Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour | Opera Insider - 'All the inside information on Opera in Australia from The Insider. Reviews, Gossip, Scandal' Opera Australia

Posts Tagged ‘Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour’

Carmen – the 2013 Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

April 18, 2012 | Author insider

After the success of the 2012 LA TRAVIATA on Sydney Harbour, Opera Australia has announced the return of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour in 2013 with a production of Bizet’s famous and feisty opera CARMEN.

Opera Australia has also confirmed that the new production of CARMEN will be directed by Gale Edwards (pictured above) who directed the extremely popular 2011 production of Puccini’s LA BOHEME seen in both Sydney and Melbourne. The designer will be Brian Thompson who did a stupendous job with LA TRAVIATA this year.

No details on casting have been released so far, but Opera Australia must seriously be considering inviting Rinat Shaham back to Australia after her absolutely sensational CARMEN in 2011. Here’s hoping !

Tickets for CARMEN will go on sale later in 2012.

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | 4 Comments »

Review: LA TRAVIATA Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

April 9, 2012 | Author insider

LA TRAVIATA

Opera in 4 Acts by Guiseppe Verdi

Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, after the play LA DAME AUX CAMELIAS by Alexandre Dumas fils (1852)

Performance by Opera Australia on Friday, 30th March 2012 at Lady Macquarie’s Chair on Sydney Harbour.

Conductor Brian Castles-Onion

Director Francesca Zambello

Scenery Designer Brian Thompson

Costume Designer Tess Schofield

Lighting Designer John Rayment

Choreography Stephen Baynes

Sound Designer Tony David Cray

Site Designer Ross Wallace

Producer/Assistant Director Michael Campbell

Second Assistant Director Matthew Barclay

Violetta Emma Matthews

Alfredo Gianluca Terranova

Pere Germont Jonathan Summers

Flora Margaret Plummer

Gastone Martin Buckingham

Baron Douphol James Clayton

Marquis d’Obigny Christopher Hillier

Doctor Grenvil John Bolton Wood

Annina Sarah Sweeting

Violetta’s servant Samuel Sakker

Messanger Tom Hamilton

Servant Richard Mitchell

This mega-production deserves only three words – Fantastic ! Fantastic ! Fantastic !

When Opera Australia impresario and Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini announced the intention of staging of LA TRAVIATA on a stage on Sydney Harbour, many in the artistic community as well as opera goers thought he was crackers. Well did he prove them wrong !

The rationale for the spectacular was to present opera in a novel way to attract new opera audiences, to extend the current audience base, to use the Australian and Sydney love of the outdoors and al fresco entertainment as a base for a new concept for producing opera, using the tremendous vista of Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as a potential draw card for overseas and interstate opera lovers, and finally as a trade off for Melbourne getting the bi-annual RING Festival.

The enormity of the project cannot be appreciated without considering the logistics of the enterprise, watching the construction of the stage and facilities, and finally experiencing the opera and the event. To stage LA TRAVIATA Opera Australia first had to find additional financial resources for the massive cost said to be around $A 11,000,000. Harusha Handa and the NSW Government through Events NSW came to the party providing millions to assist with the project. A massive team of engineers, designers – not just of the sets, costumes and lighting, but also for the grandstand, bars, restaurants, and decoration of the site, acoustic engineers etc have all put in massive hours to deliver this project. The logistics of organising this, and issues such as safety, OH & S issues are massive, and have all run apparently smoothly with a superb result.

Arrival at the site was relatively easy, with the Domain Car Park relatively close and a pleasant walk through the parkland of the Domain and along the road to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair (Point). Those arriving by Public Transport had a brief walk to the site as well. Entering the site was easy with plenty of accommodating Opera Australia staff to guide guests. There was no crowding at the entrance gate and the descending walkway to the performance was via a wide path screened with cyclone fencing covered in cloth with a plant motive. on arrival at the main site you could not help but be blown away by the enormity of the stage, stand, facilities and the view of the Harbour. The bars, restaurants and outdoor foyer areas were superbly designed, spacious, attractive and offered excellent views of the stage. The lower footpath was covered in astroturf and landscaped with literally dozens of large attractive potted plants. The grandstand was constructed using scaffolding and secure planking and included comfortable padded seats. The seats were more comfortable than the seats in the Opera Theatre of the Sydney Opera House ! The Southern Cantina and Northern Restaurant are constructed with large steel girders. Each of the areas was superbly built and decorated belying the temporary nature of the construction.

