This evening was a first for me for several reasons. First of all, it was the first time I have seen a semi-staged concert version of an opera performed by Opera North; and secondly it was the first time I had ever seen a full-length production of Bizet's wonderfully tuneful and Romantic opera, 'The Pearl Fishers', despite it being one of my late father's favourite opera.. (after those of Verdi and Puccini!). He could sing all the arias, although in all fairness, people usually paid him to shut up!
'The Pearl Fishers' (1863 Georges Bizet) is set in ancient Ceylon, and tells the story of two friends tested to the limit by their love of a beautiful priestess. With only four principals in the cast, this opera is ideal for a studio / concert production. Further, with the stripping of set, costume, and staging, we are able to concentrate on the three most important elements of the piece; the music, the text, and the story. And with just 17 male and 17 female chorus singers, and the orchestra of the Opera North, the cumulative sound this evening was absolutely superb. The opening chorus sequence was superb setting the bar extremely high for the four protagonists to follow.
The most famous piece of music from this opera, which acts as a leit-motif throughout, is the duet in act one, 'Au Fond Du Temple Saint'. Having heard this innumerable times as a stand-alone concert piece, and listened to my dad's many recordings of it - most notably that of Robert Merrill and Jussi Bjorling - it was very interesting to see and hear how it fit into the opera and story as a whole. Indeed, the story was not what I had expected, and was surprised by the very sympathetic and un-Grand Opera ending.....no-one dies!
This evening the four principals were Quirjin De Lang (Zurga - baritone), Nico Darmanin (Nadir - tenor), Sophia Theodorides (Leila - soprano), and James Creswell (Nourabad - bass). De Lang's French was spot on, and his diction superb, whilst Darmanin's vocal control during his difficult act one solo. Cresswell's authoritative and resonant tones impressed. All four had good chemistry, and their voices matched well.
A couple of things however worked less well for me this evening. First, despite this being an un-costumed version, the cast still used a real necklace (essential to the plot), so it would also have helped for Leila to have been veiled when she is required to be so. We needed to see the 'reveal', not just Zurga. Under Matthew Kofi-Waldren's animate and controlling conducting, the orchestra sounded good and responded well to him; but there was, a couple of times a rather shrill piercing sound coming from within which overpowered and distracted. Was this the piccolo?
These comments notwithstanding, this was an enjoyable and excellent realisation of 'Les Pecheurs De Perles', sung with great skill by all four of the soloists.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 8.6.23
on - 8.6.23
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