Reviews

Published on Friday 1 February 2008 19:54

OPERA EUGENE ONEGIN ***

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE

THERE'S a valid case for staging much of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in rude small scale, giving the move from rural Russia to the grander opulence of the St Petersburg ball of the third act a poignancy that wasn't missed in this joint production by the RSAMD's Alexander Gibson Opera School and Scottish Opera.

But there was something unconvincing about director Will Kerley's staging, and Becs Andrews' sets, that made this Onegin more surface deep than emotionally taut or revealing.

The designs were flimsy and ugly – more Ikea spare parts than quality wood and fabric. The sets were on a scale that seemed insignificant and exposed on the spacious Edinburgh Festival Theatre stage. As for production, were the chorus given any dance instruction? Such scenes on Thursday looked like a nervous rehearsal for the school prom. Stagecraft generally was of an amateur level.

Much of that rubbed off on the deeper aspirations of the student cast. There just wasn't scope enough to convey the central relationships with meaningful conviction. The spat between Lensky (nobly sung by South Korean Jung Soo Yun) and Onegin (Felipe Oliveira) had no real intensity; in turn, there was just a flicker of fire between Onegin and a potentially interesting Tatiana (Russian-born Maria Kozlova).

Conductor Tim Dean made much more of the music, directing the Scottish Opera Orchestra (augmented by a handful of RSAMD students) with far greater incision than the on-stage choreography. Anxious moments by the chorus gave an occasional wobble to the fluency of the score, and there were numerous occasions where the open-pit orchestra drowned out the main characters. But for the most part, the music remained the single item of interest in an evening that failed to give some talented students the best opportunity to shine.

KENNETH WALTON

MUSIC

VOICES OF THE WORLD ****

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

THE vivacious harmony trio of Corrina Hewat, Annie Grace and Karine Polwart opened this celebration of voice with an astutely chosen and dynamically delivered set ranging from bawdy Burns songs to southern blues and gospel. Other Scots contributors to this choral evening included Gaelic singer Mairi Smith, representing the Lewis tradition, and Margaret Bennett, mother of the late piper Martyn Bennett, who sang with the Aberfeldy and District Gaelic Choir.

The Bulgarian choir Angelite, featuring 18 women in vibrant national costume, sing arrestingly in an intrinsically rhythmic style, peppered with little skips in their voices. Their massed voices produced a dramatic, mournful and utterly captivating sound. No songs were introduced, so their meaning and history remained a mystery, but the pure upswelling of emotion could communicate to any language and tradition.

Coro delle Mondine di Novi celebrate the songs of the rice-field workers of northern Italy. This magnificent bunch of women, who looked like they had turned up straight from a day's labour, won over the audience with their verve and passion, despite often having to play second fiddle to Fiamma Fumana, the accompanying Eurovision-style band. Far less demure than their Bulgarian counterparts, this choir soon had the audience on their feet and every other choir back on stage with them for a joyous closing singalong that united the diverse vocal traditions.

FIONA SHEPHERD

CELTIC CONNECTIONS

LUKA BLOOM / CARA DILLON ****

OLD FRUITMARKET, GLASGOW

THE Irish singer-songwriter Luka Bloom has never been one for platitudes, so when he declared, "I'm so thrilled to be here," near the start of his Celtic Connections set, there was no doubting his sincerity. Surveying a sold-out Old Fruitmarket must have been all the more satisfying given that Bloom, having built up his loyal fan base gradually since the late 1980s, faced enforced retirement a few years back, when tendonitis rendered him unable to play guitar. Having recovered, and refashioned his technique to avoid further damage, he comes across as a man more given to counting his blessings than ever, further enriching his signature traits of open-hearted optimism and wide-eyed wonderment.

His set here ranged across his back catalogue, all the way from City of Chicago, written in 1984 and made famous by his brother, Christy Moore, to the title track of his latest album Tribe, an eloquent plea for human and spiritual connection. Other standouts included the valedictory yet upbeat See You Soon and the vivid narrative ballad No Matter Where You Go, a song about contemporary immigrants to Ireland, alongside favourites like the dreamy, seductive Into the Blue and an irresistibly exultant You Couldn't Have Come At A Better Time.

Opening act Cara Dillon also delighted the crowd with her bewitchingly honeyed voice, giving rein to the extra heft and force it's acquired in recent years, as well as contributing on fiddle and whistle to an expanded band line-up, which featured some fine uilleann piping from James O'Grady.

SUE WILSON