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THE SCOTSMAN, 18 August 2004 |
By Kenneth Walton |
von Weber: Der Freischütz, Edinburgh, 17 August 2004
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Der Freischütz
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IT IS probably for the better that the Edinburgh Festival
is presenting its trilogy of Weber operas as concert performances. On
balance, Weber's most consistent operatic achievement was the music he
wrote for Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon.
And that's where the focus lay in last night's opening performance of Der
Freischüz - ironically the one Weber opera that has stood the full test of
time as an undisputed stageable masterpiece.
This performance's only concession to obvious dramatisation was the use of
electronic gunshots to fire the all important magic bullets, and the
booming off-stage voice of an
amplified Samiel.
But what a team the Festival put together to deliver it. At the helm, the
inveterate Sir Charles Mackerras not only exercised his customary
briskness, but knitted Weber's rich tapestry of scenes into a riveting
piece of aural theatre.
From the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia Chorus he drew a
solid nucleus of sound. Everything about the SCO's playing was crisp and
vibrant, but also electrifyingly fearsome in the famous Wolf Glen scene,
with all its eerie premonitions of Wagner.
The chorus played its part with penetrating theatricality, singing with a
real sense of focus and involvement.
None of this would have worked, though, without a cast fully gripped by
the elevated romanticism of the drama. These characters, you could believe
in.
Jonas Kaufmann's Max was every bit the dashing tenor, packed with
sensitivity, if occasionally understated. The probing menace of John
Relyea and Siegfried Vogel suited the seedier Kaspar and Kuno to a tee.
Among the women, Ailish Tynan's Ännchen sparkled throughout. Hillevi
Martintelto as Agathe, was more perfectly radiant in rapture than in
reflection.
There were fine contributions too from Ronan Collet as a nimble Kilian,
Christopher Maltman as Ottokar and the delightful quartet of post-graduate
singers from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama - Carolyn
Dobbin, Catriona Holt, Gail Johnston and Madeleine Shaw - as the
Bridesmaids. All in all, a great night for Weber. |
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