Opera Queensland unveils its new star this weekend
Queensland Opera has returned to the Concert Hall at QPAC this weekend with a show full of star power, including this impressive voice who not long ago thought about quitting singing. READ PHIL BROWN’S REVIEW
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Soprano Rebecca Cassidy gave up singing for a while but when she went nannying the family she worked for talked her into going back to her opera career.
Now, in her early thirties (opera singers are always cagey about their age) she’s making a name for herself and as this year’s Young Artist for 2020 with Opera Queensland she has a shot at stardom. And she took it last night in the Concert Hall at QPAC. What a voice! And what a show!
Encore it was called and it featured some of Queensland’s best singers, all home in Brisbane due to the pandemic, which is good for us. Accompanied by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (which was on fire) they presented a show of great opera tunes with some favourites and some lesser know ones.
An opera concert can sometimes be a gratuitous affair with a string of opera’s greatest hits. That would be too predictable for Opera Queensland artistic director Patrick Nolan who, with the help of head of music, Narelle French , crafted a rich, textural program featuring excerpts from Gounod’s Faust, Puccini’s La Boheme, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and other great music including a lesser known aria from Tchaikovsky’s opera Queen of Spades.
The singers featured, who will be performing again today are Soprano Eva Kong (who was just incredible), Milijana Nikolic, an international star married to another featured artist, Brisbane’s own tenor superstar Rosario La Spina, Rebecca Cassidy, tenor Virgilio Marino, baritone Shaun Brown and bass-baritone Andrew Collis. What a retinue! And the finale with all of them on stage together was stupendous.
The treat of the night though was the unveiling of Rebecca Cassidy in her major stage debut with Opera Queensland. She’s a remarkable talent, a singer from another age and possibly, another world.
We featured her in a story recently but when I wrote it I hadn’t heard her live yet. Last weekend I did for the first time when she appeared with the Southern Cross Soloists singing Three Leider by Strauss in a Sunday afternoon concert. She was sublime. She took me to another plane.
Last night she blew my socks off again when she sang a duet from Pagliacci with Shaun Brown and then there was her ecstatic duet with Rosario La Spina from Puccuini’s opera Il Tabarro. The duet, E Ben altro il mio sogno was worthy of any great opera house anywhere in the world.
And to think that Rebecca Cassidy gave up singing for a while after graduating from the Queensland Conservatorium.
Opera Queensland has a good eye and Patrick Nolan says Cassidy is special and her stage presence is impressive. She will be a big star and I would urge opera fans to go see her soon.
Last night’s concert was conducted and hosted by Dane Lam who is a wonderful conductor and a host who introduces the pieces with clarity and elan.
There were numerous duets including a lovely one featuring husband and wife, Rosario La Spina and Milijana Nikolic. And let me just say that La Spina’s interpretation of the famous aria from Pagliacci, Vestis la guibba, was incredible. Spine tingling even. And to think this guy was a brickie before he was an opera star! Go figure. Of course Pavarotti is famous for that aria and Las Spina nailed it too. Encore is on again today but of course it’s sold out. With limited seating due to COVID restrictions everything is at the moment.
But soon Opera Queensland will be unveiling its program for next year. When they do book early and book often, as they say. And make sure you see Rebecca Cassidy.