‘Werther’ by Massenet at Sydney Opera House Thurs 12th March 2009
Madame Butterfly long summer/autumn season continued on 16th March.
Dear readers,
Werther is being performed with a marvellous cast in Sydney for the next week or so and Massenet fans should not miss out. The opening played to a half empty house on Thursday in stark contrast to Monday’s excellent performance of Madame Butterfly which was packed out.
An expert on French opera wrote that Werther is ‘one of Massenet’s finest creations’ and that the title role a great part for a truly gifted tenor … and apparently many famous tenors claimed it as one of their favourites.
Still a Werther novice, I managed to raise a few goose bumps but nothing to compare with Manon … which may be just unfamiliarity and ignorance of the genre on my part.
This Elijah Moshinsky production is very clever (a shame his name is spelt Moshinksy in the cast list). The opera opened with a huge silk sheet covering almost everything on stage: tables, chairs, bicycle, toys, fence, etc. As the prelude progressed it was gradually pulled away, ‘sucked’ into a hole in the middle of the stage! A weird and wonderful way to expose the scena of bright green grass, garden furniture, classic entrance architrave, etcetera.
Aldo Di Toro, a graduate of WA Conservatorium, played the title role with flair and confidence. He was little short of magnificent in both vocal lines and characterisation as well as cutting a fine figure on stage. His only great pot-boiler, “Pourquoi me reveiller” was indeed moving (and the only part of the opera I really warm to). After shooting himself in the next scene the drama seemed interminable … but of course others will disagree and want it even longer. I compare it with the (female) death scene of Manon which I once found boring but now adore every note!
Canadian mezzo-soprano Michele Losier was engaged at the last minute as Charlotte since Pamela Helen Steven had withdrawn after the tragic death of her husband, Richard Hickox. Ms Losier was very fine, saving the best to the last act. It is still odd that an Australian mezzo-sopranos was not asked to do the role (Kirsti Harms had a major success in the last run). Soprano Sarah Crane as Sophie was also well cast in her couple of memorable scenes (Taryn Fiebig was originally billed to do the role). The supporting and character roles were also excellent, notably Stephen Smith as Schmidt and Stephen Bennett as Le Bailli.
The orchestra was conducted by Emmanuel Plasson, a most didactic, athletic maestro who nearly danced on his podium at times.
The result was very high quality opera yet one looked around the auditorium with regret considering all the empty seats. It is clear that Sydney only has a small audience for these lesser known operas. People who are keen on these ‘connoisseur’ pieces will travel for such performances. But nobody is on a limitless budget and so to have Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the same time may be asking too much for this ‘niche’ audience. Some must have agonised about which to see, especially when neither sadly were being televised or put onto video, as far as I know. The same was true of Billy Budd and Makropulos Case being done simultaneously last year, a financial disaster one suspects at the same time as triumphs artistically, but not committed to video which is yet another fault of the current management and board who seem to believe that nothing matters but the bottom line.
Just as there are more Papaganos in this world than Taminos … so there is a large base of subscribers who pay top money for what one might call the “DEF” of opera or the middle ranking or timelessly popular operas: Tosca, Rigoletto, Trovatore, Traviata, Pearlfishers, Cav/Pag, Faust, Cosi, Don Pasquale, Flying Dutchman, Barber, Cenerentola, (there are 25-50 more in this category). There is less interest in the rarer master-pieces (including Britten, Janacek, R. Strauss, etc) despite their undoubted success artistically … even if savants wax lyrical about the details … these are works which have rarely filled opera houses for very long.
It is still a privilege to be able to attend a range of such operas, faults and all, at some distance from the rest of the world with a relatively small population base as Sydney and Melbourne. It is to be hoped that the new artistic and musical director of the company will be able to bring more balance and cohesion to things. For a start, the company needs to follow some basic rules of the theatre. The second performance of Werther was a hair-raising 48 hours after the opening instead of 72, the traditional minimum for grand opera. No excuses!
Madama Butterfly - Monday 16th March 2009 - Sydney Opera House.
I had wanted to hear the second cast of the Puccini only to find that Antoinette Halloran had finished her run and Cheryl Barker was back as Cio-cio-san 10 weeks later in this long season. She did not disappoint, after a rather shaky start in which her high notes developed an ugly beat (Joan Sutherland used to do the same), she then warmed up to give a memorable dramatic delivery. Rosario La Spina was Pinkerton. He appears to have put on more weight but his glorious voice is still perfect for this part. I am getting goose-bumps just writing about it. His Addio fiorito asil was sensational.
Catherine Carby played a suitably mournful Suzuki. Barry Ryan was an adequate ambassador, also doleful. Particularly moving was Andrew Jones as Yamadori. It is nice to hear a large, beautiful, well projected voice in someone who can act as well.
This opera is indeed a ‘recession buster’. After a half empty Thursday night gala opening of Werther last week we now had a packed and enthusiastic house on a non-subscription Monday night. I did not recognise one single face in the theatre or foyers or bars or taxi queue … which is unusual for ‘small-town’ Sydney. It may indicate a new or different audience. There was no cruise liner in dock and most looked like relaxed locals, out for the night. I suppose regular opera goers who wanted to hear Butterfly had already had their many chances. And there is still another performance next Monday.
Comments by Andrew Byrne ..
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Dr Andrew Byrne MB BS (Syd) FAChAM (RACP)
Dependency Medicine,
75 Redfern Street, Redfern,
New South Wales, 2016, Australia
Email - ajbyrne@ozemail.com.au
Tel (61 - 2) 9319 5524 Fax 9318 0631
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4 hours ago
