Opera in Concert: Puccini at the Auckland Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

We were promised the excitement, the tragedy and the passion of Puccini at full strength and, for the most part, we got all this and more.

Cannily built around the stellar Angela M. Brown, this was a portmanteau Puccini, a Cook's Tour of the well-known and less familiar, with Robert Johnson as an incisive guide.

Vocally, Brown was never less than rapturous, although arias such as "Un bel di" and "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" revealed a Verdian voice being harnessed into the sleeker lines of Puccini.

The American soprano was joined by tenor Simon O'Neill for "Mario! Mario! Mario!" from Tosca. It's rare to see artists enjoying themselves so much on stage without the music suffering. O'Neill tweaked his partner's nose at one point; a little later she retaliated with an audible slap on his arm. Brown's wagging finger may have been more Baptist preacher than tempestuous diva, but, bless the two of them, the divine music never stopped flowing.

This is a star team, and judging by the ecstatic applause, particularly after O'Neill's later "Nessun dorma", I would hope that the AP is considering further bookings.

O'Neill showed his versatility in two less expected offerings, including a shapely "Orgia, chimera" from Edgar.

Even with the ungiving ambience of the town hall, Patricia Wright brought a quartet of characters to life in her four arias, particularly the tragic Manon in "Sola perduta abbandonata" and ill-fated Liu in "Tu che di gel sei cinta".

Rodney Macann had his few minutes with Brown, playing Scarpia to her Tosca, along with more villainy later from Il Tabarro, but it was in Colline's more reflective "Vecchia zimarra", with coat in hand, that he was most dramatically effective.

The younger singers seemed nervous. Anna Leese, fresh from Sydney triumphs, showed how telling an unaffected delivery can be in "O mio babbino caro", Tania Brand was an undaunted Mimi while Paul Chappory's Rodolfo showed the strain of the occasion.

Conductor Marc Taddei ensured the orchestra had its special moments, too, pulling out all the stops for two outrageously kitsch potpourris from Le Villi and Madama Butterfly.