Rendition of works delight a full house

Concert
Love Across Broders
Manoel Theatre

This year’s opening concert at the Manoel Theatre served two purposes. Besides giving start to a new season, the concert also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Russian Cultural Institute. To reach this aim the repertoire consisted of Russian and Italian music offering thus an opportunity to listen to two different schools and traditions but always in the service of music. Of course, Brian Schembri, who is familiar with both worlds, was the obvious choice to conduct such an event.

And he did not disappoint the full house that turned up for this concert. His rendition of Tchiakovsky’s Overture Fantasie Romeo and Juliet was magical. Hearing this well-known work “live” in a theatre gave me goose-flesh. The maestro knows exactly what he wants from his musicians and he makes sure that they deliver. Moments of saccharine-sweet music gave way to tempestuous passages laden with dollops of tragedy and death. The love theme, passionate and sensual (the flute and the oboe had a field-day) incorporated in it a sense of anxiety and trouble while the work’s ending heralded by the timpani led to a huge crescendo by the whole orchestra. Simply a stunning opening to a concert which was different in perception from many others!

This was emphasised by the two excerpts from Pique Dame, or to give the opera its proper Russian name Pikoyava Dama, sung by Oleg Kulko, tenor, and Elena Evseeva, soprano, two stars with a spectacular CV from the Bolshoi Theatre.

The tenor seemed ill-at-ease when he sang Prosti nebesnoye sozdanye from Act 1 of the Tchaikovsky opera but he recovered his poise when he sang the second aria and the duet with Elena Evseeva, from Iolanta, a lyric opera by the same composer. It could have been the heat on stage that caused the momentary uncertainty on his side or else the audience’s unfamiliarity with the work that created a brief chilling in the atmosphere of the theatre. By the time he sang Shto nasha zhizin from Act 3 from the same opera and the duet Tvoye molchanie ne ponyanto from Iolanta, he was more at ease and his strong voice rang in the theatre with the force of an excellent tenor who can interpret roles as diverse as Calaf (Turandot), Manrico (Trovatore), Canio (Pagliacci) and of course, Russian characters.

Soprano Elena Evseeva proved to be the star of the evening. Not only did she shine in her aria Uj Polnoch Blizitsia from Act 1 of Pikayava Dama and the duet from Iolanta but she showed that when it came to Italian opera, which requires a different technique and attitude, she knew exactly how to enter into the minds of Puccini and Verdi to create the characteristics of the different divas ranging from Tosca to Manon Lescaut, from Mimi or Lucia (La Bohème) to call her by her proper name to Leonora (Il Trovatore). Her Vissi d’Arte from Tosca’s Act 2 brought out all the pathos of a woman who did not stop at killing the villian who was wreaking havoc not only to her life and that of her artist lover but to all Rome. However, after Recondita armonia sung by the tenor in a convincing way, she gave her best in Act 4 from Manon Lescaut, especially when grief-stricken she asserted over and over again that she did not want to die. How could her life end so sadly, she sang in Sola, perduta, abbandonata? Non voglio morir, her anguished cry, filled the theatre with grief and sadness. De Grieux, who had gone to find water in an inhospitable land, returned just in time to see his beloved Manon die.

The evening came to an end with various encores including the famous do di petto in Di quella pira, sung by the tenor who received loud applause also for his Nessun dorma.

The Philharmonic Orchestra gave an excellent performance not only when accompanying the singers but also when it played La Tregenda from Le Villi by Puccini. A good job all round!