# Il viaggio a Reims - Royal Opera House, London



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

At the end of each year the Royal Opera House's young artists (Jette Parker Young Artists) put on a performance designed to show case their talents. This year is the 10th anniversary of the JPYAs' summer performance & to celebrate, there was a gala performance of Rossini's _Il viaggio a Reims_. Former & current JPYAs made up the cast.

_Il viaggio a Reims_ was written to celebrate the coronation of King Charles X of France in 1825. The story is about a party of international guests on their way to the coronation who arrive at a spa hotel in France. Romantic intrigue and comic misunderstandings arise and mishaps threaten to disrupt the guests' onward journey and in fact they don't actually get to Reims but that's a minor consideration. There are 14 soloists making it the perfect opera for this occasion.

I know and love this opera and didn't think I'd ever get to see it performed so to say I was looking forward to it was an understatement. Judging from the comments I read on social networking sites, the artists had great fun during the rehearsals which only increased my anticipation. The house was sold out so I considered myself lucky to get a good seat.

The orchestra was on stage which had been transformed using wood panelling and the sound quality was superb. The singers stood in front of the orchestra and although they had music and music stands, these were hardly used or needed.

Amongst the women, Irish soprano Ailish Tynan (Madame Cortese), New Zealand soprano Madeleine Pierard (Contessa di Folleville) and Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya (Corinna) really stood out for me with all of them showing real flair for Rossini and some great comic and over-acting! My favourites amongst the men were South African baritone Jacques Imbrailo (Barone di Trombonok), Polish bass Lukas Jakobski (Don Profondo) and British bass Matthew Rose (Lord Sidney). As I know from seeing him in Falstaff, Lukas Jakobski is good actor with superb comic timing and this created the only disappointment of my evening. His portrayal of the different nationalities during Don Profondo's aria _medaglie incomparabili_, caused so much laughter amongst the audience it virtually drowned out his singing, and believe me Lukas sings with window rattling volume, so you can imagine how much laughter there was. Actually my only real disappointment was that this was only on for one night.

A final word for conductor Daniele Rustioni. He conducted the ENO orchestra with flair, enthusiasm and energy and at times was part of the action itself. I will definitely seek him out in the future.

*Il viaggio a Reims 
Dramma giocoso
Music: Gioachino Rossini
Libretto: Luigi Balocchi, based in part on Corinne, ou L'Italie by Mme de Staël*

Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Performance 2012
Gala performance 19th July 2012

Conductor: Daniele Rustioni
Corinna: Marina Poplavskaya
La Contessa di Folleville: Madeleine Pierard
Madame Cortese: Ailish Tynan
La Marchesa Melibea: Kai Rüütel
Il Cavalier Belfiore: Edgaras Montvidas
Il Conte di Libenskof: Ji Hyun Kim
Il Barone di Trombonok: Jacques Imbrailo
Don Alvaro: Kostas Smoriginas
Don Profondo: Lukas Jakobski
Lord Sidney: Matthew Rose
Delia: Anna Devin
Modestina: Hanna Hipp
Maddalena: Justina Gringyte
Zefirino/Gelsomino: ZhengZhong Zhou
Antonio: Daniel Grice
Don Prudenzio: Jihoon Kim
Don Luigino: Pablo Bemsch
Chorus: Anna Devin, Susana Gaspar, Justina Gringyte, Hanna Hipp, Pablo Bemsch, Ji Hyun Kim, Zhengzhong Zhou, Daniel Grice, Jihoon Kim
Continuo: Jean-Paul Pruna
Orchestra: Orchestra of English National Opera


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

gosh, sounds like you had a great time! I've heard Marina Poplavskaya twice, once as Violetta (Traviata) and once as Elisabetta (Don C) and liked her very much both times.


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