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Maria Kearns
As part of the annual Maynardville Festival, some of the city’s most accomplished singers took to the tree-lined stage of the same name on Sunday the 9th of February to present Cape Town Opera sings Shakespeare In The Park.
The one-off production featured internationally renowned South African-born counter-tenor Clint van der Linde and Cape Town Opera soloists Conroy Scott, Lukhanyo Moyake, and Nonhlanhla Yende, as well as the Cape Town Opera Chorus, the Judith Neilson Young Artists, and the Cape Town Opera Children’s Chorus. Musical direction was by Jan Hugo.
In an inspired step, David Viviers appeared as master of ceremonies, providing some welcome (but never condescending) context while introducing the varied programme.
The audience were also very appreciative of Viviers’ssardonic quips about Shakespearean love and drama (and the enduring relatability of ass-headed suitors).
Concertgoers were treated to arias, duets, and choruses from such diverse works as Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Britten’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and Verdi’s Otello and Macbeth.
The artists involved barely need introduction. Suffice it to say the soloists and choristers thrilled the assembled opera-lovers with their secure, well-rehearsed renditions of some fiendishly complicated numbers. The overall staging also flowed very well, which isn’t a given when it comes to concerts of this nature. The programme was cleverly structured to ensure a logical performance sequence that made the most of the show’s allotted time and cut down on unnecessary entrances and exits.
It’s understandable that even seasoned opera stars need a volume boost on an outdoor stage like Maynardville with its rowdy birds, rustling trees, and obvious lack of roof, but it's a real tragedy that the venue’s sound equipment wasn’t entirely up to the task of amplifying these accomplished singers in an unobtrusive way. Some of the soloists managed to work around the issue, but this wasn’t possible in all cases, especially where ensemble numbers forced performers to stand spaced apart and far away from the microphones lining the downstage area. The men of the Opera Chorus’s spirited rendition of the Chorus of the Assassins from Macbeth was sadly marred by the tinny, distant sound emanating from the speakers.
Despite the regrettable sound issues, Cape Town Opera certainly used the opportunity presented by the Maynardville Festival to serve up a delightful helping of music inspired by Shakespeare to a sold-out house.
The Maynardville Open-Air Festival, featuring The Tempest(directed by Sylvaine Strike) and Sunday in the Park with Sondheim, will be running at the Maynardville Park in Wynberg until the 8th of March 2025. Bookings through Quicket. Parking available at Simon van der Stel Primary School at a R50 flat fee.
Note: An unfortunate miscommunication about run time (advertised as 90 minutes) meant that this reviewer could only attend the first half of the performance.