No 43 -- 1995 Edited by Michael Walters
8/7/91
The other photostat is just a little about the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Victoria, taken from the back of their programme for last week's production of THE SORCERER, preceded by THE ZOO. This was my first chance to see the latter piece, which has in fact been done at least twice in Melbourne in recent years, but I had to miss it as I was working as a restaurant pianist at the time. I do have the record of this work which the Fulham Light Opera Co. did for Rare Recorded Editions (and hasn't it been recorded more recently - and more satisfactorily) - so it was a pleasure to see it on the stage. Not too much to say about this slight work of the early Sullivan (is 1875 "early"?) except that, I suppose, the forces available on stage were probably suited to a fairly lightweight work. SORCERER was adequately performed, but nothing startling. I have seen this opera done over the years many times by the same G&S Society, and done quite well - good strong chorus and principals, and an admirable orchestra. However, the current society is not as strong as in previous days, and the performance never rose above the "amateur" level, although Dr. Daly and Sir Marmaduke were very commendable - the former especially. Alexis and Aline wore Victorian morning dress - no allusion at all to the fact that Alexis is a member of the Grenadier Guards. Apart from this the tenor who took the part was so outrageously effeminate that he sounded like a papal castrato, and wafted, sighed and minced his way through his part in a way that made me squirm. (He had been cast as Strephon in IOLANTHE, which I saw about the end of '89, and was terribly limp. I was hoping that they'd got rid of him by now). Mrs. Partlett was broad cockney - in both senses of the word. J.W. Wells was too boisterous and rather crass: he should, I imagine, have a sort of superior detachment. Orchestra unbalanced - instrumental forces not properly matched: the usual case of too much brass and too few strings. Woodwind all right and played played on cue for the most part. Why is this section of the orchestra always worst for coming in on wrong cues, I wonder? Percussion was limited to a bass drum and cymbal, the latter being struck lightly as a substitute for a triangle - which simply doesn't work! I distinctly heard timpani being tuned during the warm-up, but they seemed not to play at all in the performance. Such a deep pit that I couldn't really see anything except the tops of heads. The scenery was very pleasing, with a terrace of aspidistras and potted plants. The refreshment tent had already done service for the same purpose in THE ZOO. The performance was quite enjoyable, but - as I said - it never rose above the "amateur". You will be interested to see on the information I enclose, that the Society's next offering is to be IVANHOE.
DAVID THOMAS
Sumptuously dressed by Roger Kirk, this is a glittering, extravagant, swirling and smoothly efficient production in which virtually all the details fall together beautifully and there is barely a hiccup or a false gesture. Of the many attractive productions we have had from Stuart Maunder since the late '70s, it must be rated with the best. It welds the sets and costumes, and the choreography of Lindsay Dolan (constantly active, but not fussy or overdone), into a strikingly mobile ensemble in which the interplay of colour and pattern is swift and harmonious. Into this ensemble the movement of the soloists and of the chorus is set with the surest touch.
One of its virtues, perhaps the most notable of all, is that there is always present a sense of exuberance, of a kind which often enough boils over into excess and vulgarity, but which here is kept under the tightest but most gentle control. One case in point. The audience alone took up the "fairy" theme as a matter for hilarious fallings-about: until, at least, it became quite plain that the production was avoiding the cheap laughs it could have milked from the fact that Strephon was half-human and half-fairy. It was right in this, by contrast with the slack D'Oyly Carte production seen in Melbourne 10 or 11 years ago. [Did the D.O.C. do this? Ed]. It was right, because, as I discover, the use of the term "fairy" to mean homosexual dates from about 1921,by which time both G&S had lost interest.
On Tuesday, the single touch on innuendo came quite late, when Fiona Maconaghie swept her eyes two or three times up and down Simon Burke's figure, just after learning about his half-and-halfness. How chaste a gesture this was, how welcome, and how funny, after some of the insufferable campings-up and tediously drawn-out mincings we have had to put up with on the operatic stage since the 1970s.
Kirk's sets, with their flying fairies, various levels, multiple gauzes, colours, tasteful static back-projections, worked exceptionally well. A single creak occurred with the descent of the great staircase, which may have needed sturdier mechanics or more finely tuned engineering.
From the group of soloists, it seemed to me on Tuesday that things were a fraction muted, in terms of both voice and personality. I would expect this to become easier as the season moves on. Rhonda Burchmore's stage work was exemplary (although the Ginger Rogers tap-dancing fell a bit out of style), but her singing was strictly cabaret. Reg Livermore played a well-etched part which remained a little under-projected, as if he were keen to keep his natural ebullience curbed. He could have afforded to be much more relaxed and unbuttoned, without disturbing the balanced tact of the production. The Strephon of Simon Burke was effective matinee-theatre style, quite lightly sung. Helen Noonan's Iolanthe was unexceptional, as were the singing and acting of the principal fairies Amanda Colliver, Alison Rae Jones, and Bette Opitz.
Fiona Maconaghie gave us a trim and tactful and well-sung Phyllis. Geoffrey Harris's Tolloller was able but a mite tentative. Of the men, those who radiated most of the presence were the excellent John Bolton-Wood, who twinkled and sparkled around splendidly as Mountararat, and Noel Mangin, portly, saturated with stage wisdom, and giving a performance which is bound to become famous as an imitation of Rumpole of the Bailey impersonating a Guardsman.
Warwick Stengards presided very impressively. His treatment of the overture - calm, relaxed, and with fine instrumental balance - was a token of what was to come in his conducting. His integration of stage and pit was very good, and the quality and balance of sound he drew from the orchestra were deeply attractive. The contributions of the woodwind were especially neat and delicate. Without passing up any chance to make it an entertaining and impressive experience in the theatre, this production shows a commendable respect for G and for S. A note in the printed programme says that Iolanthe's "potential for modernisation is doubtful", that it "does not need to be updated", and that "The fact that the operetta has survived for over a hundred years ... is reason enough (not to radicalise Iolanthe)". These are admirable sentiments. Their observance made this a particularly happy and enjoyable premiere, and indicated that respect for composers and their librettists is productive as well as proper.
Might I suggest, with appropriate diffidence, that VSO transfer the same comsideration and the same courtesy to its staging of a certain other opera, which has now survived for about 205 years, and which may have even stronger claims to "non-radicalisation" than Iolanthe.
KENNETH HINCE
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