Company’s equal to Royal Opera House
IL TABARRO AND SUOR ANGELICA, LEEDS GRAND By Mike Tilling
This double header from Opera North must cement its place as at least equal to the Royal Opera House, on a fraction of the budget.
Their latest offering positively drips with quality. Il Trittico is a fine piece of Italian verismo. The set is all Expressionist angles and uncomfortable slopes, the lighting noirish and the costumes spot on for this tale of Parisian bargees. Opera is all about the music, but it does help when the casting is such a perfect fit with character.
Gisella Allen plays unfaithful Giorgetta. She is entirely convincing as the woman who could turn the head of stevedore Luigi, played by David Butt Philip. In duet, her soprano and his tenor have overwhelming power, but Ivan Inverardi’s baritone has equal potency.
After the interval, we enter the convent. Suor Angelica is a piece entirely for female voices and was, reputedly, Puccini’s favourite. The wash of emotion and melodrama that is unacceptable to modern audiences elsewhere is here given free rein, and the audience loved it.
The composer is at his melodic best throughout. Anne-Sophie Duprels is heartbreaking as the tormented nun. News of the death of her illegitimate son, brought by her aunt, played by Patricia Bardon, a mezzo able to sing thrilling contralto, pushes Angelica into suicide. Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica run in Leeds until October 31.