Page 148 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

The symbolism, unclear at first, is as heavy as the giant boulder which Olivier Tambosi used to
dominate Act Two of Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Royal Opera (also cued when the girl tells her step-
mother that she feels as if a stone’s falling on her).

It’s hard on the realism, too: can you really take in the idea of progressive versus reactionary in
Act Three when horrid old Dikoj sings that storms are the punishment of the Almighty while
clever young chemist-teacher Kudyash insists it’s electricity? And can you forego married Katya’s
one brief, if still temporarily guilt-ridden, al fresco episode of happiness with lover Boris in favour
of mother-in-law Kabanicha breaking in and breaking up the chief angel’s wings before shoving
him in the cage? The stage pictures, with spare sets by Paolo Fantin, perfect costumes from
Carla Teti and deft lighting changes by Alessandro Carletti, is always impressive in itself, as the
images you see suggest, but rarely as concordant with the essence of the drama, as their
equivalents were in the last, great Glyndebourne Káťa from Nikolaus Lehnhoff..

All the more impressive, then, that the singing actors make their presences felt as strongly as
they do. The three tenors represent the cream of young British, or British-trained, singers:
Thomas Atkins as a bright-eyed Kudryash, David Butt Philip trying to keep it real in unpromising
surroundings as Boris and Nicky Spence as Katya’s rage-filled, alcoholic husband Tikhon,
pleading for another sort of production (pictured below on the right in the scene of Katya's
confession). A rising star bass, Tom Mole, who's just won the gold medal at the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama, manages to make an impact in the tiny role of Kudryash's friend Kuligin in
Act Three. Kudryash’s girlfriend, less likely to be crushed by her place in the Kabanov household
than Katya, is lustrously sung by Aigul Akhmetshiina (pictured above with Atkins). Katarina
Dalayman and Alexander Vassiliev as the destructive older ones don’t get enough help from the
production; their little sado-masochistic scene together in Act Two Scene One is even more
awkward than usual.