Profile reviews
9Hannah Sawle’s Adina was there in every sense: a brilliantly secure, capacious, fluent piece of singing that I’d never have thought to have found in such circumstances. And that HGO could field so impressive a lead converted me to them forever
The Bell Song sung by Lakme in the market square was spectacular. Reaching notes that others singers could only dream of Ms. Sawle held the audience in the palm of her hand as her vocal acrobatics were so utterly enchanting
Past Production Reviews
15My money was on Hannah Sawle’s Elettra: tense, exciting, glorious in every bar of (fiendishly) demanding coloratura, and bringing out the giddying moods through which Elettra is driven
If the team I saw was the ‘gentler’ one then no such attribute attached to Hannah Sawle,hose Elettra was the most polished and (in colaratura terms) almost brazenly accomplished performance
In the Bernstein, the jazz trio blended seamlessly when called for, but each singer also displayed real panache and distinctive personality when allowed. Hannah Sawle [was a ] suave soprano with a nice, unforced belt voice’
The performers diction was uniformly excellent; not a word, or joke, of Berkeley’s skilful, droll libretto was lost. Fine performances from [Adam Gilbert and] Hannah Sawle as his wife established the hard-up aristocrats. An honest pair who share a genuine affection; we can laugh at their short-comings but sympathise with their weaknesses’
Hannah Sawle produced an appealingly flirtatious lightness as Gianetta
Among the cast, soprano Hannah Sawle stood out… Sawle sang with impressive focus and bright tone, as the categorically in haste Diana, and was a strong presence in the ensembles’
Hannah Sawle is a bright Papageno
The Bell Song sung by Lakme in the market square was spectacular. Reaching notes that others singers could only dream of Ms. Sawle held the audience in the palm of her hand as her vocal acrobatics were so utterly enchanting
Hannah Sawle gave an impressive performance of this most challenging piece [the Bell song] to the huge appreciation of the Abergavenny audience
Hannah Sawle’s arch Queen of the Night was a concerned mother and sometimes witch, strangling birds and persecuting voodoo dolls whilst delivering assured and passionate coloratura’
Hannah Sawle brought off all the difficulties for which the role of the Queen of the Night is notorious
Her mother, played by Hannah Sawle, looking magnificent in a black and silver gown, despatched both the formidable Queen of the Night arias with confidence and technical accomplishment’
Hannah Sawle as Pamina was committed and assured
Mozart's moral fairytale The Magic Flute feels like the closest opera comes to pantomime: its Singspiel form mixes spoken words with song, while its cast of misfit characters explore the adventure of love from all angles from the painful to the humourous, building finally to a refreshingly real conclusion which finally rejects magic in favour of the brighter power of truth. Director John Savournin has created a lively, accessible and stripped-down Flute for Iford which gives the lovers Tamino and Pamina a clear choice between the superstitious tribal culture of the Queen of the Night, and the humanist ethos of Enlightenment philosophy pioneered by the philosopher-sorcerer Sarastro. Savournin and conductor David Eaton have together produced a flexible, engaging translation which touches us as much as it teases, funny and thought-provoking by turns: only days after the Chilcot Inquiry, the line "in times of warfare and deception, the truth will put the world at peace" suddenly felt almost disturbingly poignant. Simon Bejer's design takes us to the Peruvian rainforest, filling the stone cloister with luscious ferns and lianas, where lusty tribeswomen hunt unsuspecting strangers and Sarastro, bare-chested and crowned with a Mohican of turquoise parrot feathers, presides over his hooded followers in an Inca temple of enlightenment. The distinctively tropical, exotic feel of the production, which includes some wonderful glowing UV snakes and an hilarious trio of singing puppet parrots, is a true visual treat. Puppetry also forms a key part of the excellent disguise for Papagena, whose surprise I won't spoil further. A series of good lighting decisions from Nicholas Holdridge keeps the production feeling dynamic, despite general continuity of staging. John-Colyn Gyeantey's affecting Tamino is a wide-eyed Victorian explorer who stumbles into his adventure with innocent charm, his nice sense of vocal control giving each of his arias a considerable range of subtle expression. Gyeantey holds the Iford audience with confidence, singing with evident joy and enviable precision. Claire Lees' superb Pamina is both girlish and gutsy, her soprano supple, smooth and clean in a performance which does not falter or hesitate. Benjamin Cahn's warm-toned Sarastro is a constant treat, radiating gnomic wisdom and compassion from his rich bass and intense, poised delivery. Matthew Kellett is a fresh, convincing Papageno with a forthright singing style which suits a determinedly simple, heart-on-his-sleeve rustic, but which becomes progressively more affecting: his suicide attempt grew into blackest comedy in the finest, sourest tradition of commedia dell'arte. An exceptional trio of sopranos as the Three Ladies give all other principals a real run for their money in terms of sheer expressiveness and accuracy, singing out of their skins. Hannah Sawle is on fabulous vocal form as the Queen of the Night, enhanced by deft directoral touches from Savournin: decapitating and dismembering a parrot in her first aria, later viciously attacking a voodoo doll of Sarastro as she exhorts Pamina to revenge her perceived wrongs, Sawle builds up a picture of a disturbed, greedily callous queen who is probably beyond the reach of any redemption, though at times her face could be more animated. Joseph Shovelton, in a pith helmet and Victorian moustaches as Monostatos, tends to have less vocal authority than required for the blustering bully, but his sudden, brilliantly observed change to a blindly grinning dancer (caused by Papageno's magical bells) causes universal laughter. The orchestra of Charles Court Opera may not quite have the fabulous tonal richness of the CHROMA Ensemble, who also play at Iford, but David Eaton presides with focus and enthusiasm over an energetic and competent reduction of Mozart's score. Like so many fairytales, the truth at the heart of The Magic Flute can apply sharply when least expected: as we wade through the consequences of our collective decision-making post-EU-referendum, the opera's insistence on individual responsibility and the power of collective endeavour seems more than timely. Like Sarastro, "We can only guide, and hope they will choose strength and gain wisdom on the path to peace; none can avoid the choice to choose." Or, indeed, to live out the aftermath of those choices.
