Betrothal in a Monastery

Scottish Opera's collaborations with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (the artist-school formerly known as the RSAMD) now enter their seventh year, and despite the déjà vu familiarity of yet another mediocre Prokofiev opera, the partnership is still flaming with the youthful passion and excitement of a whirlwind romance.

The choice for dusting off the exceptionally boring Betrothal in a Monastery as the showcase for the Conservatoire's young talent derives from the preconception that the greatest expressions of youth are plots involving sex and alcohol. Sure thing; but Prokofiev's musical invocation of the thrill of young love as a foil to the older generation's tired establishment is a complete failure. The whole work feels like a mosaic of various musical ideas strung together without any real narrative drive or central aesthetic idea; of course, there is always the odd melody or arrangement idea that jumps out, but none really worthy enough to redeem the dithery plodding of such an unexceptional score.

It is, then, to the great credit of the artists involved that they manage to create what is actually a fairly enjoyable evening. Kim-Lillian Strebel and Lynda-Jane Nelson gave vivacious accounts of women in control of both a formidable intelligence and powerful sexuality, and Emanoel Velozo's colourful tenor was perfectly suited to the lovesick serenading of Don Antonio. Rodula Gaitanou almost made up for the dreariness of the music with his dynamic production, hitting on some fine dramatic characterisations along the way. In contrast to this was Timothy Dean's failure to inject some fire into the score: not that you can blame them, but the orchestra never sounded like it was really on top of things.

There's a lot of waffle in the evening's programme about the revolutionary capacity of youth and individual expression. Just because you set something in post-Franco Spain with a bunch of dancing punks, it does not make it any sort of firebrand's torch. Next year it would be preferable to see the array of youthful ability on offer being utilised in a such way that would do justice to the two great institutions of Scottish Opera and the Conservatoire, with a piece that's got real youthful dynamism and something powerful to say.