Sponsored by
Review: Mary Stuart
At Leeds Grand Theatre
THERE'S a point in Donizetti's opera Mary Stuart where Mary, Queen of Scots grabs a riding whip from Queen Elizabeth, thrusts it under the chin of her royal nemesis and brands her a "vile bastard". You could almost here audience members gasp.
Yes, this is an absolute corker of an opera. Not some wafer thin story propped up by a lush score and a dubious love story, but an absolute blockbuster of a clash between two of history's most famous regal rivals.
From the moment Antonia Cifrone appears on stage as the Queen of England she dominates proceedings – in this production she's a gutsy red haired glamour queen, more matinee idol than a monarch.
And Donizetti offers some absolutely blinding arias, all of which she belts out with a precision and intensity, only equalled by Sarah Connolly as Elizabeth's arch rival.
In the interval Opera North's director general Richard Mantle appeared on stage to inform the audience that Connolly has been suffering with a throat infection and apologised if onlookers had noticed this impacting on her performance. We hadn't.
The battle between the two was so epic, so fast and furious that any minor flaws got overwhelmed by an incredible maelstrom which simply has you on the edge of your seat.
Bulent Bezduz was masterful as Elizabeth's love interest, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, but, physically, he didn't make for a very convincing peer of either of the lead women. That title has to go to David Kempster as the queen's trusted companion, Sir William Cecil, and special mention should also go to Frederic Bourreau, an understated but brilliant performance as Talbot.
There is much good and some things bad about this Opera North production. The set is largely an interplay between the rather lavish backdrop of two oil paintings and a pair of vast revolving screens which look to be made of plywood.
The aim, clearly, is to create some kind of contrast between the minimal and opulent, and it works, initially, but by the second half you long for some major variation.
The choice of costumes, however, is brilliant. They've dispensed with Elizabethan attire, replaced instead by courtiers wearing pinstripe suits and ties, more mid 20th that late 15th century. It's a judicious shift in time.
But the real credit here rests with Donizetti – his shrewd choice of subject and that wonderful, thunderous score.
Tonight and Saturday, Leeds Grand Theatre, New Briggate, Leeds, 7.30pm, 10 to 58. Visit www.leedsgrandtheatre.co.uk. or tel: 0844 8482705
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
