<<  -- 6 --  Roderic Dunnett    THE HAUNTED MANOR

And then there is Skoluba (Mark Saberton), the 'keeper of the keys'. A kind of head waiter-cum huntsman-cum-bailiff on this run down estate, it is Skoluba who sets up the 'haunting' almost incidentally to take revenge on the hapless Maciej. The scene launched with a hilarious double visual coup (two huge cobwebs and a large rat crossing the stage, with spectacularly creepy lighting from Bruce Williams), which set the scene for much hilarity -- Skoluba and the shivering Maciej, his warrior's courage fled; the girls' humorous, but significant, concealment 'within' two portraits (frighteningly well staged); and Damazy ensconced in the clock and forever clucking interruptions; all of which Moniuszko pieces together with the ease and freshness of a Mozart. Saberton, a capable performer who has already proved a veritable hit in another rarity, Bampton Classical Opera's The Comedy of Errors (Storace), delivered some spinechilling 'Dobranocs' (So it's goodnight -- 'So goodnight' might have been a better accentuation) and vividly sang the well-translated aria about the clock that, like the run-down manor, represents Poland : 'The clock you see is broken now' (the chimes, when they sound, will be a call to arms).

The trombone and percussion that precede the timeless tape, flute and keyboard of the musical clock sequence were aptly awesome. Both Stefan and a cello had some initial tuning problems, yet each was redeemed in a fine ensuing aria, 'Mother, dearest mother', with the cellos' echo of Miecznik's patriotic musings leaving us no doubt as to its import. Bowyer's reprise of Stefan's Act I drinking song was much better than in Act I; indeed, his delivery alternated perilously between the exceptionally promising and the dangerously bad. Damazy attempts his own bit of ghostly invention in a finely accompanied aria : Molesworth's final triumphant fingersnap was another hoot.

Hanna's aria, wrapped (rather less judiciously) in a national flag was well served by the orchestra : pizzicato horn and strings, oboe and an admirable violin solo; the Hanna-Stefan scene was strong. The male quartet, where Miecznik emerges in his Swordbearer's finery (another Stevenson coup) sounded wonderful, even if you couldn't actually hear a word; and the sleighbells for Czesnikowa's return, bewitchingly atmospheric. Both the 'band' music (another thing Moniuszko does well -- witness his other masterpiece, Halka) and the blocking for the dance sequence were top-notch. In fact, one was left feeling that Opera Omnibus had got right into the bones of this opera, and revealed it as the masterpiece it is. No mean feat, and a matter for congratulation.