Pagliacci, Leoncavallo’s short and devastating opera is traditionally paired with Cavalleria Rusticana but the always innovative Opera Holland Park has put it with a quite different partner. This summer it’s in a double bill with Il Segreto di Susanna (Susanna’s Secret), an even shorter opera that couldn’t be more different. And what a pairing this is.
Ermano Wolf-Ferrari’s comedy is as frothy a delight as opera can produce – an absurdist tale of a jealous husband convinced his new wife has a lover because he can smell tobacco when he returns home. Determined to trap her with her lover, he is beside himself with rage only to discover that it is his wife who is the smoker. I first saw this production back in 2019 – it was OHP’s last before lockdown – and it’s as fresh as a daisy.
Richard Burkhard as Count Gil in Il Segreto di Susanna
Richard Burkhard has a fine tone as Count Gil (in a fetching pink suit – takis’ designs are as charming as ever) and, as his wife, Clare Presland glides across the stage, offering us her silvery vibrato and takes a pleasure in cigarettes which would surely be frowned upon these days. As the silent butler, John Savournin delivers a brilliantly funny turn. As slight as a puff of smoke and a perfect opener.
And then it’s the Leoncavallo. It was by chance that I saw this quite savage production of Pagliacci on the same day that the figures on violence against women were released – but how apposite. This is a piece that is, like the first offering in this double bill, rooted in jealousy. The outcome here, though, couldn’t be more different.
David Butt Philip as Canio in Pagliacci
A group of travelling performers are putting on a Commedia dell’ Arte performance somewhere in rural Italy. The actors’ story is, of course, the cuckolding of Pagliaccio by Columbine who prefers Harlequin. Behind the scenes, though, a very similar story is developing. As Canio, David Butt Philip not only gave us his magnificent vocal rendering of this testing role, but a piece of character acting that was quite devastating.
Canio leads the troupe and plays the role of Pagliaccio while his wife Nedda (Alison Langer, also in fine voice and probably the only opera singer who can do a cartwheel) will play Columbine. She is, though, the target of the unwanted advances of Tonio (Robert Hayward who shone throughout as the would-be vile seducer) although she has actually fallen in love with Silvio. Harry Thatcher played Silvio as a rather sinister young soldier, probably as controlling as Canio and begging the question of whether for Nedda it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
David Butt Philip as Canio and Alison Langer as Nedda in Pagliacci at Opera Holland Park
When Nedda rejects Tonio, he tells Canio about his wife’s lover – his ensuing jealous rage is uncontrollable. Beppe (Zwakele Tshabalala as the only decent bloke on stage), another of the actors, tries to calm down the problem before the performance but it simmers beneath the surface as they get ready for the show. And here there is a really brilliant idea.
The rural audience (the Opera Holland Park Chorus as terrific as ever) sit at the back of the stage while we (the actual audience) are watching what is happening backstage. What follows is the inevitable culmination of the darkness and savagery that have been building throughout. And, for those of a nervous disposition, a quick warning – the climax takes place among the actual audience.
An absolute triumph.
Il Segreto di Susanna/Pagliacci performances continue at Opera Holland Park on 25th, 27th, 30th July and 1st and 3rd August. For more information, and for tickets, please visit www.operahollandpark.com.
Photos by Ali Wright
