Scottish Opera – The Secret Marriage Festival Theatre: There's lots of variety in Cimarosa's splice of life

Published on Monday 24 November 2008 09:12

WITH an output of almost 60 works, Cimarosa was one of the most prominent Italian opera composers of the late 18th century. The Secret Marriage (Il Matrimonio Segreto] rates as one of his best achievements, and Scottish Opera have done well to offer it a new lease of life.

The action centres on a tangle of misunderstandings due to two of the principals having been secretly married a few months before the action takes place.

Thanks to an excellent English translation, backed by supertitles, the audience was able to share fully in a succession of genuinely funny situations.

Cimarosa's powers as a composer were – admittedly - less than Mozart's, but his character portrayals are more than cardboard-cutout stereotypes. Geronimo, the father figure in this opera, could readily be turned into a blusteringly conventional figure of fun. Andrew Slater's well-timed humour added more to the role than that.

Renata Ahrends (Elisetta) and Wendy Dawn Thompson (Fidalma) brought the parts of elder sister and aunt alive with their spirited singing and acting. Quirijn de Lang (Count Robinson) was a convincing English Milord – even although there were odd moments when he was not entirely at one with the orchestral accompaniment.

All the way up to final dnoument, Matthew Garrett's Paolino maintained a very plausible semblance of pretence as the clandestine bridegroom.

It was Rebecca Bottone – as the younger sister and secret bride Carolina – who stole the show though. In one of the liveliest ensembles, her hair-pulling, finger-stabbing exchange with big sister made good theatre.