Composed in 1880 / 1881, Rimsky-Korsakov's own personal favourite work, his opera, "Snegurochka: Vesennayaya Skazka" was performed this evening in the main theatre at Manchester's Royal Northern College Of Music. The company comprised entirely of students at the RNCM presented it in Christopher Cowell's English translation, "The Snow Maiden".
It is quite a long opera (in 4 acts and a prologue), and for those with principal roles which are present in the majority of it, then it is a most demanding score too. Rimsky-Korsakov takes his story from a play by Alexander Ostrovsky, who in turn had only turned an ancient folk tale into a tragic fairytale. In the opera, there is a distinction between human characters and those who are mythical or perhaps not entirely of this world. Rimsky-Korsakov's clever scoring clearly indicates this musically too, as certain leitmotifs can be heard throughout aurally signalling a certain character.
We start in an endless Winter. It has been Winter for 15 long years, ever since Father Frost (Adam Jarman) angered the sun god, Yarilo. Snegurochka - or for simplicity let us call her the Snow Maiden (sonorous soprano Jessica Hopkins) - is the daughter of both Father Frost and Mother Spring (Olivia Swain). Mother Spring objects to her daughter being hidden away in a world of Winter by her father, but is helpless. It is only when the Snow Maiden herself asks to be let free and go into the world of the mortals, and experience the changing of the seasons, that kickstarts the spiral of tragic events which follow.
The Snow Maiden is allowed to live in a rural village with adoptive parents Bobil (Yihui Wang) and Bobylinkha (Leah McCabe), and falls madly in love with a shepherd, Lyel, (Sophie Clarke). As this is Grand Opera, Rimsky-Korsakov continues with the tradition of giving what in pantomime would be the "principal boy" role to a female contralto. However complications arise when he falls in love and runs off with another maiden from the village, Kupava (Charlotte Baker). In fact a love-square is started (forget triangle, this is two male and two female). Eventually, after the Snow Maiden returns to her Mother entreating her to grant her the gift of true love, she falls madly in love with Mizgir (Matthew Secombe), and just when you think there might be a chance of a happy ending....... well, this is Grand Opera so if you do not already know the ending, I won't spoil it.
The principals were all superbly chosen and their singing and indeed stagecraft was excellent and inspiring. The chorus were lush in their harmonies and filled the stage as required. However, for this reviewer at least, there was something missing with this production. And that can be summed up in one word: excitement. It was a very pedestrian production and visually unstimulating. The set comprised a Greco- Romanesque semi-circle of ampitheatrical steps, which served to concrete the allegory of judgement, the metaphor of performance, and allow the director (Jack Furness) opportunity to add a few Brechtian touches to his vision. The lighting designer (Ben Ormerod) followed his lead and created a colourful cyc and creatively lit the white steps with skill. However, the passing of Winter into Spring happened in song only. The set remained white throughout, and the token addition of a few branches did not cut it. Whilst the lighting never once gave us the warm hues of straw, and the whole opera was lit with the colder steels. Even the emergence of the sun at the opera's finale did not change the hue of the lighting on stage signifcantly. Moreover, the opera demands much dancing, merrymaking, journeying, and festive merriment, and yet, the pace hardly changed from first gear the whole evening. It was a very static and highly stylised production which went for style over substance in majority of directorial choices. And in modernising much of the costuming, there was a most strange and jarring juxtaposition between lyrics and actual physical representation. [It is the same with contemporary productions of Shakespeare]. I did not understand why a chorus member was following the Snow Maiden around ostensibly videoing her continually with a camcorder; nor did I understand the need for the two automatic rifles in the finale.
The finale's picture ending was most pleasing. Was that the reason the set design was the way it was, just so we could have that lovely image at the end?
A most interesting but somewhat disapponting production, but not from the opera students themselves. The quality of performance was awe-inspiring and the aural experience whole and rich.
I couldn't agree more! I got totally fed up also with not hearing the words in English in the seventh row of a small theatre of the RNCM where I sang and studied. But we had a very wonderful diction woman, Elaine Bevis, who taught us both how to pronounce and enunciate in our own language in order to be understood. I left before half way, having travelled far I just got so bored. No excitement. The production was boring and at times, incomprehensible - video camera? One should not have to rely on the words on screens but watch the stage.
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