Opera Favourites At The Movies, WNO
It is time for a concert showcase at the WNO – an excellent opportunity to leave to the side any concerns with how to visually narrate a storyline or express the deeper themes of a work through staging, and simply entertain the audience with a pure display of technical prowess. It is a different type of showing from what is normally expected of the WNO, which tends to shine in the attention to precisely that kind of narrative details in its production, but there is a place and indeed a need for this type of show too, especially at a time where opera is increasingly perceived as an elitist and outdated endeavour. Busy as we all are in digging up the deepest meanings and most intellectual facets of classic opera, we can easily forget that the original purpose for which those works were created is indeed that of entertainment; not only that, but an extremely accessible kind of entertainment, appealing to a much broader audience than the ones opera productions are often targeted at nowadays. The most intriguing aspect of this new WNO concert is the fact that it taps back into precisely this original attitude: it endeavours to make opera accessible to an audience which may not be fully conversant with it, both by presenting it as a selection of snippets from the most famous and celebrated works (and a couple of the less frequented ones, including Catalani’s La Wally and Giordano’s Andrea Chénier) and by tying it in with a form of art that is, by contrast, perceived as the most mass-distributed and audience-friendly of all: cinema.
The red thread connecting the various pieces performed through the night – they have all been featured in some form or other in a movie – may appear, at least at first glance, somewhat tenuous; and indeed it is hard to shake the feeling that it is little more than a pretext to revisit some opera hits and tie them all together in some way. But the WNO has always been attentive to themes in its productions, and thematically there is something very interesting that this connection between opera and cinema is telling us: that even now opera is an active and productive part of our culture, it is part of the blockbusters we go see in the cinema, it is a cultural element most people passively know – are familiar with, even – without fully realising they do. As such, its loss would be felt, and felt sorely, if it disappeared.
This last consideration becomes impossible to ignore when the whole showcase takes on a political tinge and becomes in a way a stark reminder of the precarious situation the WNO itself is currently in. Threatened with potentially catastrophic cuts, the members of the chorus take to the stage wearing t-shirts with the SAVE OUR WNO slogan, which remains ever present and ever visible throughout the night. It is a powerful warning that opera, an important part of our cultural tapestry, is easily at risk of being cut down precisely because it is wrongly perceived as elitist and outdated; an argument that gets concerningly often applied to the arts and humanities as a whole (it only takes one look at the recent news about the shocking cuts at Cardiff University to realise how urgent this issue is). Pervasive as it may seem, however, the argument remains inherently wrong: there is power in the arts and there is power in opera, most of all, perhaps, precisely the power to fight back. When, during a rendition of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, the soloists singing the Valkyries’ roles come out on stage waving the flags of the Equity union, this message might feel perhaps a little on the nose; but equally, perhaps in the face of such an immediate threat the time for subtlety is over. The political overtone does not make the concert as a whole less enjoyable; but it adds a poignant element of reflection – that we cannot take art and entertainment for granted, and less than ever in the present time.
Rather fittingly, the most memorable performances of the night come from the WNO chorus and orchestra as a whole (how nice it is, for once, to see the orchestra on stage rather than in the pit!), masterfully directed by Pietro Rizzo and delivering stand-out performances particularly in their opening number of O Fortuna from Orff’s Carmina Burana and in the Va, Pensiero chorus from Verdi’s Nabucco. Of the soloists, sopranos Haegee Lee, Meeta Raval, and Erin Rossington expertly deliver pieces from La Traviata, Le Nozze di Figaro and Rusalka (among others), and baritone Philip Rhodes is lively and engaging in the Toreador Song from Carmen, albeit a little muted as Scarpia in the disquieting Te Deum out of Tosca.
Overall, the concert makes from a very entertaining night: a pleasantly accessible first taste for those who are intrigued by opera but have been somewhat daunted by it and a lighter offering for those who are experts of the art forms and want to enjoy it in a more leisurely fashion. With the WNO’s offerings actively under threat, if anyone has been pondering the possibility of approaching opera for the first time, there is no time better than the present: showing that opera can still engage and entertain a varied audience is the best first line of defence, and a show like this is a perfect entry point.
