Review: National Opera Studio’s Showcase – Lust & Laughter

The UK’s bridge between music colleges at our six full-time opera companies, The National Opera Studio, touched down in Glasgow this February. Crossing this mutable span from the studio’s home in Wandsworth in style, 15 would-be stars conspired with Director Emma Jenkins to tell a tale of Lust & Laughter. A portmanteau piece stitching together scenes from a diverse line-up of great composers’ works to create a singularly eventful soirée, there really was something for everyone, cast and audience alike.

Cast and Kick-Off

Said 15 consisted of Ana Carmen Balestra (soprano), Nancy Holt (mezzo-soprano), Emyr Lloyd Jones (baritone), Aleksander Kaczuk-Jagielnik (baritone), Moloko Letsoalo (soprano), Luvo Maranti (tenor), Rachel McLean (soprano), Ceferina Penny (soprano), Egor Sergeev (bass-baritone), Olivia Rose Tringham (soprano), and Sarah Winn (mezzo-soprano), plus repetiteurs Alistair Burton, Adam McDonagh, Aya Robertson, and Su Choung.

The show kicked off in style, with Penny and Holt teaming up as Gretel and Hansel respectively, and moaning most tunefully and playfully over mounting hunger and boredom. With both performers in bravura form, the scene fizzed with childish energy, whilst their voices blended wonderfully to deliver Humperdinck’s melodious strains. So strong an opening laid down a challenge to the vignettes and singers to follow, one not fully answered until McLean and Winn teamed up to put a certain Falstaff on hilarious blast in a scene from Mosenthal’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. Another harmonious teaming of mezzo and soprano as per the show’s opening twosome, the pair emphatically underlined the comic in comic opera with a bougie, wine-soaked triumph.

“McLean and Winn teamed up to put a certain Falstaff on hilarious blast”

Standout Performances

That isn’t to say the other 6 scenes presented didn’t provoke fine showings from others amongst the 12 on stage, all of which were carried off with professional flare and promising hints of greatness to come. Demanding particular attention, Segeev’s powerful bass and imposing physicality made for a fine villain as Don Carlo in Verdi’s Ernani, and a suitably caprine trickster Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. Similarly, soprano Balestra’s fine soprano and emphatic stage presence made her a fine romcom lead in Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ L’amant anonyme and a winning Cinderella in Massenet’s take on the fairy tale.

“Segeev’s powerful bass and imposing physicality made for a fine villain”

Orchestra and Overall Charm

Bravo also to the ever-splendid Orchestra of Scottish Opera under Music Director Stuart Stratford who conspired to accompany and bolster the performers on stage so sympathetically.

Overall there was much to admire, and plenty to chuckle at in this outing from a merry band of tomorrow’s opera stalwarts. Despite being a one-performance-only deal, it was clear that Jenkins and Movement Director Tim Claydon had conspired to give them every chance to acquit themselves in fully professional style. No scene wallowed in stationery declamation or lacked a sense of place in the story of one rollercoaster party night. There was even a hint of a unifying fairytale woven through each scene with Hansel and Gretel striving with a sinister shade-wearing Segeev to shepherd the revellers to a happy ending. The result was a charming, easily enjoyable night at the opera.

Featured image: The 11-strong on-stage line-up for Lust and Laughter – © Julie Howden