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Gondoliers are jewels in crown
OPERA: Gondoliers
English national opera
The Gondoliers, one of the jewels in the crown of the Gilbert and Sullivan cannon, has arguably the wittiest lyrics and the loveliest tunes of any of their shows.
This production makes ENO’s usual good, clean start – minimalist, abstract scenery with plastic water, mini bridges and moving baby gondolas, all in bright, garish colours.
I was happy to see that the gondoliers were, for once, a handsome pair (David Curry as Marco and Toby Stafford-Allen as Giuseppe), so that 24 Venetian beauties swooning after them was reasonably believable.
But the highlights of the first half were easily the Duke of Plaza Toro Geoffrey Dolton and pantomime villain Donald Maxwell’s Don Alhambra del Bolero.
Playing it the traditional D’Oyly Carte way, the laughs were plentiful, with Dolton, in particular, effective and agile.
He enlivened the first half that, although spirited and, in places, quite charming, had a somewhat monotone mood.
My companion for the evening, a tall, elegant Slovakian friend, had never seen Gilbert and Sullivan before but is a lover of opera. She came to much the same conclusion as I did – that it is not really for the truly operatic voice.
So Sarah Tynan’s Gianetta and Stephanie Marshall’s Tessa were, again, lively renditions but the words were often lost and the imbalance of voices all too frequently obvious.
It was, nonetheless, a good show. The choreography was less stilted than the previous production of the Pirates of Penzance, but still somewhat static in places.
Until March 31
CNJ booking line: 0870 040 0070
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