Purchasing a pre-performance drink and food was easy with little cueing. Entrance to the stand was either via the walkway at the front of the stage, or a very wide walkway behind the stand abutting the cliff face. The most outstanding feature of the site was the relationship between the stage and stand. With the tilt of the gigantic mirror that served as the set towards the stand a feeling of great closeness was attained. Seating in the cheaper seats at the sides of the stand was almost as good as the centre portion.

Whether you agree with the controversial concept of outdoor miked opera or not. This opera was still cast from strength, mightily sung, thoroughly engaging, dramatic and entertaining. The initial impression of the concept of a tilted silver mirror and huge chandelier for a the set seemed a little light compared to the massive sets constructed for the Bregenz Festival, but on seeing the production in its entirety, these pre-performance notions seemed mere quibbles. The massive mirror and chandelier together with the close proximity of the stage to the audience worked superbly. So did the colourful costumes updated to the 1960′s.

Francesco Zambello was certainly not frightened to be adventurous with the production, commencing the action during the prelude showing Violetta ill on her black silk covered bed at the front of the stage, before preparing for her party. Scenes contained minimal furniture and props. The First Act commenced with the bed disappearing into the floor of the stage. The party scene had guests seated at a huge, long banquet table trundled out from behind part of the mirror frame upstage. Act II Set in the country side used a 26 person long, silver Chesterfield lounge centre stage, green lighting and extras raking the fields around the frame of the mirror. Flora’s party commenced with the party guests being ferried in on light festooned water taxis to a festively lit dock. The set had no furniture until the card game started and a huge round card table was ingeniously made by dancers kneeling and stretching a huge round red cloth over their shoulders. The Act I party scene was full of life. The Act I Brindisi culminated in the entire company suddenly turing around to the harbour for a massive fireworks display. The act culminated in Violetta climbing onto the chandelier and being flown in the air to sing ‘Sempre Libera’ to a spine tingled audience for the second coup de theatre of the evening. Francesca Zambello is quoted as saying “it would be ridiculous trying to compete with such a stunning night vista” – let me assure her that the audience on the night I went was transfixed to the action, and only seemed to dwell on the city and harbour vistas during the intervals.

Musically, the production was in the safe and more than competent hands of conductor, Brian Castles-Onion who delivered a well paced and dramatic realisation of the Verdi score with the orchestra buried in a studio away from sight under the stage. Musical co-ordination was superb given the potential for the time delay across the distances involved on stage. Emma Matthews achieved yet another triumph to her repertoire with her highly dramatic, vivacious and ultimately heart rending performance of the title role. Her voice, usually referred to as light, certainly seemed to embrace the musical drama of the role splendidly with a newfound richness and punch. The guest tenor, Gianluca Terranova was simply superb, His rich, vibrant tenor could occasionally be heard above the miked sound of his voice! He should certainly be renamed Gianluca Supernova on the basis of this performance. Hopefully he has been signed for many future visits ! His Italian pronunciation was particularly vivid ( perhaps not surprising since he is Italian – but still excitingly Italian sounding and an abject lesson in the importance of correct pronunciation). Jonathan Summers as Pere Germont was extraordinary in his characterisation of the role both vocally and dramatically.

In the lesser roles, Margaret Plummer stood out as an exemplary Flora, Martin Buckingham proved how much can be made of the smaller role of Gastone, James Clayton (ex-West Australian Opera) made an auspicious debut on the East coast as Baron Duphol and the ever reliable John Bolton-Wood was superb as Dr Grenvil, which had been made into a much larger role with him attending to Violetta’s health in minor scenes throughout the opera. Smaller roles also sounded excellent, but then the opera was miked.

The miked sounded excellent with a reasonably faithful reproduction of the voices with virtually no distortion. The only quibble with the sound design was some distortion of the strings during their transparent playing in the quieter moments during the all important preludes.

Audience response was magnificent on the evening with the entire audience wildly stamping during the curtain calls. An Italian family (mother, father and 2 teenage sons) in front of me sat on the edge of their seat during the performance, a couple to my right sang along with the score the entire way through the performance (despite ballet being their preferred art form as their son is a principal with the Australian Ballet). Other audience members chattered away in French and German during the intervals, and several acquaintances were making their first visit ever to see an opera.

While not the biggest outdoor opera event seen in Sydney (that honour goes to Guiseppe Raffa and his International Opera Festival production of AIDA in the Sydney Football Stadium in 1988, which was performed on a 250 x 150 foot stage, with a giant Sphinx as the centrepiece, and starring such illuminaries as Katia Ricciarelli as Aida and Piero Cappucilli as Amonasro ). Compared to the Bregenz Festival, the size of the stage and set is obviously smaller but the Sydney version creates a greater sense of intimacy within a much more stunning setting. The only down side is the much smaller number of seats that were available for the Opera Festival AIDA and are available at Bregenz. with an audience size of 3,000 it is only a few hundred more than the seating that was available for staged opera in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall during the 1970′s to 1990′s.

