(no subject)
Its been a while I'm told since the SMH reviewed anything but strictly professional productions. I'm ok if they keep doing something like this
- La Traviata’s blue flame burns in Rockdale -
Violetta has died ten thousand deaths in hundreds of rooms around the world, and only the stone-hearted could ever fail to be moved - unless, of course, it is badly performed. That, assuredly, is not a danger with Rockdale Opera Company’s new production, in which passion burns as fiercely as the excessive spring temperatures outside. The stunning vocal assurance of Rae Levien in the monumentally demanding role of Violetta, of Kent Maddock as Alfredo and of Randall Stewart as Alfredo’s father sets the tone for a quality of musical presentation that should have Opera Australia looking over its shoulder, especially given that the tickets in Rockdale Town Hall cost la fifth of what they do under Jorn Utzon’s billowing sails.
Impressive conductor Cristian Cimei has raised both the vocal and orchestral stakes, with the big chorus sounding superb, and the band deft and vibrantly supportive. Brian Tucker’s set is not only a masterful blend of pleasing aesthetics, functionality, ready malleability and, no doubt, adherence to a tight budget, but it also serves - as all good opera sets should - to help focus the voices.
Pulling it all together in a quite remarkable directorial debut is Paul Williamson, who has rightly made Verdi’s timeless music the centrepiece (and to thrilling effect) while also giving us something sumptuous to watch. This is a coming of age for the Rockdale Opera Company. - John Shand, author and music critic for The Sydney Morning Herald
- La Traviata’s blue flame burns in Rockdale -
Violetta has died ten thousand deaths in hundreds of rooms around the world, and only the stone-hearted could ever fail to be moved - unless, of course, it is badly performed. That, assuredly, is not a danger with Rockdale Opera Company’s new production, in which passion burns as fiercely as the excessive spring temperatures outside. The stunning vocal assurance of Rae Levien in the monumentally demanding role of Violetta, of Kent Maddock as Alfredo and of Randall Stewart as Alfredo’s father sets the tone for a quality of musical presentation that should have Opera Australia looking over its shoulder, especially given that the tickets in Rockdale Town Hall cost la fifth of what they do under Jorn Utzon’s billowing sails.
Impressive conductor Cristian Cimei has raised both the vocal and orchestral stakes, with the big chorus sounding superb, and the band deft and vibrantly supportive. Brian Tucker’s set is not only a masterful blend of pleasing aesthetics, functionality, ready malleability and, no doubt, adherence to a tight budget, but it also serves - as all good opera sets should - to help focus the voices.
Pulling it all together in a quite remarkable directorial debut is Paul Williamson, who has rightly made Verdi’s timeless music the centrepiece (and to thrilling effect) while also giving us something sumptuous to watch. This is a coming of age for the Rockdale Opera Company. - John Shand, author and music critic for The Sydney Morning Herald