The Stage

La forza del destino

Published Friday 30 July 2010 at 12:27 by Edward Bhesania

With a cross-dressing heroine who seeks sanctuary in a monastery, two adversaries who unwittingly befriend each other before duelling (twice) and a brief battle scene whose action is narrated by a field surgeon, Verdi’s La forza del destino is something of a ragbag dramatically, and the dislocations in its narrative don’t help.

Yet, Martin Duncan’s new production for Opera Holland Park makes a persuasive attempt at coherence. He achieves this partly by keeping the staging simple throughout.

There’s no set to speak of, and very few props (if you discount the 40 or so chairs that are nearly always on stage. This chair fixation reaches new heights, literally, in Act 3, when a number are strikingly, but inexplicably, suspended at various angles from red ropes).

Second night, Act 1 - the least rambling of the four - was a surprising slow-burner, with Gweneth-Ann Jeffers’ Leonora dramatically unconvincing in her confusion about whether to elope with Don Alvaro.

But her Act 2 arioso upon her arrival at the monastery - and her touching subsequent duet with the Padre (a rich-toned Mikhail Svetlov) was affecting.

If Jeffers continued to improve over the evening, so did Peter Auty, who not only acquired greater vocal heroism, but brought a mastery of tonal colour in his war-wounded duet with Alvaro.

If Aled Hall’s assured pedlar Trabuco steals the comic thunder from Donald Maxwell’s Friar Melitone, he’s matched by Carole Wilson’s war-mongering gypsy Preziosilla, who gives an unnervingly natural performance. Mark Stone’s Don Carlo is another highlight, combining richness with dramatic heft.

In the pit, conductor Stuart Stratford’s obvious enthusiasm for the score results in a reading that displays affection and ardour in equal measure.

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