Almanac Culture: First Night at the Opera

 

 

 

 

 

Several years ago I went to the ballet for the first time. The Bolshoi, in fact! I wrote about it on these pages.

Now I’ve ‘done the double’, taking in my first opera performance when we went to the Sydney Opera House to see Opera Australia’s performance of ‘Madama Butterfly’. It made for an interesting night out!

We booked tickets months ago, long before Bondi, long before the official Day of Mourning on January 22. SOH emailed a few days in advance that patrons should allow additional time for their arrival ‘due to a special event taking place at the venue that evening’, namely the memorial event. So it was no surprise that the casual walk from Circular Quay to the Opera House forecourt was slower and more crowded than usual. Security was certainly beefed up with a large police presence, security checkpoints, even snipers on at least one of the Opera House sails as well as adjacent buildings. Australia, January 2026.

Members of the Jewish community attended the memorial in very large numbers, their presence clearly evident in their positive, peaceful and unashamed visual demonstration of their heritage. It was a strong statement which, as NSW Premier Minns said later, ‘reclaimed’ the SOH environs in contrast to the outrageous scenes there in October 2023.

Opera House patrons took it all in their stride with minimal disruption to their entry to the venue. All facilities throughout the complex, including the bars, observed a minute’s silence at 7.01pm in recognition of the event taking place in the forecourt. This was repeated in the Joan Sutherland Concert Hall before the beginning of the program and was observed with due respect.

And so to the opera, ‘Madama Butterfly’ itself. Way up towards the rear of the hall and in the centre of our row, we had a panoramic view of both the stage and the orchestra pit. Anyone who has been to this hall will be familiar with its brilliant acoustics, meaning that distance from the stage is irrelevant in terms of hearing ability and sound quality.

I’ll assume that readers are familiar with the storyline. If you’re not, perhaps sidetrack for a moment to acquaint yourself with it. I’ll digress for a moment too, to mention the ‘supertitles’ provided in the concert hall, a screen above the stage where the words of the singers are translated and presented in both English and Mandarin (?) – very helpful for those of us who don’t understand Italian and/or the libretto of the performance.

A minimalist, elegant and very Japanese set featured a large open space surrounded on three sides by an ankle-deep ‘moat’. A series of side and rear panels, along with the creative use of lighting, allowed for a multitude of easy, no fuss yet effective adjustments to provide entry and exit points to open out or close in the apparent stage space. Simple, functional, visually attractive. ‘The other half’ was blown away by the exquisite colours and elegant simplicity of the costumes, especially the sumptuous red kimonos.

Guanqun Yu as ‘Butterfly’ was nothing less than outstanding! She has the voice of an angel, strong across the octaves, clear, adjusting to the mood of the moment with ease. Her dramatic performance was equally impressive, demonstrating the whole gamut of joy and sorrow, subservience and assertiveness, hope and doubt, triumph and despair. Quite simply, a tour de force.

Sian Sharp as the loyal servant ‘Suzuki’ made the most of the key supporting role, ever present, caring, supporting, realistic and fully aware of what is going on. Sharp made Suzuki’s presence essential to the story without detracting from the principals.

Diego Torre was a late inclusion in the role of ‘Pinkerton’ but he has played the role previously. He dominated Act 1 with a physical presence and voice that commanded when required, and displayed curiosity and tenderness to suit the moment. His dramatic performance effectively captured his naivety to cultural differences which, ultimately, led to the tragedy of the whole story. His re-appearance late in Act 2 demonstrated his all-too-late awakening to his earlier follies. It was a strong performance overall which never threatened to detract from the centrality of ‘Butterfly’.

Samuel Dundas portrayal of ‘Sharpless’ was the male equivalent, in every way, to Sharp’s efforts as ‘Suzuki’ – essential, grounded, insightful, seemingly helpless, frustrated by Pinkerton’s lack of insight. Again, how to be right in the spotlight of the story without stealing the limelight!

Other lesser roles and the chorus were more than adequately presented to ensure a strong ensemble effort. Special mention needs to be made of the child who played ‘Sorrow’ – it was either Angus Flint or Atticus Olds, the program did not specify which boy filled the role on the night we attended. Regardless, he was just beautiful, acting and moving precisely yet naturally as the various scenes required. A very late night for a little lad!

The Opera Australia Orchestra under the baton of Andrea Battistoni was brilliant! They achieved that perfect balance of being ‘irreplaceable’ to the performance yet ‘invisible’ in that they accompanied and enriched the performance rather than imposed themselves on it. Top quality!

It was ‘a night at the opera’ to be engaged with at any number of levels. You don’t have to be an aficionado to appreciate the individual and collective contributions to the overall performance. The final curtain call reminds us that the sum of the parts is exponentially greater than the quality of the individual components. Opera may not be ‘my thing’ but I’m very glad I went along and expanded my cultural horizons. I expect to be back sometime.

 

To read more by Ian Hauser click HERE.

 

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