9th January 2018
by harryfiddler
2 Comments
I’ve been searching for the image which Danielle de Niese’s pose at the beginning of Act III reminded me of, but I can’t find it. The one above will have to do. It’s meant to be Mata Hari but Hanna … Continue reading
22nd April 2017
by harryfiddler
1 Comment
The latest addition to the ABC — Australia’s Banned Critics — has sent me in search of meaning again. First stop, some definitions. Criticism: the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad qualities of something or someone … Continue reading
4th February 2017
by harryfiddler
0 comments
James Egglestone as Edrisi, Gennadi Dubinsky as Archiereios, Michael Honeyman as King Roger, Dominica Matthews as Deaconess, Lorina Gore as Roxana and the Opera Australia Chorus in Opera Australia’s King Roger. Photo credit: Keith Saunders There’s a delicious exoticism … Continue reading
12th November 2016
by harryfiddler
0 comments
To celebrate the start of this year’s Melbourne Ring Cycle, here’s my review of the 2013 cycle, which appeared originally in The Opera Critic. And so it arrives. The Ring Cycle, flagged as a key piece of Lyndon Terracini’s artistic … Continue reading
4th November 2016
by harryfiddler
1 Comment
In the grand tradition of writers writing about writing and painters painting pictures of painters painting, Opera Australia presents an opera about opera. They have the perfect setting, after all: a huge stepped stage with a stunning backdrop, lit by … Continue reading
14th October 2015
by harryfiddler
4 Comments
Opera and music theatre have always had a slightly uncomfortable relationship. They’re obviously related, but are they parent and child, cousins or siblings? Pinning down real differences between the two is difficult. Opera, of course, is serious, like Otello and … Continue reading
25th February 2015
by harryfiddler
2 Comments
A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Lyndon Terracini, artistic director of Opera Australia, saying that ‘audiences don’t want to see new works,‘ The context is him defending his 2015 programming choices, which have been broadly discussed elsewhere. … Continue reading
1st March 2014
by harryfiddler
9 Comments
I’ve seen two operas in the last week: Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed Richard Strauss’s Elektra, in semi-staged concert, while Opera Australia gave us Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, fully-staged. There was some glorious music-making in both, but what got me thinking was the use … Continue reading
20th February 2014
by harryfiddler
0 comments
Another one killed by the Space monsters. Enjoy. I did. La boheme Joan Sutherland Opera Theatre, January 4 Reviewed by Harriet Cunningham 4 stars It’s Christmas Eve in Berlin, again. The lads are still behind with the rent, the ladies … Continue reading
2nd July 2012
by harryfiddler
6 Comments
Went to Die Tote Stadt first night on Saturday. The much anticipated ‘Australian premiere’ production by Bruce Beresford, starring Cheryl Barker and power-tenor Stefan Vinke. At the season’s launch back in August 2011 there was much talk of technology and … Continue reading