EVENTS
see ● do ● experience
Breathing life into opera’s most
demanding, oversexed aristocrat
By Fiona Chisholm
B
ritish bass baritone Andrew Greenan is someone who gives opera
singers a good name.
He’s friendly, approachable, has
a sense of humour and comes
over as a real mensch. However, his deep resonant speaking
voice with its obvious carrying
capacity leaves you in no doubt
that here is a man who appears
to be born to sing. And when
he does, he will be heard.
Greenan, 50, who is married
with three children, is here to
sing the important role of Baron
Ochs, a rough diamond “who is
all mouth and trousers” in Cape
Town Opera’s production of
‘Der Rosenkavalier,’ opening at
Artscape on Saturday May 29
with further performances on
June 3, 5 and 9.
This role, he says, is not one
for beginners.
“It’s physically very tiring
and calls for huge stamina because of the exceptionally wide
vocal compass and the range
of emotions which go from seductive whisperings to roars of
fake pain.
“It is also one of the longest
roles in opera. I would challenge anyone to find a role
with more actual words.
And we are singing in a
Viennese dialect which makes
it extra difficult. Yet I have to
make it sound completely natural as though it is no trouble
at all.
I ask Greenan if it’s true that
Baron Ochs is an aristocratic
lecher in the vein of Count
Almaviva ‘In the Marriage of
Figaro’.
“I wouldn’t have gone for
that comparison,” he responds.
“Both are highly-sexed aristocrats, but Almaviva is a top
drawer aristocrat, whereas Ochs
is a bit down at heel. Also Almaviva is a schemer. He does
Andrew Greenan as Baron Ochs and Andrea Catzel as
the Marschallin in ‘Der Rosenkavalier’
things behind people’s backs,
whereas Ochs is completely
open. He behaves outrageously
because he thinks himself irresistible to all women and if
he wants to grope a woman, he
does it openly.
“In fact he behaves appallingly to his fiancée Sophie,
which I find quite hard to do
because Kimmy Skota is so
sweet. I think, how can I be so
rough with her and so lewd?
“Yet there is not an ounce
of malice in him and for all his
nonsense, he has to be loveable. It’s very important that
he remains a gentleman. He’s a
rough diamond, but a diamond
nevertheless.
And if his cousin the
Marschallin (Andrea Catzel)
didn’t find him amusing, she
would have got her flunkies
to throw him out and it would
have been a much shorter opera.”
Greenan a principal singer
with the English National Opera
was from 1992 to 1997, playing
a multiple of leading roles. He
decided that a freelance career,
though precarious, was preferable to staying in one place for
the rest of his life and singing
only in English.
“There are times when we
wonder what we are going
to be eating next year, but I
think it’s exciting and the great
thing is that I get to meet the
most interesting people,” says
Greenan.
“In Cape Town I am the
only outsider and at my first
rehearsal I felt like the new
boy at school. Yet everyone has
made me feel so welcome and
I have been thrilled and humbled by my colleagues, both
as people and as artists. Some
opera houses in Europe could
learn a lot from the standard
and sheer commitment of Cape
Town Opera.”
One disadvantage of being
a freelancer, he says, is being
away from home so much.
“My wife, Susannah is very
supportive about my career and
my kids are great. They have
always known that I disappear
and come back. I’ve heard horrible stories about colleagues
whose kids punish them when
they return and won’t speak
to them, but mine, at least,
seem delighted to see me. I try
to make myself as available as
possible to them when I am
back.”
One of the delights of travelling is that he gets to try out
the different food and drink.
Though he is an enthusiastic
consumer of British Real Ale,
he is more than happy to sample the local brew, wherever he
finds himself.
Indeed, his preferred way of
unwinding after a performance
is in the company of friends
and, ideally no more than a
quarter of an hour after the
end of the show, also of a large
beer. “I feel like a dog gnawing on the bone I have, I hope,
deserved. It’s what I refer to as
recovery position.”
* Book at Computicket.
Correction: The caption to the
picture that accompanied last
week’s story, ‘Passionate woman in love with younger man,’
on page 5 should have read
“Freidrich Smit and Andrea
Catzel in ‘Der Rosenkavalier’”,
instead of “Violina Anguelov and Andrea Catzel in ‘Der
Rosenkavalier’”.
MARKETS
MARKETS
MARKETS
MARKETS
MARKETS
*Groot Constantia Antiques and
Collectables Market
6267499
Tel: (021) 554 2165 / 071
2061960
Paddocks Market, Milnerton
Ridge, Tel: (021) 554 2165 /
071 2061960
*Marina Da Gama Craft Market
Browse among the porcelain,
silver, silver plate, glassware,
books, coins, jewellery and
other interesting items.
29 May @ 10am – 3pm
Groot Constantia Wine Estate, Constantia, Tel: (021)
689 3908 / 083 3249264
*Alphen Antiques and Collectables Fair
A variety of items including
jewellery, glass, ceramics, silver, toys, books, and paintings will be on sale. Entry is
free, there is ample parking
and refreshments are available.
30 May @ 10am – 4pm
Alphen Centre, Opposite
Constantia Village, Tel: 084
*Cobble Walk Indoor Lifestyle
Market
The Market that provides entertainment for the whole family. Come and meet “The
Goose Man” with “Hardy” his
Goose. Organic brewed Coffee, Sweet Delights, German
Deli items, Kiddies non-toxic
handcrafted wooden toys and
Hand Puppets, Bohemian
Hippy Chic clothing, designer
Jewellery, Décor and Home,
Original Art and Craft works,
Biltong and Rugby Scarves,
Books, Indian snacks, and
loads more fun.
Every first & last Saturday of
the Month
Cobble Walk Centre, Sonstraal Heights, Durbanville,
*Constantia Waldorf Night Market
With 70 stallholders selling
everything from ready to eat
whole food, organic/biodynamic produce, original clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, art
and craft in candle and fire lit
atmosphere.
Last Friday of the Month
Constantia Waldorf School,
Spaanschemat River Road,
Constantia,
Tel: 083 6310421
*Paddocks Lifestyle Market
Gourmet Food, Art & Craft
Market
Every Friday, Saturday &
Sunday
*Holistic Lifestyle Fair
From organic and whole food,
to eco and green products;
from love potions to massage
lotions; from therapeutic treatments, to life readings; from
world music, to esoteric
books; from crystals, to pendulums; from bespoke jewellery, to beautiful body art; from
one-of-a-kind clothing, to unusual décor.
1st Sunday of Every Month @
10am – 4pm
Observatory Recreation Centre,
Tel: (021) 788 8088 / 083
3329785
We have a wide variety of creative crafts to choose from
jewellery, needlework, plants,
metal work, oil & water, paintings, decoupage, bags, cards
& many more.
1st Sunday of Every Month
Eastlake Village Centre, Eastlake Drive, Marina Da Gama,
Tel: (021) 788 1384 / 082
8961499
*Sunday Island Market
Cape Town’s first indoor lifestyle market - Sunday Island
Market - is gearing up to
showcase more of South Africa’s up-and-coming design
talent in 2010. Visitors to the
market can view over 100
stalls of some of South Africa’s top art, fashion, jewellery
CONTINUES PAGE 6
28 May - 03 June 2010
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