Verdi - Un Ballo in Maschera

Giuseppe Verdi - Un Ballo in Maschera

Opera Australia, 2013

Andrea Molino, Alex Ollé, La Fura dels Baus, Diego Torre, Tamar Iveri, José Carbó, Mariana Pentcheva, Taryn Fiebig, Luke Gabbedy, Richard Anderson, Jud Arthur, Andrew Brunsdon, Dean Bassett

Opera Australia Cinema Live, 2013


There's always a moment of doubt about a new production by La Fura dels Baus when you wonder if they are going to pull off a spectacular coup in their vision for a particular work (as in their productions of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre and Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, for example) or whether it's going to be a complete fiasco (like their versions of Les Troyens and Die Zauberflöte). There's a moment at the start of the Opera Australia production of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera when it looks like they might have taken things a little too far again, but even if there remain a few doubts about the validity of the concept here, the direction unquestionably draws out the full force of Verdi's work.

With La Fura dels Baus' Alex Ollé at the helm here the concept is at least a little more restrained than it might have been in the hands of his colleague Carlus Padrissa. Rather than try to make an opera fit an idea, Alex Ollé is a little more inclined to propose an overall concept and then let the meaning of the work speak for itself through attention to the performance. That was the case with his Tristan und Isolde and, once you get over the initial strangeness of Alfons Flores and Lluc Castells' designs, it proves to be the strength here in a late mid-period Verdi opera that can often be problematic to stage.

It's not however a great stretch to consider the idea of masks as being a central theme of the work, and that indeed is the focus of Alex Ollé's concept. The exposition of this theme, as well as the question of revolution that is inevitably a part of most Verdi works, is laid out during the overture. A screen showing modern projections of war, famine, death and revolution, emphasises those aspects in terms of our own society where there is a marked divide between those in power and the ordinary person on the street. That division is further emphasised through the wearing of masks - literal as well as metaphorical - on the part of King Gustav III and his court, while the ordinary citizens, on the rare occasions we see them, are unmasked and depicted in the style of antiglobalist protesters.

The masks worn by Gustav and the royal court then are not just worn during the Masked Ball in the final act of the opera, but almost throughout the whole work and only very occasionally removed. It's perhaps unfortunate that the flesh coloured masks cover the top of the head and sides of the face and are rather blocky in a way that makes everyone look like the android Kryten in the TV SF-comedy series 'Red Dwarf'. Once you get past this and accept the concept for what it is - that everyone, whether conspirator, friend of the king, or even the king himself must necessarily hide their true face - it's a valid if not particularly deep response to the work.

Barring the costumes (mainly marine blue suits with identifier IDs imprinted on them) and the wearing of masks however, Ollé's direction for the work remains fairly traditional and - up until the final scene at least - sticks closely to the original intentions of the work. There are a few minor touches (references to swords for example) that show the difference between the period setting of the original and the science-fiction like tyrannical dystopia of this production, but there's nothing that takes away from the force of the work. In some cases, such as the horrors of Amelia's midnight expedition to the cemetery showing the real victims of Gustav's reign, the changes actually serve to make the situation more realistic and down to earth.

Applying realism to the setting is exactly what Un Ballo in Maschera needs, and it's refreshing to see the qualities that are undoubtedly there in Verdi's composition not buried behind operatic mannerisms or the theatrical contrivances of the somewhat creaky plot. The benefits of this could be seen in the singing and the acting performances. The most impressive here for me was Tamar Iveri. Amelia is not the easiest role to sing or bring to life, but the Georgian soprano really showed a sense of personality that makes her part in Gustav's downfall credible. Her singing was magnificent throughout, commanding yet sensitive to the characterisation and the situation, never more so than in her spellbinding account of Amelia's Act III aria 'Morrò, ma prima in grazia' - sung significantly with her "human" face revealed from behind the mask seen elsewhere.

Having only previously seen the ludicrous old-fashioned operatic gesticulation of Marcelo Álvarez in two other stage productions of Un Ballo in Maschera, it was refreshing to see Gustav performed here by a fine singer who can also act. Diego Torre brought real dramatic intensity to the king, showing the depth of his love for Amelia as well as his flaws as a ruler in the personal decisions he lets influence them that give his enemies rightful cause to conspire against him. He's no tyrant or romantic fool here, but a real person with human weaknesses and his dilemma is fully felt. As Renato José Carbó started out not so strongly, but gained gravity as the opera progressed, ending up fully embodying the role, which perhaps realistically reflects the development of his character.

As good as each of the singers were in their own right however, the true quality of the work, its dark nature and the conflict of interests between its character, comes out fully in the duets and ensemble pieces. Together, with this kind of singing and intensity of performance, the effect was powerful. Alex Ollé's stage direction played to those strengths, never undercutting the important moments of true drama in the work. And, as I indicated earlier, more than that, he also managed to bring some gravity and realism to the weaker aspects of the plot. It's not clear quite why it's not only Gustav who dies at the end here but all the other guests as well, victims of a gas attack by the conspirators. The fact that they are wearing masks also - gas masks - adds another level to the notion of the masked ball, as well as invoking revolutionary imagery that we have become very familiar with on our televisions recently. And in that respect it's perhaps a more recognisable and realistic result of violent civil war arising out of protests to remove a hated leader.

