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Iolanthe at the San Francisco Symphony
Jun. 19th, 2009 11:59 amI'm not at all sure what MTT had in mind when he put SFS up to performing a semi-staged production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta this week, nor why he bowed out of conducting it at a late date and substituted NYC Opera music director George Manahan instead. It was a good enough production, but nothing in the way of a unique perspective brought to it by this venue.
Unless it was that the orchestration sounded distinctly different in some respects. Not an actual reorchestration, but more than a balance issue. It couldn't be because it was being performed by a full orchestra, because I've heard it that way before, and in any case the orchestral size was not particularly large.
The orchestra was split between the two sides of the stage, and the cast acted on a platform in the middle. Acted they did; only the scenery was scanted, and in costumes and performing style this was a full performance and not at all a concert opera. It might have been better, or at least given a new perspective, if it were more of a concert. The elaborate acting by the cast fit poorly with the minimalist set. The only advantage of this was the amusement value when some soliloquies were addressed directly to the face of the conductor, who was of course standing right by them.
Because the platform was in the middle, the principals were visible long before their cues. The chorus sat in pews at the back of the stage, but the men got up and acted on the platform when it was their turn. Only the women's chorus did not. Their on-stage personae were dancers from the SF Ballet School, choreographed by Patricia Birch. This was curious enough, and positively annoying when they danced during the overture, which should not happen.
The principals were all miked. Was this supposed to be a classical music concert or not? Either the mikes were adjusted at intermission, or somebody whispered in the ears of Richard Suart (the Lord Chancellor) and Sally Matthews (Phyllis) that you should not sing in full concert-hall-filling voice when you're miked, as it will blow out the amplification. And it was much better in Act 2.
Matthews had a deep voice. Sasha Cooke as Iolanthe was even deeper. Joyce Castle by contrast was vocally the most light-weight, airy Fairy Queen imaginable. Fallacy somewhere, I fancy.
Some of the cast had problems with their singing cues and their lines, culminating in a horrible moment when one started singing the wrong verse and executed a virtuoso but ham-fisted save by mumbling line two before getting back on track. It was like Monty Python's "Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore, mum-de-bum-da-bum."
Except for Lucas Meachem, a maniacally robust Strephon, most of the acting was tentative, as if improvisational, or perhaps as if the actors were trying (usually with more success than the above) to remember their lines. This was turned into a virtue by Paul Whelan as Mountararat, whose gentle appeal to his fellow earl's tender feelings in Act 2 was most light and caressing, and this after he'd sung a full-bodied "When Britain really ruled the waves."
But despite the good points, there was a pervasive dullness, of the kind I'd normally attribute to the conductor, about the performance. Sullivan's magnificent operatic build-up in the finale of Act 1 was less than compelling, and some of the other material sounded rote. Again, Act 2 was better.
Unless it was that the orchestration sounded distinctly different in some respects. Not an actual reorchestration, but more than a balance issue. It couldn't be because it was being performed by a full orchestra, because I've heard it that way before, and in any case the orchestral size was not particularly large.
The orchestra was split between the two sides of the stage, and the cast acted on a platform in the middle. Acted they did; only the scenery was scanted, and in costumes and performing style this was a full performance and not at all a concert opera. It might have been better, or at least given a new perspective, if it were more of a concert. The elaborate acting by the cast fit poorly with the minimalist set. The only advantage of this was the amusement value when some soliloquies were addressed directly to the face of the conductor, who was of course standing right by them.
Because the platform was in the middle, the principals were visible long before their cues. The chorus sat in pews at the back of the stage, but the men got up and acted on the platform when it was their turn. Only the women's chorus did not. Their on-stage personae were dancers from the SF Ballet School, choreographed by Patricia Birch. This was curious enough, and positively annoying when they danced during the overture, which should not happen.
The principals were all miked. Was this supposed to be a classical music concert or not? Either the mikes were adjusted at intermission, or somebody whispered in the ears of Richard Suart (the Lord Chancellor) and Sally Matthews (Phyllis) that you should not sing in full concert-hall-filling voice when you're miked, as it will blow out the amplification. And it was much better in Act 2.
Matthews had a deep voice. Sasha Cooke as Iolanthe was even deeper. Joyce Castle by contrast was vocally the most light-weight, airy Fairy Queen imaginable. Fallacy somewhere, I fancy.
Some of the cast had problems with their singing cues and their lines, culminating in a horrible moment when one started singing the wrong verse and executed a virtuoso but ham-fisted save by mumbling line two before getting back on track. It was like Monty Python's "Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore, mum-de-bum-da-bum."
Except for Lucas Meachem, a maniacally robust Strephon, most of the acting was tentative, as if improvisational, or perhaps as if the actors were trying (usually with more success than the above) to remember their lines. This was turned into a virtue by Paul Whelan as Mountararat, whose gentle appeal to his fellow earl's tender feelings in Act 2 was most light and caressing, and this after he'd sung a full-bodied "When Britain really ruled the waves."
But despite the good points, there was a pervasive dullness, of the kind I'd normally attribute to the conductor, about the performance. Sullivan's magnificent operatic build-up in the finale of Act 1 was less than compelling, and some of the other material sounded rote. Again, Act 2 was better.
