Street Scene
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow
Miranda Heggie
Four Stars
Rounding off his first year as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Head of Opera, Philip White ends this season with Kurt Weill’s 1946 opera Street Scene, which fuses European operative traditions with aspects of musical theatre. Directed by Alexandra Spencer Jones - making her operatic debut - the production feels very much steeped in the era in which it was written and set, though it still reveals truths which are pertinent to us today. A sense of community, the importance of family and a desire to be true to oneself are all themes explored in this work which centres around the lives and tribulations of families living on a particular New York street. There’s a lot of spoken dialogue in this piece, and the heavy, Godfather-esque ‘Noo Yoik’ accent employed by the cast didn’t always work, though the singing was pretty much spot on, with some excellent solo perforances and well balanced ensemble passages. Emma Mockett sang the role of the downtrodden yet hopeful Mrs Maurrant with a strong, gleaming tone, and Pedro Ometto as her controlling husband was powerful and direct, although he could have given the character a bit more malevolence. Soprano Rebecca Godley gave a convincing performance as their young daughter Rose, and really came into her own in the later part of Act Two, displaying greater vocal freedom and singing with a heartfelt passion. Welsh tenor Thomas Kinch sang the role of her love interest, Sam with a rich, tenderness, though sometimes let his unbridled emotion get the better of him.
The music from the pit was just as animated. Conducted by Robert Houssart the orchestra sounded superb, its warm timbre wonderfully evoking the sultry glow of a hot New York summer’s evening.
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