Well, many die hard traditionalists might hate the concept, but I doubt very much they were not enthralled and greatly entertained by the performance. In the final analysis, the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour is a massive success. Opera Australia has achieved a brilliant staging of Verdi’s masterwork – LA TRAVIATA, proving outdoor opera is more than viable as an alternative to staged performances in the Opera Theatre for some potential audiences. It appears to have attracted an eclectic, new audience that otherwise may never have seen opera, and provided a new way for traditional audiences to enjoy opera.

Carmen is planned for the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour for 2013. Bring it on!

Posted in Opera Reviews | 2 Comments »

Handa Opera on the Harbour is here !

March 23, 2012 | Author insider

If you had ANY doubts about attending the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour LA TRAVIATA, I think these pictures will soon change your mind. With one last last dress rehearsal tonight, the opera opens tomorrow night.

After months of rain, the skies have cleared and sunny days and balmy nights are promised for the coming week at least.

One of the Opera Insider team is attending the final dress rehearsal tonight, but reporting on this is useless – it’s just going to be magnificent and awe-inspiring.

As you can see the production looks absolutely fantastic, so if you were planning on being a couch potato, or didn’t think it would be worth the trip to Sydney – think again, get on the net or phone and order your ticket now !

Quick, book your tickets and a jet if you are interstate. Tickets may be booked on line at:

http://www.opera-australia.org.au/whatson/opera_on_sydney_harbour

For opera fans both new, old and inquisitive who are going and are still unsure of the details for travel and catering check out the following link:

http://www.opera-australia.org.au/res/pdfs/eguides/2012/HOSH_Eguide_DU.pdf?utm_source=TMS&utm_medium=TMS&utm_campaign=HOSHEguide

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | No Comments »

Handa LA TRAVIATA almost ready

March 18, 2012 | Author insider

Last evening at the performance of Opera Australia’s COSI FAN TUTTE, audience members were able to see the ongoing preparations for the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.

The stage, audience stands, and set are all now installed. Only the fitting out of the restaurants and bars remains to be completed. As dusk set, the stage lights were lit, as well as the gigantic chandelier that is the focal point of the set. I have to say that the impression of the chandelier viewed from the Opera House is truly AMAZING, sparkling and shimmering in the evening dark.

During the intermission the set was still in the process of being lit and a rehearsal was in progress, the chandelier was now green and the COSI audience was incidentally treated to a demonstration of the fireworks to be used during performances. The fireworks, while not as grand as New Year’s Eve in Sydney, are still a show stopper for a Parisian party updated to the 1950′s.

If you haven’t bought your tickets to this show yet – buy one as soon as you can. Once the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour has opened and the word is out, I predict you won’t be able to beg, borrow or steal a ticket !

Tickets for the opera and dinner packages can be purchased on line from the Opera Australia website:

http://www.opera-australia.org.au/whatson/opera_on_sydney_harbour

Interstate and overseas visitors may still be able to book weekend packages from Renaissance Tours:

http://www.renaissancetours.com.au/gala-weekend-on-sydney-harbour

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | No Comments »

Progress continues on the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour site

March 10, 2012 | Author insider

As can be seen below, large scale construction work is proceeding at a rapid rate at Lady Macquarie’s Point in Sydney for the inaugural Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA.

The photographs taken today, Saturday 10th March, reveal a large construction team hard at work on a thankfully bright sunny day after weeks of drenching rain and floods.

The stage can clearly be seen being prepared and sitting above the area for the enclosed orchestra and cast waiting rooms, and to the right of the top pictures – the structure for the Platinum Lounge and Northern Cantina.

The bottom picture glimpses the stage and shows the Platinum Lounge structure more clearly. Work on the stand to seat the audience of 3,000 is not seen and is in preparatory stages only at this time.

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | 3 Comments »

Farm Cove Transformation begins for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

March 7, 2012 | Author insider

With just 17 days left to the grand opening night of the inaugural Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour on Saturday 24th March, Farm Cove Sydney is in the midst of an industrial looking transformation building the harbour stage, stands and catering facilities for Opera Australia’s riskiest production to date.

Farm cove is swarming with floating cranes, mobile cranes, labourers, engineers, and technicians building the facilities in preparation for the set bump in (no mean feat in itself) and light rigging. The two casts have been rehearsing on the set in a studio for the last few weeks. Now Sydney needs only to provide clear skies, and warm early weather for the event, instead of the forecast rain for the month.

