Magic in the 'Mischief'

Published on November 15, 2007

 NUNi Productions' "Mozart in Mischief", featuring scenes from three of Wolfgang Amadeus' best-loved comic operas - "Cosi fan tutte", "Don Giovanni" and "Le nozze di Figaro" - was given a warm reception by an enthusiastic audience at the Thailand Cultural Centre last Saturday.

The crowd that filled the centre's small hall included many local opera fans, art students and families and friends of the 16 singers, as well as curious theatregoers. They came expecting to be entertained and were richly rewarded by a ravishing romp through the pranks and pratfalls of Mozart's delightful characters.

The feat was accomplished with gleeful relish by an eclectic cast of up-and-coming international opera stars, voice students and semi-professional singers from a cross-section of nationalities, age groups and technical skill.

In each of the original Italian-language operas, Mozart - in collaboration with his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte - wove complicated tapestries from diverse dramatic strands based on the conventional comic devices of his time: mistaken identity, coincidence, surprise and incongruity, and even violence.

Producer and baritone singer Saran Suebsantiwongse and his director, Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon, judiciously selected mischief-making scenes from "Cosi", "Giovanni" and "Figaro" for the practical purpose of shrinking each into comic sketches of between 30 and 40 minutes, at no point compromising their musical integrity.

The result was a thematically consistent programme, showcasing excerpts from the three operas which were fitted into a space of less than two and a half hours, the average length of a full opera performance. 

With such artistic licence it came as little surprise that much of "Mozart in Mischief" involved fast-moving action and lots of ensemble singing, all of which tended to propel the plot lines along. At the same time, the most famous arias - the set pieces that are vehicles for virtuoso singing, which many opera buffs live for - had to be omitted because they usually stop the stage action in its tracks.

Be that as it may, there was still much to enjoy from the operas, even in these abbreviated packages. 

In "Cosi fan tutte", Vera Savage cut a convincing figure as the earnest Fiordiligi, with her vibrant soprano playing opposite to a sweet-toned counterpart in the shape of Yaowapa Hoisunwarn, who filled her portrayal of the impressionable Dorabella with great character.

For that opera's biggest solo showpiece, "Come scoglio", Savage wowed the audience with her impressive vocal power, which gradually picked up pitch, speed and intensity to an explosive climax that literally blew away her disguised suitor - to comical effect.

Catherine Harsono's soprano, infused with glowing warmth, gave the part of the wisecracking maid Despina an uncommon allure.

The chunk ripped from "Don Giovanni" kicked off with Leporello's complaints, which baritone Saran delivered with a keen sense of musicianship and technical ease. An overcast mood set in as Korawij Devahastin na Ayudhya, with his dark-timbre baritone, sang Don Giovanni's role, coming across as a particularly brutish philanderer with a hint of sadism.

"Laci darem la mano", the seduction duet between the Don and Zerlina, sung by appropriately demure-sounding soprano Nakananthinee Worakhitanan, was beautifully rendered but could perhaps have been more spaciously paced.

As the lecherous Count in "Le nozze di Figaro", Saran demonstrated both his versatility as an actor and the suppleness of his robust baritone. The noble Countess was lovingly fleshed out by soprano Carole Boy Ferron, whose voice resonated with an attractive bell-like sonority.

Ema Naito used her crystal-clear soprano to good effect as the vivacious Susanna opposite Korawij, who unfortunately did not get enough time to develop the Figaro character fully.

The much-celebrated "Finale" is said to be the supreme example of how Mozart's musical genius clarifies Da Ponte's tightly woven and virtually impossible-to-follow dramatic situation. But few opera buffs burden themselves with puzzle solving - they'd rather sit back and bask in glorious music, which was exactly what the sensible audience did.

The action on stage led us through the unravelling of multiple amorous advances, the Count's ultimate humiliation, the reconciliation of estranged lovers and finally forgiveness all round so that the planned marriage of Figaro and Susanna could take place.

The joyous conclusion to "Le nozze di Figaro" also ended "Mozart in Mischief" on a happy note.

What makes Mozart truly great is his uncanny ability to offer penetrating insight into the human condition - particularly the affairs of the heart - through music that can be at once frivolously playful and absolutely sublime.

The male protagonists in these operas are manipulative men, sexual predators and overbearing aristocrats who, in their different ways and circumstances, make cruel sport with female emotions. But the female characters are invariably either vulnerable and inconstant or faithful and forgiving.   

The splendid piano accompaniment came from musical director Yoko Takahashi, who also cued the onstage singers, thus ensuring that the drama and music held together.

If necessity is the mother of invention, NUNi Productions seemed to have taken the idea to a new level with its austere, minimalist staging, in which the only prop was a huge white closet. All of the characters either revolved around it, passed through it, hid in it, or slept on it. The parodying of retro fashion styles, including a real chicken-coop dress corset, coupled with antic humour and superb acting, contributed to infectious hilarity.

One way of looking at "Mozart in Mischief" is as a smorgasbord of easily digestible operatic morsels. It didn't demand or presume too much of the audience. It let the opera - which essentially is musical drama, or drama through music - speak to the audience directly, free from the suffocating, centuries-old cultural baggage that many viewers find so off-putting.

And the production accomplished all of this without coming across as patronising or trying too hard to be clever.

NUNi - which stands for Never Underestimate New Ideas - passed this test with flying colours through its sincerity and artistic honesty. If it can follow up on this remarkable inaugural production, which seemed to give as much pleasure to the audience as it did to the performers, the country's newest performing-arts company may be on the path toward some extraordinary thing.

Thana Poopat

 The Nation