REVIEW
What: Rattenbury: A New Canadian Opera
Where: Pacific Opera Victoria’s Baumann Centre
When: Through Nov. 12
Tickets: $15/30 (Sold out — there's a wait list)
More info: pov.bc.ca or call 250-385-0222
Stars: Four (out of five)
Rattenbury: A New Canadian Opera is a delightfully dark chamber opera that debuted Friday night at Pacific Opera Victoria’s Baumann Centre.
The story follows the dramatic rise and demise of Victoria’s best-known architect, Francis Rattenbury, in the 1920s — but it’s no dusty historical account.
Rattenbury was responsible for the city’s most iconic buildings in the Inner Harbour — the Empress Hotel, the B.C. legislature, the Steamship Terminal and Crystal Garden — as well as others around the city and province.
But he was no hero. Rattenbury, or “Ratz” as he’s called in the opera, was an alcoholic who cruelly rejected his first wife for a younger woman and was later bludgeoned by her teenage lover.
Victoria composer and librettist Tobin Stokes reveals how Rattenbury’s ambition built him up and how his scoundrel tendencies tore him down. In fact, there is not a wholly sympathetic character in the opera — save for the maid — and that’s what makes it fun.
Canadian tenor Richard Margison is Rattenbury and is best in his character’s older, broody, gin-fuelled moments.
Soprano Kathleen Brett is brilliant as his second wife, Alma, the twice-married, coquettish songwriter and dope addict he falls for at a party at the Empress.
One of the greatest scenes in Stokes’ opera is when Ratz invites Alma to move into his family home while his first wife, Florrie, played by the strong mezzo-soprano Emma Parkinson (also the maid Irene), is still living in the attic. She interrupts the lovers’ drunken attempt to write a song together in an intense and cruel scene heightened by the ensemble singing over each other. The music is lush but slightly morose throughout the opera, making it thoroughly enjoyable.
Tyler Fitzgerald is fantastic as the boy chauffeur-cum-murderous loverboy with a powerful baritone voice that carries some of the highest emotional moments.
The centre’s hall was intended as a rehearsal space and has superb acoustics that work well as an intimate setting for a new opera.
Maestro Arthur Arnold was literally in the audience, conducting the five-piece orchestra from the centre aisle. Many in the first two rows could sneak a peek at his score or catch a moment when a singer looked for their beat. There were other up-close and visceral moments that are not possible in the grand opera and large theatre setting, such as the lack of microphones and singers walking through the space.
Rattenbury has been workshopped and performed in various versions over several years before this complete staging. While it could easily grow and translate to a larger scale, the chamber setting is a unique experience. The opera is sold out for the rest of its run, as is the next chamber opera Missing this month. There is a waitlist.
