DUET ENDOWMENT TRUST GALA CONCERT REVIEW. Presented by Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gaetano Lo Coco
Soloists: Golda Schultz (Soprano) & Jacques Imbrailo (Baritone) and members of the CTO Company: Cape Town Opera’s House Soloists, Judith Nielson Young Artists, and CTO’s Vocal Ensemble and Children’s Chorus. ALBERT COMBRINK reviews.
Founded in 2014 by Mrs. Wendy Ackerman, the Duet Endowment Trust was established to preserve the legacy of Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. While much activity happens to look after the financial future behind the scenes, this annual gala event gives audiences a snapshot of the artistic product in front of the scenes, to show what is happening in the present and future on the Cape Town stage.
Always an opportunity to highlight homegrown talent that have flown the coop for (not always greener) overseas pastures, while spotlighting present and upcoming stars-in-the-making, the event is eagerly anticipated and pretty much sold out. What one makes of such an event, depends on one’s expectation of what such an event should or might be. One does not get sur-titles, so those not “in the know” might struggle to track the stories.
Also, the flow of the programme seems to follow a broader emotional curve rather than a narrative one, making the choices not always apparent at first sight – for example, not grouping all the Mozarts together or all the French repertoire in a row. One also does not get props, sets or costumes: the faces and a few hand-gestures and minimal stage-movement has to suffice as this is a ‘concert’ performance, not a staged setting.
Programme choices
For myself, I was delighted about the programme choices: two artists that have made enormous overseas careers and have consistently performed to acclaim, gave us snapshots of the best of their international performances, and young artists were given the opportunity to show their mettle in substantial excerpts from the repertoire.
The Cape Town Opera Chorus and Children’s Chorus (under Antoinette Huyssen) made a superb impression with clean and polished singing. Add to that our versatile Philharmonic, under an excellent guest-conductor, the evening delivered all that it promised, and more. We even had an excerpt from a South African opera (Pieter-Louis van Dijk’s “The Selfish Giant”) which brought pure joy to the audience.
Balancing singers and orchestra
The orchestra, under polyglot Italian maestro Gaetano Lo Coco achieved one of the hardest tasks in this theatre – balancing singers and orchestra (with the choir standing behind the orchestra), his back to the soloists and no pit to help dampen the sound. Not once in the entire programme, which included some pretty big orchestral climaxes, were the singers or children’s chorus ever overplayed.
In a 17-item concert, not every corner is going to be spotlessly navigated, but only one or two tempo-changes presented an issue – ironically a famous spot in the Finale from “Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro”, but within a second or two, Lo Coco had steered the train back on the rails, and most people would not even have noticed. That calibre of musicianship is appreciated. The orchestra shone in two overtures: Rossini’s “Barber of Seville“ and Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades”, a rarity leading nicely into the Waltz & Chorus from “Eugene Onegin”, superbly pulled off by the Chorus.
Perhaps some felt that keeping all the Russian repertoire in a block might have been a better idea. It turns out, Onegin returned near the end in the big Onegin/Tatyana duet, sung magnificently by Imbrailo and local soprano Khayakazi Madlala, who was simply simply outstanding. An exquisite voice, simple but clear acting and musically and vocally secure as a laser, I cannot wait to hear this artist again. And of course, it is a treat for us to experience Imbrailo in this role in which he has had such critical success at Opéra National de Lorraine.
Surprises up his sleeve
Imbrailo had two surprises up his sleeve: “O Carlo, ascolta” from Verdi’s “Don Carlo” is a calling card toward heavier roles to come – just a pity that his first aria in the concert has him dying! He also treated us to his celebrated interpretation of “Billy Bud”, by Benjamin Britten. Hands tied and crouched on his knees, he made the best possible case one can, for not writing Britten operas off as too complex for general audiences.
