Pleasant, unpleasant surprise

Cynthia Lawrence is, I understand, a stalwart cover at the 'politan. I've heard her once, only, as Rosalinde, so all I really knew about her was that she wasn't proficient at delivering treacly shtick. Imagine my surprise, then, to tune in last night and hear her sing, no, not a perfect Lady M. but in any case rings around the (relatively) name brand star given the prima and the HD movie-cast. A lot of what you'd want was there, if the microphones were fair: unabashed chest voice, at least on air an ample and solid sound, acuti that were here serviceable, there good (as opposed to the other singer's weird half-air sound of song in collapse...and do bear in mind, again, I loved her in Tabarro, just, please folks, don't sing what you can't sing) and even a certain degree of abandon that puts the lady's delicious malevolence over. Was she convincingly beastly onstage, can anyone tell me? La luce, usually a better test than the thorny gauntlet of the letter scene, hit the nail on the head.

I note this partly because the good performance of a cover is a special thing and should not go untrumpeted. But also it's enough to entice me back into the hall to hear it again, mixed-to-negative feelings about the production notwithstanding. I should look to see if she's in the last performances where Alvarez will presumably ease painful memories of Ataneli's pitch problems, and though I found Pittas more committed and stylish than earlier, far more worthy of the roar that greeted him at curtain, I'm positively mad to hear Calleja sing it. And Pape, well, it is boring to heap garlands on those who are already a greenhouse, but...

Incidentally, I meant to write up something about Fiona Shaw as the Fonze at BAM, but it seemed not to want to be written, so just: yeah, go.