Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Circle (Seat K36, A$100).
Curtain Call. To the right of the conductor Matheson are Rosina and Dr. Bartolo; to his left are Figaro, Almaviva, and Don Basilio. (May have remembered wrong.)
Story. See previous post.
Tahu Matheson - conductor. Figaro - Samuel Dale Johnson; Rosina - Serena Malfi; Count Almaviva - John Longmuir; Dr. Bartolo - Andrew Moran; Don Basilio - Richard Anderson.
I got to the Opera House early enough to walk around the building.
This was the second opera of the three that I will attend this week. Unfortunately, I didn't think it redeemed the disappointment I felt with yesterday's opera. Which was quite unexpected, as I usually find OA performances enjoyable.
There were two substitutions announced for today: the conductor and the role of Don Basilio. The conductor was to conduct the same opera later in the season, so perhaps there were some first-time jitters; the role of Don Basilio, though significant, wouldn't make or break the opera.
The problem wasn't with the orchestra, which sounded what the Barber of Seville should sound like: comical, light on its feet, and crisp.
One problem was with the confused story line, which has never worked for me the few times I have seen this opera. Today things seemed worse. Also, Rossini asked for many rapid passages. The singers delivered, but in a couple of instances their voice was overwhelmed by the orchestra, perhaps especially for those sitting in the back. I found out later that there is sound enhancement in the hall, so perhaps the engineer messed up?
For the first half of the opera, a row of miniature houses was in the background. The figures of a man and a woman moved about (not sure how they were guided), which was cute. For the second half, a more traditional two story house was used as the set. In the lower right hand is this strange room that seems to be a medical office. I couldn't figure it out.
The name Samuel Dale Johnson sounded a bit familiar. We saw him as Ping in Turnadot in Germany a few years ago; so he has returned to his home country Australia. Playbill says there is "a subtle but distinct Australia flavour to the characters" (I even spelled flavor their way); it was subtle alright - I have no idea what flavor the writer meant.
I did learn/relearn a few interesting tidbits about Rossini and the opera, mostly from the Playbill. This opera was composed in 13 days, which makes the 24 days for Handel's Messiah seem a glacial pace. The original overture was lost (how can that be?), and Rossini just grabbed another overture somewhere as a replacement. His music is so generic that I never thought about this; and even knowing it, I still couldn't tell if there were any overlapping melodies (Playbill says none). Rossini was supposedly quite arrogant: he claimed he could set a laundry list to music; and he wrote the Barber of Seville even though the story had been set to opera earlier by an older composer. I did know he retired at 40 after having composed many successful operas. He is called the "Master of the Crescendo," which is obvious once it's pointed out.
That today's and yesterday's operas didn't meet my high expectations of what OA could deliver was slightly concerning. Comedies are generally difficult to pull off once the audience is familiar with the opera. In the case of Cinderella, that it is abridged made it even worse.
I was still staying in Mascot, so I was back in my hotel room soon afterwards, after again grabbing a burger at Hungry Jacks.
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