Love the opera!

I've just returned from Victorian Opera's double bill production of William Walton's The Bear and Jacques Ibert's Angelique. For me it was yet another successful journey into the world of opera.

Ten years ago, having read several of Oliver Sacks' books I attended my first opera - Michael Nyman's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. I don't remember much about the production except that I lost track fairly quickly as I wasn't used to deciphering operatically-sung English and unfortunately there were no surtitles. Perhaps most memorable was that my mum and I sat in Horti Hall, which was set up cabaret-style on a table with a very engaging 30-something proudly Socialist couple. This story did not go down well with my grandmoher the next day who thought I was being turned into a dreaded Commie.

My second dip into opera was at the Liza Lim production The Navigator at the Melbourne Arts Festival a few years ago. I'm sure in industry circles it must surely acquired the moniker of 'show with the fake penis' for it's weird costumes, brazen nudity, sex scenes and entomological references. The music was particularly avant-garde and I left the show not feeling satisfied - it didn't connect with me.

So, it's therefore much more exciting and romantic to say that I really first went to the opera in December 2009 when I saw the Metropolitan Opera production of Tristan & Isolde in New York. I lined up for a ticket right at the back of the stalls for $35 and was mesmerised. Although I did doze for a few moments I saw the majority of the 5-hour epic and marvelled at Daniel Barenboim's conducting. It was somewhat of an operatic baptism of fire to get through it, but it was a remarkable experience.

Next I had the incredible good fortune of going to Opera Australia's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk last year with a friend & colleague who is very much involved in the opera world. I love Shostakovich at any time of day in any setting, but Lady Macbeth was mindblowing. The rawness, the scathing humour and parody was absolutely brilliant.

The same friend decided that evening to become my opera buddy and initiate me into the joys of the artform. We next hear Victorian Opera's Xerxes which was of course an entirely different affair. I loved the purity of the countertenor sound the irony of the gender-swapped roles and the simplicity of the music that so aptly and beautifully supported the story.

By all accounts I was due to hear an Italian opera next, but tonight's production came first. The Bear was fantastic. I loved the set which reminded me a lot of the Met's one for Tristan. The characterisation of the widow was so clear. Her main aria had a definite Weill/ Hindemith feel to it and she hammed it up to well. The Bear was equally amusing. The music was much
more dissonant than I would have expected from Walton, but then I am really only basing this judgement on my knowledge of Crown Imperial March!! It was premiered in 1967 so I shouldn't be surprised. The comments it seems to make about Feminism would be ripe for a historical analysis...perhaps even a comparison with Shostakovich.

Angelique was really a farce, a man at the cloakroom called it a 'pantomime'. Nevertheless it was all done in very good fun and acted very well. There was comparatively little music in it, with long chunks of spoken dialogue. I probably mist enjoyed the regular interjections of the gossipy neighbours. As base as this description may be there were moments where it conjured a concept of 'Desperate Housewives' the opera - however that's not meant to be denigrating. These performers had the caricatured nosy neighbours down pat. The larger-than-life costumes (mostly comprising enormous padded hairpieces and bellies, but also a hilarious Italian codpiece) really kept the whole thing lighthearted.

On a different note it was great to see so many young musos I know in the orchestra. Conductor Olivier Phillippe-Cunei seemed to do an excellent job.

Basically, the moral of this extraordinarily long post is that with every production I become increasingly enamoured with opera. I love everything about it-the sets, the costumes, the make-up, the drama, the music, all of it!

With any luck the next stop on the opera train will be Tosca and Brett Dean's Bliss before Threepenny Opera. Can't wait!