Review: Betrothal in a Monastery - Glasgow Theatre Royal

WHAT do you do with an opera whose pretensions seem nothing more than farcical entertainment?

In this joint production by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Scottish Opera of Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, director Rodula Gaitanou chooses to update to a 1980s punk-populated village near Seville, extrapolating an inner message of freedom of expression among post-Franco youth.

It’s an approach that certainly heightens the opera’s absurd dimension, to the point where the monk’s drinking scene becomes a full-on punk-meets-monk-meets-nun orgy. The fact that it turns out to be the most exhilarating part of the entire opera – the thrilling musical combination of unison-chanting monks and jarring orchestral chords pre-emptive of Britten – leans in its favour.

The student cast go all out to make sense of a difficult piece. Performances that stood out included Kim-Lillian Strebel’s charismatic and manipulative Louisa. She was the lynchpin of the entire evening, well supported by Ronan Busfield as the duped Don Jerome. Anush Hovhannisyan reached her forte as Clara in her big second half aria, one of the few moments in this opera where fully-charged emotional depth is called for.

There is plenty to enjoy, mostly in the meatier, less patchy second half. The Scottish Opera Orchestra, under Tim Dean’s direction, still has refinements to make. That, and the natural bedding in of the cast, should turn this triumph of moments into a convincing whole.

Rating: ***