Mazeppa reviews
The Times ★★★★★
Wasfi Kani, the founder of Grange Park Opera, scores a coup in getting the English National Opera orchestra to play for David Pountney’s new production, complete with motorcycles
“The elderly statesman is fairly unredeemable, running off with the young daughter of a fellow marshal he mercilessly tortures and executes before disastrously turning against the crown. Pountney and the set designer Francis O’Connor wisely steer clear of specific parallels and set their sights elsewhere: on toxic masculinity… There’s no escape from the military-chauvinistic complex.”
“As Mariya’s mother, Lyubov, Sara Fulgoni delivered a wrenching plea to her daughter to stop the execution of her father, Kochubey — a role Luciano Batanic carried with utter conviction and actual sobs in his voice. His profound bass was the perfect match for Stout’s Mazeppa, who brought more subtlety to the title role with the vulnerability of his upper register.”
“Delivering consistently clarion top notes and lyricism was the tenor John Findon, who sang Mariya’s spurned lover Andrei, cutting through orchestra and chorus at full tilt, as they often were, and to exhilarating effect. The conductor Mark Shanahan quickly steadied occasional moments of overexcitement. Nicholls vividly portrayed Mariya’s transformations before expertly taming her powerful soprano to give perhaps the best rendition of the opera’s closing lullaby we’re likely to hear, especially if Mazeppa continues to be unjustly underperformed.”
The Guardian ★★★★
Tchaikovsky’s rarely staged melodic sleeping beauty has lost none of its power to unsettle the stomach while titillating the ear
“Directorially it’s presented as very much a play for today, with Francis O’Connor’s efficient, movable set and Tim Mitchell’s stark lighting creating an all too recognisable world where oligarchs and mercenaries vie for power and violent death is only a heartbeat away.”
“Grange Park has assembled a fine cast led by David Stout whose ageing Mazeppa is a cross between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the leader of a chapter of the Hells Angels. Joking aside, it’s a moving and dramatically crafted performance wedded to a firm baritone with plenty of heft.”
“John Findon offers sterling support as the hapless Andrei and Luciano Batinic brings nobility to Mariya’s father Kochubey, singing through mounting layers of blood and gore.”
The Telegraph ★★★★
Grange Park’s take on the Russian’s obscure opera is bracingly staged and brilliantly sung
“When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the country’s then minister of culture Oleksandr Tkachenko called on the UK to boycott Russian composers until the war was over ….. Grange Park Opera shows that intelligent engagement has a far greater impact.”
“Director David Pountney’s production eschews hagiography for graphic realism – and this Mazeppa is stronger for it.”
“Battles are bloody, and so is this production. In Act II, we’re transported to Mazeppa’s dungeon, where Kochubey and his friend Iskra are beaten and waterboarded. Henchmen appear with pliers, a hand-saw, rubber gloves. Fear is in the implication; the detail is in our imagination.”
“Nicholls, now nursing a large pregnancy bolster, is as dazzling as Mazeppa’s gold lamé bedding. In Act III, gas-masked cossacks rise from elevated coffins as zombies, contorted like a Francis Bacon painting. They die again to Tchaikovsky’s percussive shots, administered with precision by the English National Opera conducted by Mark Shanahan.”
The Financial Times ★★★★
With a rallying call for Ukrainian independence at its heart, Tchaikovsky’s work is timely and well sung
“Never a company to duck a challenge, Grange Park Opera in Surrey has stepped up to the mark.”
“Pountney pitches the action between realism and symbolism, getting the best of both worlds in the black comedy of a motorbike ride featuring humorous road symbols.”
“The visiting Orchestra of English National Opera is in the pit, giving Grange Park the orchestral boost it needs, and it is good news that it will be back for the forthcoming Ring cycle, starting next year.”