The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Valentine’s gift this year was an Opera Gala played to a busy and enthusiastic audience in the Derngate auditorium. A Sunday matinee, it was a relatively informal affair, totally lacking in Classical Concert Stuffiness and simply designed for everyone to have a good time.
Our conductor was Jordan de Souza, currently Music Director of Theater Dortmund and Chief Conductor of the Dortmund Philharmoniker. It was, he confessed, his first visit to Northampton, and we trust it won’t be his last. He’s one of those very involved conductors, full of excitable facial expressions designed to get the best out of the orchestra and a playful, almost mischievous mentality that shows just how much he has fun up on the podium.
The programme was a chocolate box selection of opera highlights, with four purely orchestral pieces and twelve arias. We started with the orchestra on fine form with a superb rendition of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus Overture, full of lush strings, arresting percussion and terrific expression. The orchestra were particularly daring with those slight pauses during the famous waltz; you could truly visualise the voluminous swirling dresses of those Viennese ladies. A fantastic start.
Then we met our two opera soloists. First up, tenor Nicky Spence OBE, a relaxed, light-hearted presence who grew cheekier as the concert progressed, and who sported an enviably glittering pair of slippers as his footwear. He started off with possibly the most serious aria of the programme, Vainement, ma bien-aimée from Lalo’s Le roi d’Ys, all of which was new to me. Then soprano Anne-Marie MacIntosh sang Ah! je ris de me voir si belle from Gounod’s Faust, better known as The Jewel Song.
Mr Spence returned for En fermant les yeux from Massenet’s Manon, a piece I had not heard before, and which was stunningly beautiful. Then it was Ms MacIntosh’s turn again with Micaela’s aria Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante from Bizet’s Carmen. Hats off to the RPO for giving us one of Micaela’s arias rather than Carmen’s for a change! This led into a performance of the first three parts of the Carmen Suite No 1, the Prelude, Aragonaise and Intermezzo. The powerful emphasis on those opening strings of the Prelude gave it a truly menacing impact. The audience was enjoying the performance so much that we broke etiquette and applauded after the Aragonaise. In some concerts, a conductor might have held his gaze towards the orchestra and made the applause freeze away; but on this occasion Mr de Souza turned to us and welcomed it, which confirmed the informality of the event and the fact that we were all there just to enjoy ourselves.
Mr Spence returned with a short entertaining introduction to his next piece, Tosti’s L’ultima canzone, explaining that it didn’t mean The Last Pizza. And then he was joined by Ms MacIntosh for O soave fanciulla, the aria that wraps up Act 1 of Puccini’s La Bohème, and it was with searing emotion that we went into the interval.
The second half started with the Prelude to Act 1 of Verdi’s La Traviata, followed by Ms MacIntosh singing Ah, fors’è lui… Sempre libera from the same opera. She has a wonderful way of acting out her singing so that you really understand the character behind the aria. Then Mr Spence sang Lensky’s Aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, another immensely powerful and affecting performance. This was followed by the orchestra once again in full swing with the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, a marvellously stirring and invigorating piece of music.
Into the home straight, Ms MacIntosh sang Caro nome from Verdi’s Rigoletto, a delightfully simple and plaintive aria that really touched everyone’s heart; and then Mr Spence gave us the rousing Dein ist mein ganzes Herz from Lehar’s Das Land des Lächelns – one of those pieces of music that you know you know, yet you can’t quite place; definitely it should have its place in Classical Music’s top 50 tunes. Ms MacIntosh joined him for Lippen schweigen from Lehar’s Merry Widow, sung in English, and the whole concert concluded with the celebratory Brindisi from La Traviata. Mr de Souza carefully regulated our clapping along so that we could join in without ruining the music, and it was a superb way to end an afternoon of pure joy. The RPO are next in town in June for another Sunday matinee performance of Beethoven’s Fifth – see you there!
Five Alive, Let Music Thrive!