Reisopera's Pearl Fishermen: sober but effective

Even before the Noord Nederlands Orkest's final chord has fully sounded out, the audience in a well-filled Theater Carré stands up as one to cheer on the cast of Bizet's Parelvissers. We are writing 24 February 2015 and this is one of the last performances of this austere but effective production by the Nationale Reisopera. Tonight it will be repeated at Carré, Saturday 28 February it can be heard and seen for the last time at the Rotterdam Schouwburg. For those who cannot be there, a cold comfort remains: the 23 January premiere at the Wilminktheatre in Enschede can be listened to again via NTR Opera Live.

With this production of one of the most popular operas of all time, the National Reisopera once again proves its resilience. Director Nicholas Mansfield put Bizet's opera on the programme after hearing British-Sri Lankan soprano Kishani Jayasinghe sing it. He thought she was cut out for the role of the priestess Leïla and formed a production team of young artists around her. With The Pearl Fishermen, director Timothy Nelson, set designer Wikke van Houwelingen and costume designer Elena Werner present their first large-venue production, the lead actors and conductor Benjamin Levy are making their debut with the Reisopera.

Van Houwelingen presents us with a setting that is as inventive as it is simple, with a linen cloth hung with baleens suggesting sometimes the simple cottages of the pearl fishermen, sometimes the waves of the ocean, or the cliff behind which Leïla and Nadir experience their forbidden night of love. And even Zurga's conscience: the canvas threatens to engulf him like a tsunami when he is tormented by remorse for condemning the couple to death. Werner envelops the poor villagers in rags, harking back to the Japanese 'boro' technique: endlessly mending broken clothes with rags.

One invention are the three dancers, who act as mirrors of the protagonists' love triangle. They are already on stage as the audience streams in. Their poses on upright poles seem to reference both pillar saints and fishermen casting their rods from a great height. In clever choreography by Jitti Chompee, they twist themselves into impossible turns during the three acts, running back and forth sideways like lobsters, or latching onto each other in an attempt to escape fate. They often cover their heads with plaster masks, just like the protagonists, with which director Timothy Nelson visualises that none of the characters is telling the truth.

Less convincing is Nelson's approach to the scene in which Leïla is appointed high priestess, whose job it is to ward off the threat of the ocean with her singing. While Zurga instructs her to renounce carnal love on pain of death, she walks back and forth between him and his friend Nadir like a love-struck brat, both kissing, caressing and flattering herself in their arms like a lover. Both men were once in love with her, but have renounced their desire for Leïla to safeguard their friendship. In this directorial view, she seems more like a backstabbing slut, making out with both one and the other, meanwhile loudly renouncing love.

It is also amazing that at the end of the first act, one of the dancers suddenly trots forward when the hall lights come on and calls out to the audience: 'Wait!' The audience hesitates: is it intermission or not? Some return to their seats. Amusingly intended, but out of place in an opera that otherwise conveys only leaden seriousness. Nice, though, is how Nelson allows the choir to participate in the action. The singers behave as individuals, all thinking their own way about Nadir and Leïla's betrayal, and ultimately crying out for revenge.

[Tweet "Benjamin Levy leads his men through Bizet's opulent score of Pearl Fishermen with an apt hand"]] Benjamin Levy leads his men with an apt hand through Bizet's opulent score. Sultry orchestral sounds from the Noord Nederlands Orkest are interspersed with fine, introspective solos from the winds. The connection with the National Opera and Concert Choir does sometimes leave something to be desired in the rhythmically lightning-fast scanned passages. Jayasinghe glories in the role of Leïla: with her flawless, warm soprano voice she switches effortlessly between the lowest and highest register. Yaroslav Abaimov is a convincing Nadir, and Arman Isleker portrays a sovereign Nourabad with his sonorous bass-baritone. Too bad his role is so small.

The star of the evening, however, is British baritone Robert Davies, who really manages to give his role of Zurga meat on the bones with his particularly sonorous voice, excellent diction and sensitive performance. The three dancers - Krittin Kiatmetha, Juan Carlos Toledo and Rocco Vermijs cannot be praised enough either. With their unprecedented smooth movements and intense stage presence, they are a full-fledged counterpart to the musical part. With The Pearl Fishermen the Nationale Reisopera presents a true Gesamtkunstwerk.