Aubrey Lodewyk, Magdaleen Minnaar and Conroy Scott
If you missed it the first time around at the Suidoosterfees earlier this year, it is well worth catching Lara Bye’s stylish production of Giocchino Antonio Rossini’s one act farsa comica opera La Scala di Seta (The Silken Ladder).
Bye has recently developed a distinctive directorial aesthetic and puts it to great effect with this opera. The staging is slightly camp, lively and theatrical, with a nod to Tim Burton movies. Particularly praiseworthy is its seamless employment of multimedia and innovative use of surtitles in which the plot is sometimes summarised as opposed to a verbatim transcription of the libretto.
The only change from the previous run is that Matthew Overmeyr’s role is now being sung by Sunnyboy Dladla. The other roles are played by Magdalene Minnaar, Elizabeth Frandsen, Aubrey Lodewyk, Conroy Scott and Jacques Louw. The spirited Cape Town Camerata orchestra is conducted by Alexander Fokkens.
The opera premièred in 1812, when Rossini was only 20 years old. Every character has a delightful aria. It’s the timeless story of a daughter who has married secretly without her father’s permission – the father having another suitor in mind for her.
After many years of neglect, this opera is returning to the international repertoire, and this production is presented by the Richard Wagner Society of South Africa “to create a platform for young local singers where they can sing and gain experience by working with a professional theatre director”.
