Music review: Scottish Opera - The Adventures of Mr Broucek

Published on Friday 9 April 2010 22:05

SCOTTISH OPERA THE ADVENTURES OF MR BROUCEK **** THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW

LIKE all good tales, Mr Broucek's adventures begin in a bar. The "rosy-cheeked" protagonist, ridiculed by his fellow drinkers, takes a beer-fuelled nap and wakes up on the moon. Jancek's clichd instrumentation – delicate harps, dreamy violin solo and lone oboe – announces the lunar landing. As a moon-dweller in a spacesuit strikes up conversation with the startled Broucek, a low bassoon confirms the jocular undercurrents of the surreal scene. The growing presence of a repeated quaver motif in the strings compounds the sense of confusion before impressionistic, whole-tone phrases announce the coming of the mythical goddess Ethera.

Though Jancek's opera may not follow a familiar narrative passage, punctuated by large-scale arias and memorable refrains, at every turn the music serves to augment the action, mirroring perfectly the inflections of the language.

The second of Broucek's escapades takes him back to the 15th century, where he finds himself resisting calls to fight for Prague. Again, Jancek's musical motifs highlight the central character's silent cowardice. A church organ accompanies the chorus in a solemn hymn and brass fanfares fuel the fighting spirit of the proud young men. Broucek, meanwhile, is notable for his silence.

Though it may seem simple to match these two elements – the dramatic and the musical – it would be all too easy for a production such as this to lose itself in the bizarre twists of the story or in the endless stylistic turns in the score. With minimal set, simple lighting design and a strong cast, however, Scottish Opera's co-production with Opera North gives Jancek's musical colouring room to flourish without having to sacrifice any of the on-stage entertainment.

Perhaps even more impressive is the handling of the parallels and allusions that run through the opera. Mr Broucek's "adventures" would be rather pointless were they little more than the psychedelic dreams of a drunk man. It is the meta-theatrical elements of the story that make it so compelling. In this production, the lunar episode is as much about the author's comments on gluttony and the artist's endeavour as it is about the moon, and the opportunity to travel back in time serves to highlight debates on everything from war and religion to feminism.

It is for these reasons, and many more that can not be fully appreciated on a first viewing, that this Mr Broucek is such a mesmerising journeyman.

• This review appeared in later editions of yesterday's Scotsman.