sound control
Home
Home

FLYING TRIUMPHANT
by Roy Atterbury

Opera Nova began life presenting extracts from operas using a combination of professional, semi-professional and amateur artists.

The concerts were fully staged and costumed, and made possible by the remarkable enthusiasm of opera singer Carole Fisher-Grant.

At Bromley's Civic Centre last week, Miss Fisher-Grant took a massive step forward when she realised her ambition to stage a full opera in its original language. Not only did she perform the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, she was also involved in financing the event, set design, costume production and programme publication.

Adversity
In many ways, the result was a triumph over adversity. The Great Hall's stage has too little depth for grand opera and many entrances had to be made from the auditorium via steps and platforms. The chorus, drawn from local amateur societies, spent as little time as possible on the stage, which tended to look crowded with just five or six players treading its boards.

While the lighting was generally adequate, too many scenes were shrouded in a dismal half-light and some of the props looked distinctly makeshift.

For lovers of opera, however, these problems were brushed aside by the impressive singing of the leading performers. Miss Fisher-Grant's Butterfly not only proved her to be a gifted soprano of warmth and range, but also an accomplished actress.

Baritone Tag Caisley was also imposing in the role of the American Consul, while tenor Roger Barber as Pinkerton ideally complimented Miss Fisher-Grant, particularly in their duets. There was a very emotive performance by Karen Harper as Butterfly's maid, who somehow managed to look sad even when smiling.

A word of praise, too, for musical director Geoffrey Boyd, whose innovative reorchestration made the eleven musicians sound like an orchestra several times their size.

CAST

Cio Cio San
Carole Fisher-Grant / Veronica Gilbert
Suzuki
Karen Harper
B.F.Pinkerton
Roger Barber
Sharpless
Tag Caisley
Goro
Alberto Janelli / James Nelson
Kate Pinkerton
Helen Duxbury
Prince Yamadori
Paul Allen
The Bonze
Julian Empett
The Imperial Commissioner
Batur Baslar
Uncle Yakuside
Ian Saunders
Sorrow
Simon Desborough / Leonie Shipley

PRODUCTION TEAM

Music Director
Geoffrey Boyd
Director
Alan Rankin-Crooks
Lighting Designer
David Hart

THIS BUTTERFLY REALLY SPREAD ITS WINGS
 by Donald Madgwick

The formation of a new opera company in the district is an event worthy of celebration, and Opera Nova is just what its name proclaims.

The brainchild of soprano Carole Fisher-Grant and her singing teacher Frank Felton, its birth took place last week with three performances of Madama Butterfly in the Great Hall of the Bromley Civic Centre.

Note the "Madama" instead of "Madame", for the courageous decision was taken to perform Puccini's opera in the original language, which in a local context must be something of a risk.

The result was a triumph in all departments. Carole Fisher-Grant says that Opera Nova has not been formed with regular performances in mind, but "if this project is successful", the repertoire may be extended.

In the aftermath, need we doubt it for a moment? She herself sang Butterfly for two of the three performances, but in the one I attended, the role was taken by the excellent Veronica Gilbert, who sang it so movingly last year for COSI.

On a small note of criticism, I think the singers might have given us more in the way of helpful gestures to aid the Italian words, for example where Pinkerton is describing his infatuation to the consul Sharpless.

At such times I had the feeling that a close working knowledge of the plot on our part was being assumed. But this quibble hardly detracts from the strong impact of the performance, and Roger Barber's heroic tenor carried the day in triumph.

Costumes and makeup were first-rate, creating the illusion that these really were Japanese people, even down to their way of moving.

Veronica Gilbert's Butterfly was all we would expect, ravishing in the love duet and exquisitely poignant in the final sacrifice. Tag Caisley's Sharpless had all the sympathetic gravitas of a harassed diplomat landed with an impossible mission, and the slippery manoeuvres of Alberto Janelli as the marriage broker Goro were conveyed with the utmost economy.

Julian Empett's terrifying Bonze was somewhat diminished by a shock of hair, which suggested more a pop star than the repository of an ancient religion. Karen Harper gave fine support as Suzuki, and the chorus sang beautifully, the Humming Chorus being especially moving.

Conductor Geoffrey Boyd arranged the magically effective reduced score for eleven musicians, and the work was nobly produced by Alan Rankin-Crooks. Welcome, super nova!

29 May -
1 June 1991