July 2, 2006
The second of Tchaikovsky’s three operas drawn from the works of Pushkin, Mazepa is the story of Cossack betrayal of Peter the Great and its effect on all concerned. The eponymous character is a Hetman, or Cossack leader, who wishes to marry his much younger goddaughter, Mariya. The disgust of her father, Kochubei, and mother, Lyubov, lead to a plot to warn Peter the Great of the planned betrayal to the Swedish armies by Mazepa’s forces; to allow him to take control of an independent Ukraine. Andrei, Mariya’s admirer, offers to take news to the Tsar, but Mazepa has Peter’s ear and is instrumental in the death of Kochubei and his lieutenant, Iskra. Mariya is sent mad by this and the opera finishes with her singing a lullaby over the dying body of Andrei, as Mazepa and Orlik, his henchman, flee.
This Welsh National Opera production was fantastic with superb performances by all: Robert Hayward as Mazepa; Gidon Saks as Kochubei; Tatiana Monogarova as Mariya; Jonathan May as Orlik and Luis Rodriguea as Iskra and Philip Lloyd Holtam as a comical drunken Cossack. The stand-outs for me were Hugh Smith as Andrei and Marianna Tarasova as Lyubov – wonderfully emotional performances both. This is not to detract from the others, far from it, simply to acknowledge the best of the best.
The orchestra, conducted by Alexander Polianichko, performed the beautiful music masterfully, while the direction of Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser created a wonderfully accessible performance of this too-little performed opera. Costume, lighting, choreography and a marvellous chorus added to the solo performances, while the admirably restrained design allowed the music and singing to rightly command the audience’s attention. On a baking evening – please, New Theatre, some air conditioning! – the performance was enough to make one forget the heat and the World Cup!
This Welsh National Opera production was fantastic with superb performances by all: Robert Hayward as Mazepa; Gidon Saks as Kochubei; Tatiana Monogarova as Mariya; Jonathan May as Orlik and Luis Rodriguea as Iskra and Philip Lloyd Holtam as a comical drunken Cossack. The stand-outs for me were Hugh Smith as Andrei and Marianna Tarasova as Lyubov – wonderfully emotional performances both. This is not to detract from the others, far from it, simply to acknowledge the best of the best.
The orchestra, conducted by Alexander Polianichko, performed the beautiful music masterfully, while the direction of Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser created a wonderfully accessible performance of this too-little performed opera. Costume, lighting, choreography and a marvellous chorus added to the solo performances, while the admirably restrained design allowed the music and singing to rightly command the audience’s attention. On a baking evening – please, New Theatre, some air conditioning! – the performance was enough to make one forget the heat and the World Cup!