Contemporary contrasts: Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci make highly satisfying double bill at Opera Holland Park

Planning operatic double bills is always something of a challenge, but having paired early Puccini with Delius in 2022 [see my review], Opera Holland Park has returned with another intriguing pairing. Taking the imaginative decision to consider Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci on its own rather than in tandem with Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, the company paired it with a revival of their 2019 production of Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna, putting together two operas both by Italians, composed within less than 20 years of each other and both dealing with matrimonial jealousy, the one comic and the other tragic. 

Leoncavallo: Pagliacci – David Butt Philip, Alison Langer – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Ali Wright)

We began with Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna, written in 1909 and one of the composer’s few operas to retain anything like its place in the repertoire. Wolf-Ferrari applies a light yet imaginative touch to the music, the style is full of sly references yet sparkles along. John Wilkie directed, with John Andrews conducting the City of London Sinfonia with Richard Burkhard as the Count, Clare Presland as the Countess, and John Savournin in the silent role of Sante. Designs were by takis.

There was a real sparkle to the orchestral contribution from the first notes of the overture (which has a life as a concert piece). The background to the drama, such as it is, was the brilliant comic mime of Savournin as the Count and Countess’ servant plus the two maids,  Naomi Kilby and Valerie Wong.  

Savournin’s way with the character was both comic and telling, and he managed to be expressive in a silent film manner without ever saying a word. Wilkie keeps the comedy going, the production rattles along in parallel to the music, but he is working with the material and never sending the characters up. As the Count, Richard Burkhard produced a wonderful study in obsessive jealousy, well-observed and funny, yet disturbing too. The man was a buffoon, yet his behaviour was perilously close to that of Canio in Pagliacci. Clare Presland had been ill for the previous week, but her voice gave only the barest suggestion. Her Countess was sly and wilful, following the Count’s orders in name only and seeming to enjoy the game of deceiving him. The opera’s joke, of course, is that it is not another man that she is hiding but her ‘evil’ habit of smoking (something ladies were not supposed to do, at the time). This points to another interesting link between the evening’s two operas, both deal with complex subjects, the one smoking and the other domestic violence (and if you think you can’t make a comedy about domestic violence, the think of Donizetti’s Rita!).

Wolf-Ferrari: Il segreto di Susanna – Clare Presland – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Ali Wright)

Wolf-Ferrari composed some 15 operas, including five based on Goldoni’ plays and one loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. So far, Opera Holland Park have done two and on this basis of this production it would be nice to think the company might indulge in a little more operatic archaeology in the composer’s output.

Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci is a classic torrid operatic tale where the male protagonists are largely unpleasant and the woman dies at the end. The work’s real interest comes from the brilliant way Leoncavallo depicts the arc of Canio’s jealousy, a gift of the role for the right tenor. 

The new production at Opera Holland Park was directed by Martin Lloyd-Evans and designed by Bridget Kimak, with Francesco Cilluffo conducting the City of London Sinfonia. David Butt Philip was Canio, Alison Langer was Nedda, Robert Hayward was Tonio, Zwakele Tshabalala was Beppe and Harry Thatcher was Silvo.

Leoncavallo: Pagliacci – Zwakele Tshabalala  – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Ali Wright)

Kimak’s designs placed the opera in the post-war period, but the setting was abstract. The four players simply appeared during the prologue, walking across the railway line (a feature of the set), giving a suggestion of the wrong side of the tracks and hinting at an isolated community. But Lloyd-Evans was not interested in social detail, this was not the sort of production that crammed the opera with neo-realistic fussiness, instead we focused very much on the characters. This benefited the opera enormously, avoiding the picturesque and allowing us to concentrate on the unfolding drama without worrying about the whys and wherefores of the theatre company doing a Pierrot show. Lloyd-Evans used the fore-stage for the play within a play with the chorus/audience on the main stage, an imaginative touch that used the Opera Holland Park stage to its best advantage.

David Butt Philip has become known for his Wagner and Strauss roles and ironically these performances (his debut in the role) represent his only major work in the UK this year. That his voice is wider than the narrow Wagner/Strauss fach might suggest was brilliantly demonstrated by his performance as Canio. The dark baritonal timbre brought a disturbing richness to Canio’s line. This was a slow-burn performance, accumulating as it unfolded. Yes, ‘Vesti la giubba’ was very fine indeed, but it was part of a greater and rather disturbing whole.

Leoncavallo: Pagliacci – Robert Hayward, Alison Langer – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Ali Wright)

Alison Langer provided a fine foil to David Butt Philip, poised and engaging, she was rather less the sad canary than usual and at times you might almost say feisty. Her birds aria was here sung to a mobile of cut-out birds, treating the piece as complete metaphor rather than picturesque window dressing. Robert Hayward’s Tonio was a brilliant portrayal of sheer nastiness. Relying on a stick to walk, rather than any sort of disability, Hayward’s performance was a study in achieving a strong effect with minimal means, very much a master class. He made a disturbing villain, and even his delivery of the Prologue had a fine undertow to it.

The opera is about the dynamic of these three main characters, but the two lesser ones are just as important. Zakele Tshabalala made an engagingly lively Beppe, yet created a thing of beauty in Arlecchino’s serenade. Harry Thatcher provided sterling support in the relatively underwritten role of Silvio, Nedda’s real-life lover. Thatcher’s Silvio seemed to be a soldier, down to earth and a fine contrast to David Butt Philip’s disturbing Canio.

The Opera Holland Park Chorus, with children from the Pimlico Music Foundation, were in terrific form, filling the stage with lively action as well as glorious sounds. In the pit, Francesco Cilluffo and the City of London Sinfonia provided a full-blooded counterpart to the stage action. This is a score full of vivid orchestral moments, which never disappointed. Yet, Cilluffo never lost sight of the fact that they were telling a story and music moved along admirably. Quite heavily scored at times (though this performance used a somewhat reduced orchestration), Cilluffo ensured that the orchestra never dominate.

Pagliacci is not an opera that I always enjoy, but Martin Lloyd-Evans’ stripped-down approach paid great dividends with this terrific cast. I do hope that Opera Holland Park lets the same team loose on Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, I would be intrigued by the results.

Wolf-Ferrari: Il segreto di Susanna – Richard Burkhard – Opera Holland Park (Photo: Ali Wright)

There was something rather luxurious about this double bill – two casts, two directors and two conductors – but as an artistic whole, it worked rather well, making a highly satisfying evening in the theatre.