Delibes - Lakmé

Léo Delibes - Lakmé

Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House 2011

Emmanuel Joel-Hornak, Roger Hodgman, Emma Matthews, Dominica Matthews, Roxane Hislop, Jane Parkin, Angela Brun, Aldo Di Toro, Luke Gabbedy, Stephen Bennett, Edmond Choo

Opera Australia Cinema Season, 2012-13

There’s a line in Act III of Delibes’ Lakmé, when British soldier Gérald is being nursed back to health by Lakmé the beautiful daughter of the Brahmin priest who has attempted to kill him, Gérald awakening to the sounds and the vivid beauty of the world around him that has been heightened by his love for Lakmé, which he describes it being like a caress passing over you. In that phrase you have a summation of everything that Delibes achieves through the lushness of the scoring for the opera, the brilliance and enchantment of the melody and the sheer enveloping beauty and romanticism with which it captures the exoticism of its impossible love story between two people of very different cultures that goes against the prevailing attitudes in an India under British rule in the 1800s.

Léo Delibes is better known now for his ballets than his opera work, with Coppélia and Sylvia still frequently performed as repertory standards, but although Delibes achieved considerable success with his opera compositions, mainly in the operetta and opéra comique style, which show the influence of Bizet and Meyerbeer, but they are regarded as being old-fashioned and very much of their time and few are ever revived. Only Lakmé (1883) has made an enduring impression, principally on account of the exquisite ‘Flower Song’ duet for sopranos (which frequently turns up in television advertisements, most notably some years ago for British Airways), and for the challenging showpiece ‘Bell Aria’ which allows a coloratura soprano to demonstrate her virtuosity, but even Lakmé is rarely performed in its entirety as a opera. I’m not sure if that’s because the work is now considered old-fashioned, or because it has other singing and acting challenges beyond those famous arias that demand a soprano of extraordinarily high quality, but thankfully Opera Australia had the astonishing Emma Matthews on hand for this revival of their exquisite 2006 production for the Sydney Opera House that reveals the full beauty of the work.

Lakmé is an example of a European and a particularly French interest in Orientalism around the latter half of the 19th century that sparked the imagination of many writers, artists and composers. In the opera world, it is most clearly evident in Bizet’s The Pearlfishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) (1867) and Verdi’s Aida (1871) - echoes of both can perhaps be heard in Lakmé’s oriental themes - and the opera is derived from a popular book from this period ‘Le Marriage de Loti’ by Pierre Loti (a pseudonym for Julien Viaud, a captain in the French navy), the setting changed from Tahiti in the book to India in the mid-1800s. The influence of Orientalism and the lure of the exotic however extends well into the beginning of the 20th century, and the bold colours, lush idealised imagery of Mark Thompson’s set designs for the Indian jungles and temples of this Opera Australia production of Lakmé strongly evoke the paintings of Henri Rousseau, finding in them the perfect expression of Delibes’ gorgeous melodies and romantic situations.

In this respect, certainly in the lushness of melody and its exotic romantic sweep, one might also detect something turn-of-the-century Orientalism of Puccini’s Turandot, and particularly note the similarities that Lakmé’s clash of cultures romance story has with Madama Butterfly. Lakmé similarly depicts a romance that blossoms between a western military officer, Gérald and a young exotic beauty, Lakmé, the daughter of Nilakantha, a Brahmin priest. The taboo romance here also meets with stern disapproval from the young woman’s family, and it likewise proves to be unsustainable when the exotic lure of the situation that has gripped the soldier gives way to the sense of duty that he has momentarily forgotten. Puccini may indeed have been responding entirely in his own way to the situation as it is depicted in George Belasco’s play, and I’ve never seen any references about whether he may have regarded Lakmé as a model or not, but Puccini’s musical approach is similar in how it captures that irresistible lure of the exotic, and the conclusion is similarly tragic for the innocent Eastern native whose purity of feeling is unable to coexist with the rather different notions of love, duty and tradition from the western perspective. Quite why Lakmé isn’t as popular as Madama Butterfly then is something of a mystery.

Perhaps however Lakmé just hasn’t been treated as well in the past as it is here by Opera Australia. In every respect this is a wonderful production that trusts that the opera is strong enough to work on its own terms, in a traditional period staging, without needing any clever concepts to make it accessible to a modern audience. Everything however is put into the costumes, the sets, the colour and the warm lighting with its subtle shading, to ensure that it matches and supports the work as it is expressed in the libretto and the music score. It’s also sung and acted with complete conviction by an exceptionally strong cast. Emma Matthews is most impressive in the hugely demanding singing role of Lakmé, the singing performance flawlessly delivered. Her ‘Flower Song’ duet with Dominica Matthews’ Mallika is perfect, and her handling of the coloratura throughout is exemplary, but it’s a performance that works on much more than a purely technical level with a brightness and warmth of tone in her delivery that matches her character’s temperament and purity. Gérald is also very well performed by Aldo Di Toro, but it’s even better that there seems to be genuine chemistry between the performers and a harmony of voices that, when caught up in the sweep of the melodies and the beauty of the stage setting, makes it their story all the more involving and believable.

Lakmé was viewed in the cinema as part of Opera Australia Cinema Season 2012/13 programme, but this recording is also available on DVD and in High Definition on Blu-ray disc.