Opera Australia has recently released these pictures of the assembly of the massive stage and site facilities:

If you don’t have tickets yet, get them now ! They are the hottest tickets in Sydney !! To book your tickets just click on:

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour bookings

Cast and creatives for LA TRAVIATA are as follows:

Conductor	Brian Castles-Onion
Stage Director	Francesca Zambello
Set Designer	Brian Thomson
Costume Designer	Tess Schofield
Lighting Designer	John Rayment
Sound Designer	Tony David Cray
Choreographer	Stephen Baynes

Violetta Valery	Emma Matthews (24, 28, 30 March; 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 April) Rachelle Durkin (27, 29, 31 March; 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 April)
Alfredo Germont	Gianluca Terranova (24, 28, 30 March; 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 April) Ji-Min Park (27, 29, 31 March; 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 April)
Giorgio Germont	Jonathan Summers (24, 28, 30 March; 1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 April) Warwick Fyfe (27, 29, 31 March; 3, 5, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20 April)
Flora Bervoix	Margaret Plummer
Gastone	Martin Buckingham
Baron Douphol	James Clayton
Marquis D’Obigny	Christopher Hillier
Dottore Grenvil	John Bolton Wood
Annina	Sarah Sweeting
Giuseppe	Samuel Sakker
Messagiero	Tom Hamilton
Servo	Richard Mitchell

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | 2 Comments »

Momentum builds for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

February 10, 2012 | Author insider

Worried about how good the facilities will be for the inaugural Handa on Sydney Harbour LA TRAVIATA ?

Well don’t – they look absolutely fabulous, as can be seen above in the animation of the site, stands and facilities.

The animation was commissioned from the Sydney branch of the architectural animation and design firm, Our Vision earlier this year and what a tremendous job they have done realising Opera Australia’s plans.

If the facilities are half as good as they appear in the animation and stills below, the audience is in for a tremendous night.

Above: The North Cantina

Above: The Platinum Bar

If you haven’t booked you tickets yet go to:

http://www.opera-australia.org.au/whatson/opera_on_sydney_harbour#datesAndTimes

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | No Comments »

Set construction for LA TRAVIATA on Sydney Harbour commences

October 1, 2011 | Author insider

Construction of the set for Opera Australia’s inaugural Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA has commenced in Adelaide.

The $12m production of La TRAVIATA will open in March.

It will feature a floating stage and a huge suspended chandelier to evoke the glittering salons of 19th-century Paris.

The stage will appear to be sitting on the surface of the water but will be mounted on pylons and a support structure that can be used again.

Designer Brian Thomson ( pictured above in front of the partially constructed set at ShowTrek in Adelaide) – veteran of many stage productions and projects including the Sydney Olympic Games closing ceremony – said the floating stage was “just another challenge”.

It will be installed near Mrs Macquaries Point so that audiences can watch the opera with a view of the Sydney Opera House behind.

“Other people are doing the engineering work,” said Thomson. Construction began this week at Adelaide company SHOW TREK, which worked on the Adelaide RING and the hit musical PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, which Thomson also designed.

For LA TRAVIATA Thomson is working with American opera director Francesca Zambello, who has previously created outdoor extravaganzas including WEST SIDE STORY for the floating stage at Bregenz in Austria.

Opera Australia will be aiming to sell 40,000 tickets during the three-week season of Opera on Sydney Harbour.

Although somewhat premature, the question of which opera will be staged on Sydney Harbour in 2013 is thought provoking.

Rumours of performances of Giordano’s ANDREA CHENIER with Arnold Rawls as Chenier in 2013 have been published. Might Opera Australia be thinking of this for the 2nd Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour ? The same work has sold well as the opera on the lake at the Bregenz Festival this year. Or might it be Bizet’s CARMEN ?

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | 1 Comment »

Opera Australia releases more details of the Harbour TRAVIATA set

May 31, 2011 | Author insider

Opera Australia has just released pictures of the set models for their Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour 2012 production – Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA.

Previously Opera Australia has been very tight lipped concerning details of future productions, but for this exciting new and expensive venture, potential audiences are being given increasing details over time to wet (pardon the pun) their appetite (pardon another pun, as their will be catering of meals at the performances as well). The selective leaking of information has worked extremely well for companies such as Apple, but it is the first time we have seen a similar approach to opera in Australia. Other recently leaked information by Opera Australia include graphics of what the production will look like from the audience on Sydney Harbour, and a video of the director, Francesca Zambello describing some of the major features of the staging ( see my previous article entitled Official launch today of Opera Australia’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour).

Posted in Opera Gossip In Australia | 1 Comment »