<<  -- 2 --  Roderic Dunnett    LIFE IN THE OLD TIGER

Many of the recently toured productions (a recent Tosca, for example, with lead tenor Mihai Muntean -- currently appearing as Pollione in Chisinau's touring Norma -- reprising in his fifties the role of Cavaradossi) -- date from the mid-80s, the heyday of veteran director Eugen Platon. Like English National Opera, today's Chisinau company could benefit from an additional layer -- a forward-thinking dramaturg or director of productions.

Gradually, however, these by now seasoned stagings are having a makeover (of sorts), being dusted down and improved with new decor and costumes. It's not a transformation; but it helps. Ellen Kent's touring Butterfly set, with watergarden, was something of a coup, especially with the superb Natalia Yutesh making her vocal and dramatic mark in the title role. A few -- an old-looking Traviata and Figaro, for instance -- verge on the dowdy. But a variable Carmen, like the visually dramatic Norma, was cheered by new sets by designer Felix Bessonov. Chisinau's costumes may be traditional, but they are sometimes -- witness their Aida, Pagliacci and Turandot [listen -- 'Nessun Dorma'] -- a visual feast. The chorus -- on tour at least -- are not among the world's nattiest movers, and they sing inconsistently. Vocally they alternate between superb, promising, encouraging and (depending on the tenors' mood) ropy.

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