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The Observer, Sunday 22 August 2004 |
Anthony Holden |
von Weber: Der Freischütz, Edinburgh, 17 August 2004
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For Weber, read Lloyd Weber
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Usher Hall |
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....This six-piece concert was a mere hors
d'oeuvre to the operatic blowout that followed over three nights in the
Usher Hall, the first course served by Charles Mackerras and his Scottish
Chamber Orchestra in the shape of Der Freischütz. For once, Festival
director Brian McMaster also got the rest of his dream-team casting: Jonas
Kaufmann and Hillevi Martinpelto as lovers Max and Agathe, John Relyea and
Christopher Maltman as Kaspar and Ottokar, Siegfred Vogel and Ronan
Collettas Kuno and Kilian, Ailish Tynan as Annchen.
For my money, this plot is quite as absurd as the others, with its reliance
on magic bullets and other such gothic-horror gizmos. Only the hirsute
Kaufmann, sporting a wildman look as outlandish as his role, hurled himself
into the evening with the requisite abandon: Relyea was too concerned to
be charming, Martinpelto too unsure of her command in the top register. The
show was stolen by Mackerras and his marvellous players, who squeezed every
stave of drama from Weber's luridly romantic score.
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