With a program that revolved entirely around Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), the Belgian National Orchestra (BNO) demonstrated on Wednesday 13 May at BOZAR how irresistible an opera gala can be when musicality, stylistic sensitivity and theatrical instinct converge. Centre stage were the Franco-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and the British baritone Huw Montague Rendall, two young singers who complemented each other artistically in a wonderfully harmonious way.
For Desandre, this evening also marked a new chapter within her residency as a portrait artist at BOZAR, where she is showcasing her remarkable versatility this season. Under the direction of the young but remarkably mature Sasha Scolnik-Brower, the evening immediately gained pace, elegance and tension. From the opening bars, you could feel it: here stood an orchestra in top form.
Scolnik-Brower conducted the BNO with an effortless authority and a sharp sense of style. He drove the orchestra forward constantly, but did so without ostentation or effect-seeking. In both Mozart overtures – Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte – he kept the music brisk, nervous and transparent, exactly as it should sound. No ponderous symphonic weight, but tension, elegance and theatrical pulse. The strings played sharply articulated, the woodwinds coloured with finesse, while the conductor continuously maintained breath and fluidity in the music. In Rossini, his stylistic sensitivity came even more to the fore. From the outset, in the sparkling overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia, Scolnik-Brower showed how well he understands this repertoire: rhythmically alert, brimming with energy, but always controlled and refined. He also built up the tension meticulously in the colourful Temporale.
Lea Desandre confirmed once again why she is among the most interesting voices of her generation today. Her mezzo-soprano sounded completely free of mannerism or cheap effect. Everything was refined: the line, the diction and the dynamics. In Cherubino's "Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio" from Le nozze di Figaro, it was above all the natural fluidity with which she captured the restless infatuation of the character. Even more beautiful was perhaps "Voi che sapete", sung soberly, without any coquetry or overacting, and precisely for that reason deeply moving.
The great revelation of the evening, however, was baritone Huw Montague Rendall. What a presence. What a natural talent for theatre. From his first entrance, he commanded the stage completely. He did not merely play his roles – he lived them and drew the audience in. In "Deh vieni alla finestra" from Don Giovanni, he combined vocal elegance with a subtle irony perfectly suited to the character. His voice possesses a beautiful lyrical suppleness, yet at the same time sufficient substance and projection to give dramatic weight to the text.
In Rossini there was also an irresistible sense of timing. Especially in Figaro's famous "Largo al factotum" from Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rendall proved downright masterly. With seemingly effortless diction, an infallible sense of rhythm and a bubbling stage presence, he swept the audience along in Rossini's theatrical whirlwind. Everything was spot on: the flair, the irony, the playfulness. He delivered both his last Mozart aria and this Rossini showstopper with visible pleasure, including little asides to the audience that were never cheap or forced. Rendall possesses that rare instinct that makes theatre seem natural. This is undoubtedly a singer one would like to see at work in a full opera production.
Moreover, between Desandre and Rendall a remarkably natural musical understanding grew over the course of the evening. She approached the repertoire from refinement, line and inner concentration; he from theatrical impulse, playfulness and direct communication. It was precisely this contrasting interplay that worked particularly well: where she internalised the phrasing and sang, as it were, inwards, he opened up the scene and gave it air and tension.
In their duets, this produced a spontaneous liveliness that you rarely hear emerge so organically in opera galas. Nothing felt rehearsed or mechanically "brought together"; rather, the sense that emerged was of genuine interaction on stage, with listening, responding and subtle steering in the moment itself. This gave even the most familiar pages a freshness as if they were being reinvented on the spot.
The encores, too, were more than an obligatory extra. They formed a small foray into other musical horizons and only increased the desire for further collaborations between these two singers, conductor and orchestra.
What lingers most is the effortlessness with which this evening coupled musical excellence with pure pleasure. Not a routine gala, but a concert where everything seemed to work: an orchestra in top form, an inspiring conductor and two soloists who each in their own way completely convinced. A delightful musical evening.