When, next winter, the burghers of Portsmouth are complaining that the council haven't cleared their icy pavements for three weeks they will have to bear in mind that popular classics were provided for free in the park on a summer evening and that money can only be spent once.
Opera Interludes are available for corporate events to add a bit of class to companies who either see themselves as 'top end' or want others to think so. It would be uncharitable to point out that these singers are appearing in the park in Portsmouth at the height of the season and not in Covent Garden because they are making an honest bob and dishing out the Verdi and Bizet with some gusto, which is sometimes necessary when the train line runs right behind the stage and the Guild Hall bells chime the hour midway through an aria. I didn't think the train went past until Act 2 of La Traviata. A properly sumptuous One Fine Day benefits from the whole orchestral setting rather than piano accompaniment and the delicate textures of Voi Che Sapete are lost in this simplified, common denominator setting of picnics and bring-your-own cheap booze. But let's not be churlish and miss the point with snooty remarks when it was all put on for free and offered great tunes to the masses, just like ought to happen more often in any utopian civilisation. Baritone David Stephenson took the highest honours with the necessary power to impose himself on the situation, John Pierce did us a worthy Nessun Dorma and a particularly good Largo al Factotum by David had him in among the audience before timing his arrival back on stage to answer a call on his mobile phone with, 'Figaro...Figaro, Figaro, Figaro'. Well done.
Naomi Harvey and Charlotte Stephenson did such things as the Flower Duet before leading a miniature Last Night of the Proms with Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory. I realize that Jerusalem is probably the only one of these that one should join in with but by now I think the others must just be ironic while still providing a damned good opportunity to sing.
I was in two minds whether to go but it was a pleasant evening and with the favourites having won the two big races at Goodwood for me, thought I'd better make a day of it. Then I come home to find that two more winners at Lingfield had given me four out of five on the day and doubled my earnings so I could, if necessary, tolerate another day like today.
