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<< -- 3 -- Roderic Dunnett APOTHEOSIS OF THE MADRIGAL
Busenello -- what a clever writer he is -- gives Kevin Kyle's Arnalta
(Poppea's nurse-like confidante, sung by a tenor) a couple of great comic
scenes latterly; Arnalta's gloriously self-important closing soliloquy,
as she imagines herself shedding Coronation Street slippers and curlers
and donning a tiara, is as wittily cutting as Oscar Wilde.
Kevin Kyle as Arnalta in the Royal Academy of Music's 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea'. Photo © 2002 Jonathan Dockar-Drysdale
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Even more than Handel, who spaces it out by long da capo arias,
Poppea's scene-intercuttings have this feel of classic TV soap drama
: no wonder many maintain Shakespeare would have written for television.
But this is opera seria, and amid such clever diversions, this
Royal Academy Poppea had real weight too. Take the dramatic centrepiece,
Nero's verbal roasting by his former tutor, Seneca and the latter's
casually enforced suicide.
James Gower as Seneca in his study in the second cast of 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea'. Photo © 2002 Jonathan Dockar-Drysdale
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The Athenian bass Vassilis Kostopoulos, though initially ponderous (he
alternated with the excellent James Gower [see Roderic
Dunnett's Stowe Opera review]), brought a tangible vocal strength to
the philosopher-tutor's exchanges with Mercury (a promising baritone,
Rodney Clarke) and his friends and servants (Andrew Clarke, Neil Williams,
Joakim Schuster) : the wonderful madrigalian trio, 'Non morir, Seneca,
no!' was done with a real poignancy, with oodles of rhythmic precision.
Continue >>
Copyright © 13 December 2002
Roderic Dunnett, Coventry, UK
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