BY ANGUS MCPHERSON
‘L’Amant jaloux’
Pinchgut Opera
City Recital Hall, 3 December
Don Alonze and Léonore embrace, her having forgiven his jealousy and he once more assured of her faithfulness. But just as their passions begin to ignite, the sound of a mandolin causes them both to freeze. Florival is outside Léonore’s bedroom window declaring his love for Alonze’s sister Isabelle – only he believes her name is Léonore.
This is just one of the romantic misunderstandings that litter André Gértry’s rarely performed comedy ‘L’Amant jaloux, ou Les fausses apparences’ (The Jealous Lover, or False Appearances). Celeste Lazarenko and Ed Lyon, as Léonore and Alonze respectively, milked the uncomfortableness of this scene, Léonore toying with a shoe as they waited for the serenade ‘Tandis que tout sommeille’, sung by Andrew Goodwin, to reach its conclusion.
Pinchgut Opera’s production was a bright and bubbly romp, with director Chas Rader-Shieber’s vision embracing the silliness of the plot and Andrew Johnston’s translation of the dialogue into English giving the performance a slick, modern feel. David Fleischer’s set evoked the simplicity of a doll’s house on the surface, but hidden panels and false walls elegantly reflected the ‘false appearances’ of the action, while also allowing comic means of ingress and egress for the characters – not to mention plenty of places to hide lovers and props. The space was deftly transformed from a parlour in the first act, to Léonore’s bedroom in the second and finally a garden courtyard.
Jessica Aszodi’s quick-witted Jacinte held the narrative together, facilitating trysts, formulating plans and overseeing stage changes, her soprano bold and commanding. She sparred cheekily with the rich baritone of David Greco’s greedy and overbearing Don Lopez. The lovers revelled in the childish extremes of their characters: Goodwin pining as the hapless Florival, and Alexendra Oomens as an earnest Isabelle. Lyon alternated humorously between righteous anger and chagrined contrition as the jealous Alonze, and Lazarenko’s coloratura aria ‘Je romps la chaîne qui m’engage’ became a virtuosic tantrum as she threw pillows, flowers and clothes around her room before collapsing in a heap on her bed. Lyon and Lazarenko were an entertaining pair, delighting the audience as they threw their earlier promises mockingly back at each other in the finale of Act 2.
The Orchestra of the Antipodes, led from the harpsichord by Erin Helyard, provided a lush accompaniment. In keeping with 18th Century practice, musical interludes were inserted between the acts, Stephen Lalor performing a movement from Hummel’s Mandolin Concerto in G Major after the first act, while Jacinte supervised servants turning the parlour into Léonore’s bedroom. Following the interval, Melissa Farrow performed Grétry’s own Flute Concerto in C Major on baroque flute. While stage changes distracted from the first movement, her low register was dark and velvety and the sighing ‘Larghetto’ movement created a sweetly melancholic atmosphere as Isabelle and Jacinte watched the stars come out. The insertion of the whole concerto added some musical body to what might otherwise have been an overly succinct third act, where all the misunderstandings are swiftly rectified and the death of a wealthy uncle means there are no longer impediments to any of the marriages.
Pinchgut Opera’s ‘L’Amant jaloux’ was a brilliant outing of an often overlooked treasure. The strong cast injected the characters with energy and humour and the insertion of musical numbers between the acts fleshed out the opera, delivering a varied and satisfying musical experience.
Image supplied. Credit: Prudence Upton.
