Nabucco

Nabucco

I attended Opera Australia's newest production last night, Nabucco, and here is my review. For a synopsis see here.

First, to the production itself. David Freeman was the director, and this was his first production with this company, and an auspicious beginning it was.

The set was magnificent. Freeman used turquoise and grey, highly contrasted colours, which hits, immediately, any audience member, and actually had me wishing there were more floors like the one on stage. In the opening scene, Freeman depicts the Jewish temple with a wall of stone that mechanically explodes at the end of that scene. This was not the only thing to mechanically explode in the opera; at the end of the last scene, a giant face falls from one of the walls.

The costumes were hit and miss. Though I understand Freeman's directorial prerogative, black has never been first on my list of colours to use on stage. He dressed the Jewish slaves in black, and my first impression was that of Jewish holocaust victims, in preparation for Auschwitz. In turns out that I was right (Am I what every director wants in the audience?), and Freeman talks about his directing decisions in this article from The Age. Nabucco was initially dressed like Saddam Hussein: aka, sleazy, gun-toting, car salesman with moustache to match. In the second scene, Nabucco changes into a white trench-coat, which eventually gets drenched in blood that falls from the sky (perhaps my favourite scene in the production). Again I repeat, black is not my favourite colour on the stage, however, some appreciate its uses, and it was a coherent choice within the production.

Andrea Licata was the conductor for this new production, and whilst he is a talented musician (I saw him conduct last years abysmal Norma production) he has a limited scope with which to be musical in the prohibitive pit of the State Theatre at the Arts Centre. The brass and woodwind sections of the orchestra were consistently good, however, the string section produced a small and disappointing sound. Apart from the sound, the tempi and dynamics were generally acceptable (at least for my tastes).

The singing was another hit and miss part of the opera. Michael Lewis as Nabucco and Bruce Martin as Zaccaria were excellent, as should be expected from these two magnificent baritones. I had heard both previously, and was especially anxious to hear Michael Lewis after I heard him Belshazzar's Feast with the MSO and Stenz. My biggest gripe was with Rosamund Illing, the soprano, who sounded not to be in fullest voice. Her articulation sounded blurred and unrefined, and some of her top notes sounded strained. The chorus was adequate, however, a larger chorus may have added some weight to some of the scenes.

Generally, I would suggest that one should go and see this opera. It was a professional and enjoyable performance filled with vigour, even if it did not pay off in the sound. Kudos must go the David Freeman the director who presented a marvelous visual side to the opera. I was fortunate that I only paid $35 for student rush, and got circle E seats (just behind Victorian minister Peter Batchelor), otherwise I might have felt much more unimpressed [or should it just be "less impressed"?] with the performance. Though Nabucco is not the greatest opera to begin with, I think that Opera Australia did a commendable job with dwindling profits and audiences.

Also look at this article from the Australian.




[PS: Here is where I insert my abuse against Sydney for having more productions than Melbourne, yet having a clearly second rate venue - acoustically and size-wise - in comparison.]