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| Value for Money | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Overall rating | 8/10 |
Full review by
roontoh
on 30th Sep 2004
User Rating : 8
Respect :
0
Good Points: Wonderful, innovative, original
Bad Points: Variable production
General comments: Janacek: Kat'a Kabanova -- Glyndebourne - Opera is no stranger to the theme of adultery. Until this opera, however, it was always treated either as comic (famously in "Nozze") or a moral dilemma ("Die Walkure," for instance). Here for the first time the subject is examined in a realistic social/behavioral context. If judgments are to be made, the audience is left to its own devices. This drama seeks to present the issues without bias.
Which isn't to say its sympathies aren't entirely with the title character. A na ve provincial trapped in a nightmare marriage, Katya embodies all the traditional virtues, never mind her share of charm. But a repressive patriarchy's vice grip tosses her between characters far less attractive, never mind more voracious, than she. Viewers guess the work's tragic denouement early on, but that really isn't the point. This isn't about "what," but "why" and "how."
This is one of Jan cek's most lyrical scores, though fraught with spiky difficulties as folk elements (troikas, serenades, etc.) jostle with the master's developing "naturalistic" syntax. The last act, especially, demonstrates his uncanny ability to mix the exterior with the interior to chilling effect, and is a psychological masterpiece. Andrew Davis conducts with sensitive clarity, and a surprisingly cunning ability to negotiate the chasm between Czech and more "Western" sensibilities.
Production-wise, however, there are the usual compromises. Nancy Gustafson looks the part and navigates its extreme vocal challenges with effortless aplomb, but overacts almost painfully in a role that most benefits from understatement. Felicity Palmer handles the Kabanicha adroitly, but Barry McCauley tends to shout and acts perfectly silly; would Katya die for THIS? Ryland Davies manages the slim virtues of Tichon quite well, but it is John Graham-Hall and Louise Winter as the "servile" lovers who take away the acting honors. Still, it's a delightful surprise to find Donald Adams, veteran of the D'Oly Carte who must be a million years old by now, in top voice and enlivening Dikoi as this reviewer has never known the part done.
Visually and stylistically, the work is again mixed. The sparse, slightly modernistic yet partly "period" sets can't seem to make up their mind but at least aren't painfully outrageous. Stage director Lehnhoff has obviously rethought a show that, in the early 80s, he staged with such reckless avante garde abandon it was all but unwatchable. Though his excesses are curbed, the result is mostly unassuming traffic direction.
roontoh's review and ratings | 422 words
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