Review: Don Pasquale

Don Pasquale
Opera Australia
19 November 2014
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 12 December
opera.org.au

Don Pasquale. Photo by Jeff Busby

Opera Australia's Don Pasquale is alive and joyous. Without dismissing a note of Gaetamo Donizetti's opera, everyone on the stage and in the pit finds that little bit of extra love that lets everyone find the pure fun of being in and going to the opera.

Dobizetti's opera was first performed in 1843 and is based on recognisable and still-used Commedia dell'arte character tropes.

Unmarried and childless Don Pasquale (Conal Coad) doesn't want his nephew Ernesto (John Longmuir) to inherit everything, so he conspires with his friend Dr Malatesta (Samuel Dundas) to marry the doctor's young sister and send Ernesto packing. But Malatesta isn't as good a friend as he appears and conspires with Ernesto's girlfriend Norina (Rachelle Durkin) to pretend that she's his straight-from-the-convent sister and they set up a fake ceremony to make Don P think they are wed.

Director Roger Hodgman and designer Richard Roberts have set it in 1950s Rome to keep the original setting and show how little really changes. Inspired by the film Roman Holiday, the costumes are enough to inspire a retro 50 revival of super-high-waist pants, cat-eye sunnies and pastel baggy suits (and there's a get-the-look-guide on The Opera Blog), and the tone remembers that social attitudes in the 1950s weren't as stuffy as we remember.

Hodgman's direction lets the cast – all singers who make us want to hear more of them – work with the music to find the truth that connects them to their characters. Coad's frumpy and optimistic old man ensures that the audience are on his side and want him to win, despite his pompous behaviour and unrealistic expectations, and Longmuir and Dundas are equal foes to Don P.

However, Durkin's Norina is the unforgettable performance. Her singing is as clear and perfect as the first sip of cold Moscato as the sun sets on a summer day, and she lets Norina be a woman who rejects any societal shame in loving men, embraces her sexuality and is always in charge of her own destiny.

Even the chorus are alive as everyone brings character to the stage, and Orchestra Victoria, conducted by Guillaume Tourniaire, create and support the on-stage tone without forgetting that opera only comes to life with music that respects the composer.

Opera Australia have three operas Melbourne until early December (plus Tosca and Falstaff). Opera is often perceived as being an elite art where old men snore next to their subscription-buying spouses. Some of this is true (I think some come just for the nice sleep that have in a comfy chair), but let's break down these barriers. Opera Australia have lots of info on their webpage that can help first-timers and if more people support this art form, even more will be broken and we might begin to see how opera really is for everyone.

This was on AussieTheatre.com.

Guest Review: A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Opera Australia

Saturday 4 December 

The Arts Centre, State Theatre

to 18 December

www.ticketmaster.com.au

Review by Josephine Giles

Too long between drinks, I had almost given up hope that I would see an opera in this country that would demonstrate on all levels just how wonderful this artform can be. But every now and then a production comes along that reassures me that opera can be fantastic, magical and engaging, OA’s revival of Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is so good it is almost impossible to imagine this opera being staged in any different way. 

First produced in 1993, and subsequently toured to the Edinburgh Festival to critical acclaim, this production has been revived a number of times in both Sydney and Melbourne. It is a testament to the power of the original vision, and the intelligent and informed revivals direction of Julie Edwardson, that the piece appears as fresh as new. The perfectly cast ensemble give no sense of recreating performances defined some 17 years ago – each of the singers inhabit their characters with confidence and imagination, imparting an infectious sense of enjoyment.

The success of this Dream owes much to the glorious design by Lurhmann’s creative partner Catherine Martin and Bill Marron. Transplanted in time and place to Indian 20s British Raj (a change one may think the Bard himself would be well pleased with), the stage is dominated by a three-tiered rotunda, set over a lily pond and overrun with vines from an encroaching jungle. The Athenians of Shakespeare’s play, embodying British upperclass properness, appear in Colonial style whites. Contrasting are the hot, vivid colours of the Indian inspired garb of the fairy world of Oberon and Tytania,  evoking a truly sensual fantasy land.

The middle level of the rotunda provides the stage for Orchestra Victoria, dressed for the occasion in military band uniforms, and conducted with sensitive precision here by Britten specialist Paul Kildea. Strategically placed monitors in the auditorium compensate for the lack of visual contact between the conductor and singers – made especially challenging by the complexity of Britten’s score – and an apron stage over the orchestra pit permits the singers to engage more immediately with the audience ( and overcome  the acoustic problems commonly associated with this theatre).

Special mention has to be made of the OA’s children’s chorus. As fairies and elves, they not only sing with beauty and precision, but dance and somersault around the stage demonstrating a level of stagecraft not always found in mature performers. Dressed in hues of red, pink and green, their presence adds both magic and joy to the proceedings. Children’s choruses often require a degree of forgiving compromise from an audience – that this isn’t needed at all is but one testament among many to the excellent direction of Edwardson, and the musical preparation by Anthony Hunt.

Time precludes me form mentioning all of the uniformly wonderful singers, except to say that all act with the same comfortable assurance with which they sing.  Special mentions go to Tobias Cole as the blue-torsoed dreadlocked Oberon, whose countertenor seems to have found a natural home in Britten’s music; Henry Choo (Lysander) and Dominica Matthews (Hermia), who too shine in this repertoire; and Conal Coad as an hilarious Bottom and Graeme McFarlane as a most light-footed Flute are scene stealers par-excellence. Actor Tyler Coppin, reprising the role he created in 1993, brings the whole night together as the mischievous Puck.

This most magical of Shakespeare’s plays has been deftly trimmed by composer Britten, and is complimented with an evocative score that grows on you as the night progresses. Baz Luhrmann’s creative talent completes the trifecta, making this a perfect opera. The show comes in at a bit over three hours, but I was engaged, even transfixed for all of that time. If you are afraid of, bored with, or new to opera, give it a go.  This could be the one that changes your mind. 

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com