Downcast after thrills of the opera

By HEATH LEES

A trip to Sydney last weekend brought lashings of operatic pleasure and a few worries.

On the first night's triple bill, New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn was a principal singer in Puccini's mini-opera Il Tabarro.

It's hard work to pull off high drama from such a short piece, yet she had a warmth and shape to her singing that delighted the audience. She has real dramatic intensity, too, which is why the Aussies swiftly signed her up as a star performer in their first staged performance of Wagner's Parsifal in Adelaide in September.

After an over-the-top Suor Angelica, set in a convent and with not a deep voice in sight, Puccini's third mini-opera Gianni Schicchi was a joy - full of Mediterranean light, excellent singing and comic touches that made the whole thing shine every second.

When Rinuccio sang his big number about the glories of Florence, you felt that down here, Sydney was taking a share of its lustre, too. And when Lauretta quietly began "O mio babbino caro," one of the greatest hits in all opera (but everyone forgets where it comes from), the effect was spine-tingling - thrilling proof of the magic that live opera can bring.

The second night saw the premiere performance of Opera Australia's revived production - "re-studied" they call it, ever so seriously - of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes.

The lead parts were disappointing, with Anson Austin as the unstable Grimes, tormented by the town gossips and eventually driven to his death. Austin had a command of the part vocally, but was restricted to a few shallow, blustering gestures.

Joan Carden was re-creating her role as Ellen Orford in the original 1986 production and is a long-time favourite with Sydney audiences. Alas, her voice was as volatile as Peter's temper, and there was little sense of the larger tragedy in her merely schoolmarmish portrayal. Other parts were great though, and the chorus and orchestra sometimes electrifying.

Even if it's only a two-night stint, you learn a lot about Sydney's opera-goers during the intervals. The tourists are easily spotted, of course, but Sydney's young corporate world is heavily - and proudly - represented. Lots of school-aged kids give the audiences an impression of fun and vibrancy among the usual, well-to-do grey-heads. Dinner jackets jostle with floral shirts, and at the pre-performance ticket desk, the student queues for balcony seats are long.

With Opera Australia fielding 15 operas this year, three gala concerts and a double helping of Verdi's Requiem, Sydney has opera at its heart, loves it, and feeds happily from its cultural fare. Blessed with a committed television sponsorship, it also has regular direct relays throughout the country.

On the plane home, it's easy to feel short-changed in Auckland, with just two operas this year, and a mid-year pot-pourri of Verdi items. Still, the recent Manon was a great production by anyone's standards (many Aucklanders couldn't be bothered to go till it was too late, yet Wellington sold out in advance).

The big problem here is that there is no regularity to the operatic calendar. Unlike Sydney, Auckland audiences never get into the habit of going to the opera, since so much time elapses between shows.

Even with its welcome sponsorship from the National Business Review, the country's opera company is still in dire financial straits.

Maybe the only lifebelt is the Broadcasting Charter, which wants quality and community support out of television. Surely there could be no finer candidate for TVNZ, which limits its on-air arts support to the Laugh festival, and crassly describes it in a huge poster as a (f)arts festival?

One other thing. Sydney is now set to rip out its orchestra pit and redesign its auditorium. Why? Because the acoustics are not good enough. All we have is the dry and dull ASB Theatre, open for a dozen years now, the only place for opera in this city, and still a nightmare for singers.

Interestingly, opera singers agree that Sydney's opera house is not the best place to sing in. Adelaide's Festival Theatre gets their vote, yet when Adelaide opened, it was condemned as the worst. Electronic enhancement was brought in, and now it's a treat for the singers, while audiences are overcoming their scruples and enjoying it.

The Aotea Centre is already half set up for such electronic enhancement, but recent moves to develop this have been dropped.

At my two nights at the opera, I spoke to four people I hadn't known before. All of them were Kiwis who had flown to Sydney just for the operas. It's a growing trend, but a worrying one for our reputedly excellent singers and our seemingly dwindling audiences.