Il Viaggio a Reims – York Theatre Royal

Music: Gioachino Rossini

Director: Valentina Ceschi

Conductor: Jonathan Peter Kenny

It says much for the development of English Touring Opera as a company and their growing ambition that they are prepared to tackleIl Viaggio a Reims. This opera, full of Rossini’s music at its most sparkling, is almost never performed by opera houses because of the demands on the singers: it’s claimed with a touch of exaggeration that you need the 14 finest singers in the world! English Touring Opera can’t manage that, but – the occasional straining for a high note or swallowing of patter apart – the cast all acquit themselves well.

Il Viaggio a Reimswas written to commemorate the coronation of Charles X of France in 1825, received four performances and then disappeared from the stage until the modern era. A party of international aristocrats and officers is staying at the spa hotel The Golden Lily en route to Rheims to celebrate the coronation. A series of troubles and squabbles occur (the non-arrival of the Countess of Folleville’s new clothes, Don Alvaro and Count Libenskopf both pursuing the Marchesa Melibea and so on) without any plot having time to develop fully. No matter – it’s enormous fun!

Then we come to Act 3. The first two acts have fizzed by, the 100 minutes without an interval seeming like half the time, but after resolving the Libenskopf-Melibea romance, the final act consists of the travellers celebrating the new king. Valentina Ceschi has up to now kept a sure and witty control over her gang of fainting and flirting aristos, but the final scene defeats her. Each of the travellers is called on to sing a song of his or her homeland, beginning with the sonorous Baron Trombonok (Grant Doyle) recalling Haydn in a graceful version of what became the German National Anthem and building up to a climax in praise of the outstanding virtues of King Charles who was booted out five years later and whose foolish face looks down on the whole scene. It’s all very nice, but static, with rows of chairs either side of the soloist.

Among a roster of singers too numerous to mention by name, but all singing well and joining joyously in the well-ordered frolics, Luci Briginshaw’s high-wire vocalising as the Countess of Folleville and impossible self-dramatisation stand out. Susanna Hurrell’s poetess Corinna, rather pale as a character if beautifully sung, comes into her own in the scene where she repels the advances of the dashing Chevalier Belfiore (Richard Dowling). Melibea (Esme Bronwen-Smith) and Libenskopf (Julian Henao Gonzalez) handle splendidly a final reconciliation scene that moves from icy distancing to growing realisation of love to rapid exit while they still have some clothes left. A word, too, for the droll and dextrous Timothy Dawkins as Don Profondo, notably in his inventory of the luggage of his fellow-passengers.

Valentina Ceschi gets smart ensemble playing from the hotel staff, all bolshy chaps and pert maids, and Adam Wiltshire’s designs complete the confection, with a simple, but elegant, set and increasingly over the top costumes.

The Old Street Band under Jonathan Peter Kenny brings the impact of period instruments, with the continuo handled superbly by cellist Gavin Kibble and bass player Carina Cosgrave. Rossini seems to have been confident in the abilities of his orchestra, often featuring individual instruments in challenging accompaniments, and Aileen Henry’s stylish harp in Corinna’s arias and Katy Bircher’s nimble flute for Lord Sidney stood out in this regard.

Reviewed on 25th March 2023.