Here at OperaWatch offices in Northern Soul Towers, the staff are giddy with excitement. After a surreal visitation by the spirits of past, present and future, I have granted them a few extra days off this holiday. Hell, I even forked out for a fatted goose for the staff party. God bless us every one, said Tiny Tim as he tiptoed through the tulips. We were also excited as it was the last opera of the season.

The winter production at the Royal Northern College of Music always brings with it an elevated sense of anticipation. From the moment I enter the building to be greeted by the friendly welcome of the front of house and the hospitality of Principal Linda Merrick’s reception, to taking my seat in the auditorium, it is a joy.

This year’s performance is L’étoile by Emmanuel Chabrier, first seen in 1877. It is an ‘opéra bouffe’, a style of comic operetta popular in mid-19th century France that included elements of satire, parody and farce. Chabrier’s composition is no exception.

The plot involves a despotic king, Ouf (Jay Broadhurst) looking for a subject to execute to complete his birthday celebrations as advised by his astrologer Sirocco (William Jowett). Lazuli (Ellena Hicks), a poor peddler, is Ouf’s chosen victim. Meanwhile, Princess Laoula (Charlotte Baker) is travelling incognito with Ambassador Herisson (Daniel Ott) from a neighbouring kingdom to secretly marry Ouf – but it’s without her consent or knowledge. In a farcical twist worthy of Brian Rix, Lazuli and Laoula fall instantly in love. The many turns of sophisticated and intricate intrigue d’amour are finally resolved with true warm-hearted fun and emotion.

This production is genuinely hilarious. The narrative complexity, the constant innuendos, the mistaken identities and sheer comic energy of the cast made me cry with laughter. On the night, Adrian Linford’s design and Jake Wiltshire’s lighting give the stage an aesthetic coherence and air that lends the performers confidence and space in which to act and sing as professionals. The whole cast and orchestra play with a joie de scene under the watchful eye of direction of Martin Pickford and the baton of Mark Burns.

The cohesion of the chorus under Kevin Thraves never ceases to amaze me. I laughed at the Rees-Mogg demeanour of Jowett’s Sirocco. I was impressed by the comical performance of Jay Broadhurst’s King Ouf. Ellena Hick’s Lazuli was outstanding as was Charlotte Baker’s Laoula.

To everyone involved at RNCM, thank you and well done. As an Opera Correspondent for more than a decade, it is nights like these that refresh my enthusiasm and refill my love for opera.

By Robert Hamilton, Opera Correspondent

Main image: RNCM Opera – Chabrier: L’étoile © Robin Clewley

 

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