Pop-Up Opera review: Bite-sized classical fun
Scottish Opera's pared-back productions are a great entry point to the genre
Billed as lasting just 30 minutes each (actually nearer 40), how Scottish Opera would fit a pair of two-and-a-half hour operas into such a short time posed an intriguing question. With just two singers, two instrumentalists, a narrator and specially commissioned illustrations, this is opera cut down to its very core. Full stagings and symphony orchestras left behind, the key emotions of both Verdi’s Rigoletto and Donizetti’s The Elixir Of Love are all the more keenly felt with leaner forces in intimate venues.
The singers and narrator change at different performances, but all credit at this show to soprano Holly Teague and baritone Ross Cumming, narrator Marc MacKinnon and instrumentalists Sasha Savaloni on guitar and Andrew Drummond Huggan on cello. The latter two perform like magicians, conjuring up an astonishing range of colour coupled with the dramatic intensity of the original orchestral scores in Derek Clark’s brilliant arrangement. Intended as an entry point to opera for whoever fancies giving it a go, including families with children, the pairing of Rigoletto’s dark tragedy followed by the lighter-hearted music, characters and storyline of the Donizetti works well.
The singers, with no escape from full-blown audience attention, effectively adapt their styles to suit their contrasting characters. While narration moves the drama along, the Verdi could have gained from more depth of tone. But MacKinnon’s camped-up storytelling for the light-hearted romantic nonsense of The Elixir Of Love is spot on.
Pop-Up Opera is touring Scotland until Sunday 5 July; reviewed at Eastgate Theatre, Peebles; picture: Kirsty Anderson.