| Carmen/A Masked Ball |
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| Written by Dark Lord |
| Wednesday, 30 April 2008 21:58 |
 State Theatre, The Arts CentreUntil May 10 (Carmen) and May 7 (A Masked Ball) Baritones are the new black in Opera Australia’s 2008 season. Whether singing or horse riding, the most assured performance in the new production of Carmen is ‘barihunk’ Joshua Bloom as the vocally and physically swaggering matador, Escamillo. The opera is directed by Francesca Zambello, one of the most important contemporary opera producers, who has some new thoughts about this overly familiar story. Her Carmen comes alive when repelling unwanted lovers in the famous ‘Habanera’, and especially when repulsing the sulky Don José (Rosario La Spina). As Carmen, Pamela Helen Stephen appears less a semi-prostitute, playing instead a character with few choices in her macho society, her sexual appeal being her survival tactic. As well as this restrained view of the title character, Zambello brings the normally absent Micaëla (Hye Seoung Kwon) on stage to witness Carmen’s murder. The baritone comes to the fore - and to some extent the rescue - in the 20-plus year old production of A Masked Ball. The plot revolves around the love between King Gustav III (Julian Gavin) of Sweden and Amelia (Nicole Youl), the wife of his friend and minister Anckarström (Michael Lewis). Historically, Gustav was probably gay, and you can’t help thinking this production by John Cox hints at an artsy, aesthetic king by setting the opera in a theatre on the stage. Verdi would never have suggested homosexuality, but the traditional pageboy, Oscar, played by soprano Amelia Farrugia, and Gustav’s mobile golden throne makes things look even camper. The production is very traditional, but some further unintentional operatic camp creeps in, such as the love duet sung below a couple of rotting corpses, and the overactive smoke machine. Farrugia is a terrific and assured singer with a big, rich voice. Lewis is the tragic hero in the performance; his powerful voice shaping a few notes into dramatic phrases. His aria becomes the centrepiece and the springboard of the tragedy. Instead of being a story about a King being killed, the complexity of the assassin, driven by jealousy into committing murder, comes to the fore. www.opera-australia.org.au
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 April 2008 21:58 |
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