Grétry
L’Amant Jaloux
Pinchgut Opera
PINCHGUT LIVE PG008
★★★★✩
Pinchgut triumphs in hilarious
tale of mistaken identities
Without André Grétry (1741-
1813) there wouldn’t be opera
asweknowit.ThefirstFrench
composer to successfully marry
French and Italian styles in the
Classical period, Grétry’s melodic
anddramaticgiftscoupledwitha
strongdesiretopushoperatoits
limits ensured his lasting fame.
First performed at Versailles in
1778beforeLouisXVIandMarie
Antoinette,L’A m a n t J a l o u x , o u L e s
Fausses Apparences(The Jealous
Lover,orFalseAppearances)was
an immediate success. The setting
is Cadiz, Spain. The rich Don
Lopez (baritone David Greco)
forbids his widowed daughter
Léonore(sopranoCeleste
Lazarenko) to marry again. But
sheisinlovewiththeeponymous
jealouslover,DonAlonze(tenor
EdLyon),whohasasisterIsabelle
(soprano Alexandra Oomens), who
isLéonore’sfriendandthebeloved
of French officer Florival (tenor
Andrew Goodwin). Without giving
toomuchaway,muchmayhem
ensues before the happy ending.
Erin Helyard directs cast and
orchestra–bothofwhichare
uniformlyexcellent–fromthe
keyboard with great attention
todetailyetwithasuregrasp
of forward momentum. We also
getsnippetsofEnglishdialogue
whichmusthavemadelive
performances from which this
recording was made an absolute
joy, as well as twoEntr’actesin
theformofamovementfroma
Hummel Mandolin Concerto and
Grétry’s own Flute Concerto in C.
This is fun music-making at
its serious best.Will Yeoman
Smyth
The Boatswain’s Mate
Nadine Benjamins,TheLontano
Ensemble/Odaline de la Martinez
RETROSPECTOPERA.ORG.UK
★★★★✩DameEthel’sgreatesthit
receives its operatic due at lastPooroldEthelSmyth.Afine
composer, she had the misfortune
to be a) English and b) a woman,
bothofwhichhavecondemnedher
to musical purgatory for much of
the70yearssinceherdeath.Still,
Der Wald(never recorded) was
theonlyoperabyawomantobe
stagedattheMetuntilSaariaho’s
L’A m o u r d e L o i nin 2016.
The Boatswain’s Mate(1914) is
asmall-scalebutquintessential
English comic opera. The widow
and publican Mrs Waters is
wooedrelentlesslybyaretired
boatswain. When he recruits an
unemployed soldier to frighten her
into thinking she needs protecting,
matters are turned upside down,
with unexpected results for Mrs
Waters’headandheart.ActI
employsspokendialogue,adevice
awkwardlydroppedinActII,and
some sections go on far too long, but
it’sawinninglibrettosettohighly
attractive music and incorporates
elements of folk and popular song
–itevenquotesSmyth’ssuffragette
anthem,TheMarchoftheWomen,
thoughtheworkreallydoesn’town
thefeministcredentialsthatare
sometimes claimed for it.
Thisworldpremiereisconducted
byOdalinedelaMartinezwho
directed the marvelous first
recordingofSmyth’sThe Wreckers
back in the 1990s. The reduced
band is fine, the singers all
acceptable (though the dialogue is
rather poorly done). Only available
direct from Retropect Opera, it’s
wellworthacquiringifyouare
aloverofmusicalcomedyorof
English music in general.CPhttp://www.limelightmagazine.com.au MAY 2017LIMELIGHT 83
REVIEWSOAida
Arias
Aida Garifullinas,ORFRadio-
Symphonieorchester Wien/Cornelius Meister
DECCA 4788305
★★★★✩Operalia winner Aida Garifullina was signed to an exclusive
recording contract by Decca back in 2015. It has taken a
while,butnow,withthereleaseofherself-titleddebutalbum
–anexquisiteselectionof19th-centurysongs,ariasandfolk-
lullabies – we can finally hear why.
TheRussianlyricsopranohasawonderfultechnicalease
which,coupledwithafull,eventone,promisesmuchforthe
future.But,incaseyou’rejudgingasingerbyherrepertoire,it’s
worthpointingoutthatthisdiscdoesn’ttellthewholestory.
Glancing down the generous programme from Juliette’s
Je veux vivreto theBell SongfromLakméandtheQueenof
Shemakha’s two arias fromThe Golden Cockerel, you’d imagine
perhapsalighter,highervoicethanyouactuallyget.It’sa
sleight-of-handthat’sfarfromunpleasant.Transposeddown
a tone, the Delibes gains in resonance and colour – these
are bells of burnished gold rather than silver – and while
Garifullina’s Juliette feels more poised society hostess than
love-struckinnocent,she’soneyou’dclearyourschedulefor.
Coloratura showpieces aside, the bulk of the disc comprises
Russian repertoire, much of it glancing to the East and drawing
onthesoprano’sTatarheritage.Garifullinaisatherbestin
theheady,heavyexoticismofRimsky-Korsakov’sSong of India
fromSadko,theromanceofRachmaninov’sSirenand his
exquisite extendedVocalise,sungherewithrealdelicacyand
a sense of nostalgia that’s never overworked.
Buthereaselsewhere,despiteaprogrammethatshould
comewithahighsugar-contentwarning,there’salackof
indulgence to Garufullina’s delivery, a refusal to deviate from
metronomicprecision,thatgivesthemusicaslightstiffness.
Everything is very correct, and efficiently accompanied by
CorneliusMeisterandtheORFRadioSymphonyOrchestra,
but lacking the authority and, most impotantly, the playful
musical manipulation that more experience will hopefully
bring to this exciting young performer.ACA delicious debut from Decca’s
hottest new soprano signing