When I walked into Robert Kime I hardly expected to leave being able to say that I'd provided (minor) musical accompaniment to a Mozart opera, but it's experiences like this this that keep a Pop-Up Opera production such fresh, dynamic and exciting prospect. If you're on the fence about opera I highly recommend them; they're a company with real heart, vigorously pumping fresh blood into the artform.

★★★★

Pop-Up Opera's Mozart's Die Entführung is at various locations around the country until 24th April. Full listings here.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

'Cosi fan tutte' by Pop-up Opera, 18th June 2014

Thursday, June 19, 2014 - by londoncitynights · - 0 Comments

Up to now I've had a fractious relationship with opera.  I've always appreciated it, looked forward to it and on the whole just about enjoyed just about everything I've seen, but at the same time I've never really felt that burning passion that you see in proper opera lovers . One of my favourite films is Fitzcarraldo, and I've always envied the title character's passion for Caruso, to the extent that his mission is to build an opera house in the middle of the jungle.  So it's unfortunate that on the rare occasions I've been to the ENO I've never quite felt it.  

Partially this is because orchestral music has a soporific effect on me: no matter how much I'm enjoying myself it's as if I've been hit with a tranquilliser dart.  Partially it's because when I do go to the ENO they put me in the highest, most distant seat in the house, making the people on stage looking like particularly tuneful ants.  Partially it's because I often don't know what the hell is going on; "Why is that fat guy stabbing himself?" or "Wait, is that woman a ghost?".  All these reasons leave me with the queasy sensation that I'm the only person in the room not quite getting it.  But after seeing Pop-up Opera's Cosi fan tutte I can proudly say that I have genuinely enjoyed and appreciated an opera.  Not just any opera either, a proper one, by Mozart and everything!  

Formed in 2011, the company is dedicated to making opera "enjoyable and inviting", dragging it out of drafty establishment halls where red wine is served at £6 a glass by snooty barmen and into the obscure dives I'm more comfortable hanging out in; boats made of scrap metal; a garlic farm; tunnels under London; candlelit underground caverns.  Last night was in the slightly more prosaic (but no less pleasant) The Whip bar above The Running Horse pub, near Bond Street.

Eve Daniell as Fiordiligi

Walking into the bar I spied an old Victorian sofa in the front row and made a beeline for it, sinking into the comfortably squashed cushions.  Soon I had a frosty mint julep in my paws and with the evening sun streaming in I was happy before anyone had even warmed up their voicebox.  My mood only improved as I quickly realised that there's a huge difference between watching an opera singer trotting round a huge stage a hundred meters away and having them right in your face, staring straight at you, singing their guts out.  At this distance you can see their tongues trilling in their mouths, their chests rising and falling with the music, their cheeks vibrating as the music flows out of them.

And what music!  When a decent number of the cast are in full flow the music fills up this small room and spills out into the bustling London evening.  I don't have the ear to be able to tell an excellent opera singer from a 'merely' great one, but everybody in this cast throws themselves into the music with a combination of technical excellence and personality, priming everything with great heaping dollops of emotion and sincerity.  This is most clear in the two women the opera revolves around, Fiordiligi and Dorabella; their torn hearts and confused passions painfully palpable in their arias, particularly in Fiordiligi's despair as she slumps over a fireplace, trying her hardest to convince herself of her love.

Oskar McCarthy as Guglielmo

This despair aside, Cosi fan tutte is most definitely comedy (and a very funny comedy at that). In my experience, the further you climb up the cultural ladder the less funny comedies become, so I was surprised to not only find myself laughing a lot, but actually being encouraged to laugh (even over the singing).  Much of the humour stems from the wonderful title cards projected overhead during the performance.  These range from a wry description of the scene you're about to see, an aside to the audience gently mocking the opera's extremely questionable gender politics or just poking fun at the character's ridiculous situation.  For example; as the women decry the arrival of their foreign suitors we read "Nigel Farage told us this was going to happen!" or when the (super obvious) identity of a character is revealed; "Should have gone to Specsavers...".

Also (surprisingly given that the entire thing was sung in Italian), the plot was very easy to follow.  I chalk this up to a performance philosophy which understands that the precise words sung aren't hugely important, it's the way in which they're sung.  When I attend more conventional operas I get caught up reading the surtitles and miss out on the minutia of the music, so the lack of distraction here is very welcome.

Clementine Lovell as Despina

While the cast was uniformly fantastic, I've got to single out Clementine Lovell as one of the reasons I had such a great night.  As the maid Despina she's the comedy heart of the play. Even when she's not the centre of attention, you can glance over to her and guarantee she'll be doing something funny. One of the biggest laughs in the show was a simple facial expression by her, a "get a load of this guy!" flick of the head as another character puffed themselves up.  A definite highlight was her solo performance during It's a Maid's Life, a perfect showcase of a vibrant, chaotic, pleasantly playful character.

Pop-up Opera's raison d'être is to awaken new audiences to the possibilities of opera, and in this individual instance they've more than succeeded.  I'm incredibly happy that, hand on heart, I can now say I've truly appreciated and enjoyed an opera.  Up to now I thought it might never happen, but the professionalism, friendliness and sheer energy of their Cosi fan tutte was just the ticket.  I can't really imagine anyone that wouldn't enjoy this.

Cosi fan tutte is popping up over the place until 31st July. Tickets here.