He had the audience eating out of his hand, and you could hear a pin drop with each piccolo solo. Breathtaking performance. Jacques is especially celebrated for his portrayal of Billy Budd, which he first sang at the Glyndebourne Festival, and later in acclaimed performances at Royal Opera House, Teatro Real, Dutch National Opera, Norwegian National Opera, the BBC Proms, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
A masterclass of stage-craft
Soprano Schultz got a little more airtime, treating us to a masterclass of acting, stage-craft and the gentle art of being the centre of attention without being a diva. With fabulously designed gowns – delectable layers but not a weddingcake, with just the right amount of glitter – she treated us to a fast and bubbly ”Jewel song”, from Gounod’s Faust, an opera with a rather silly story , but some rather lovely music. We also got Donna Anna’s furious “Or sai chi l’onore” from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” (also heard on Golda’s latest CD). Easy tops, clear runs, a very well-placed, in time, in tune, surprise cadenza made for a fine performance.
Mozart has Anna screeching her lungs out, ready to murder everyone, only to unplug the machine right at the end, ending the aria in a quiet anti-climax. Perfect for theatre, but the audience doesn’t always know what to do with that moment. We are still expecting our diva to leave the stage with a bang. The bang, we got at the finale of the concert: Anne Truelove’s super-taxing “No word from Tom” from Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” – a role which Golda has performed all over the world – including the Metropolitan – to rave reviews. Her depiction of this role will go down in history-books and bravo to the DUET programme-selection team for trusting that Cape Town isn’t scared of Stravinsky.
Golda also sang the duet “Nuit d’hyménée” from Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” with local tenor Lukhanyo Moyake, both bringing full voices and French style galore to a beloved extract from an opera which is a lot more dramatic than one might imagine.
Other performances included Dalila’s famous “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” from “Samson et Dalila” by Saint-Saëns, sung by the rich-voiced Nonhlanhla Yende, who seemed determined to present Dalila as a royal princess, rather than a vulnerable young woman. Brittany Smith and Lukhanyo Moyake shone in a finely-paced, balletic “Parigi o cara” from Verdi’s “La Traviata”, placed as it was as the perfect palate-cleanser between Russia’s Onegin and Britain’s Billy Bud. Yende, Smith and Moyake were joined by rising star Lonwabo Mose for the crowd-pleasing Rigoletto Quartet “Bella figlia dell’amore”.
The full company presented the Act IV Finale of Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” with Brittany Smith reprising her role as Susanna (for Cape Town Opera 2022), with silver-voiced, unforced ease, maturity and humour; Golda brought her glowing, round voice to full flight for a magnificent Countess (last heard in this role in Cape Town in 2014), and Imbrailo was convincing, both as the pompous womaniser and the remorseful adulterer, caught red-handed. The singing of this, the most human and humane moment in all of Mozart’s operas, simply took the breath away. Staging with minimal – and I hazard a guess that most of it was made up on the spot. But these artists controlled the stage, controlled the drama and communicated with ease and flair. The interplay between Smith, Schultz and Imbrailo held the extended scene together both musically and dramatically, giving us a chance to see more of the theatrical aspect than an aria allows.
The colour theme of the evening was pleasing – blues, maroons and the occasional autumnal splash of gold, but I personally found the scientific nature of the constantly moving backdrop to be a distraction. Others didn’t notice it, so there is that… Going the paper-saving route of a QR Code for the programme, handing the guest artists an elegant single-stem protea rather than expensive bunches of flowers, and elegant yet un-extravagant concert-attire, all confirmed the message of the evening: that we are here to support the financial sustainability of the arts in our country. And that we can do it at an impressively high artistic level.
The encore was “Lippen schweigen” from Lehár’s “Merry Widow” – and a love-duet quickly and unfussily transformed into a full-cast Finale: short and sweet, with dance-steps included! – and beautifully capped with Golda’s generous High B. The genuine joy of music-making and affection between cast-members communicated across the footlights, and we were all the happier for it.
To my ears, arguably the most successful Duet Gala to date. Glorious singing to ring in my heart for days to come.
What: Duet Endowment Trust Gala Concert review
WS
