Il Signor Bruschino and La Scala di Seta - British Youth Opera - Peacock Theatre, 8 September 2009
The word 'youth' has its own special meaning in the world of classical music. Its upper boundaries often extend far beyond what any normal person would consider young. 30-ish? Try a 'youth' orchestra for size. Pushing 40? You can still pay 'youth' prices for concerts in Salzburg or Boston. And a 'young' tenor means anyone under 50. Basically if you've still got your own teeth, you're in.
British Youth Opera don't push it quite that far, but it's not packed with peachy-cheeked 19 year olds either. Most of the singers in this Rossini double-header were still students, but many, according to the programme bios, are on their second or third degree. And about as British as the average Chelsea player, too.
Spot on with the 'Opera' bit though.
When Rossini composed the two one-acters on show, he was younger than most of this cast. Both follow a plot Rossini was to return to time and again - threatened with an arranged marriage, the spunky heroine and her cunning lover outwit their bumbling elders and end up together, happy ever after. The music too shows all the signs of his mature style - no real showstoppers, but bags of wit and invention and sunny good humour. Only a terminal Rossini-hater could fail to come out smiling. It's a pity their awkward length (around 90 minutes a piece, no breaks) makes them difficult to package as a standard night at the opera.
They shared a low-budget set of plain white steps and drapes. This worked better for the drawing-room setting of Il Signor Bruschino than for La Scala di Seta, where the titular silken ladder leading to the heroine's bedroom was confusingly substituted by a red carpet - though hiding the multiple eavesdroppers behind empty picture frames was a genius touch.
Everything seemed fanatically well-prepared, packed with detail (though sometimes distractingly so) and the standard of performance was high. No new Pavarottis, but easily the equal of many regional or touring casts. The standout for me was Natalia Romaniw (the Welsh entrant in this summer's Cardiff Singer of the World contest). Despite being one of the youngest on stage, she was a confident, sassy heroine in La Scala di Seta.
Southbank Sinfonia provided able and equally youthful musical support - I particularly liked the sparing and inventive harpsichord continuo.