Royal Opera House Covent Garden presented by Hobart Baroque
Hobart Theatre Royal, 12 April 2013
Review by Josephine Giles
It says something about Hobart that I’ve witnessed more wonderful singing here in six months than in my 12 years in Melbourne. This island state is rarely visited by our national performing companies but compensates for this with a series of boutique festivals which often feature international class acts.
L’isola disabitata (The uninhabited island) from The Royal Opera Covent Garden, the opener for Leo Schofield’s latest festival venture, Hobart Baroque, lived up to the standard with world-class singing from its young cast and an innovative theatrical take on an early classic period opera. This is the first time The Royal Opera House has presented an opera in Australia and Hobart’s Theatre Royal, which its period charm and crystal clear acoustic, was the perfect venue for this production.
Composed by Hadyn in 1779 as a courtly entertainment, L’isola disabitata is a charming but essentially lightweight piece. With just four soloists and no chorus, it could easily lend itself to a mannered, stilted interpretation, which possibly accounts for its general absence from the standard operatic repertoire. However young director Rodula Gaitanou transcends the surface limitations of the opera with an intensely theatrical and contemporary slant on the story of young lovers abandoned on a deserted island.
Gaitanou made her ROH directing debut in 2010 with this piece at London’s Linbury Student Theatre. Originally a musician, Gaitanou trained in movement at the International Theatre School Jaques Lecoq France, and she believes opera must contain spectacle if it is to communicate to modern audiences. To this end, her L’isola disabitata is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that, sans standard sets and wings, extends to the brick walls of the Royal’s backstage.
The visual spectacle is built on by her collaborator, lighting designer Simon Corder, whose intricate projection covers every stage surface with painterly effect and changing light tones that signify the progression of day. The stage design, by Jamie Vartan, is again deceptively simple and a triumph of minimalism where, for example, the progressive placement of sticks in the ground gains significance as the story unfolds.
The attention to detail attention extends to every movement of characters; the four singers are in fact never offstage, but remain in (slow-mo) character when they exit the centre round platform. Not only are they already onstage, in character, as the audience enter, but continue their business during the interval when the audience are absent.
The whole of theatre effect is reinforced from the opening moments when the overture starts above the sounds of the chatting audience – no silent walk in and applause for the conductor Oliver Gooch. The successful negation of the fourth wall between the singers and auditorium, while managing to retain the momentum of the drama, speeks well of the emphasis Gaitanou places on storytelling, and the breadth of talent in her cast.
The ensemble exemplifies the new breed of opera performers: brilliant singers all, with movement and acting skills equal to the extreme demands of this production.
With a generous warmth and spontaneity and singing close to perfection, soprano Anna Devin as the young feral Silva communicates pure joy. Also displaying dynamic vocal and physical immediacy, Baritone Changhan Lim (Enrico) stands out as a star of the future.
As is common with many modern opera directors, Gaitanou has action through every moment of singing – not only from the soloists, but with background business by other cast members. Though always dramatically relevant, the unremitting activity leaves no time for repose. This kind of opera lives on through the beauty of its music, and I would have appreciated more opportunities to appreciate the glorious singing and the sensitive period sounds of the Orchestra of the Antipodes. As it is, the visuals tend to dominate, yet I trust that as the talented Gaitanou matures as a director, she will find that elusive balance between music and drama that has obsessed opera makers for centuries.
This reviewed was first published on AussieTheatre.com
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