Opera Australia cook up some rare Verdi with big flavour Ernani

After opening its season with the bubbles and canapes of Lehar’s The Merry Widow, Opera Australia gets down to some serious meat and three veg with Verdi’s Ernani.

Spectacular sets and music are a feature of Opera Australia's production of Verdi's Ernani. Picture Prudence Upton

• 'Tis time to be Merry … at last
• From idyll to nightmare
• Lights! Action! Masks!
• Black tea with a dash of bourbon

After opening its season with the bubbles and canapes of Franz Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow, Opera Australia gets down to some serious meat and three veg with its latest show, Giuseppe Verdi’s Ernani.

The work, based on a Victor Hugo play about medieval chivalry set in the time of the Holy Roman Empire, established the composer as an international success and marked his first winning collaboration with librettist Francesco Maria Piave. They went on to work together on the big hits Rigoletto and La Traviata.

But after its early immense popularity – it was the first complete opera ever to be recorded – it lost momentum and today is more of a historical curiosity.

The reason for this is easy to see when you read the background. Three men - the outlaw Ernani, Carlo the King of Spain (and future emperor) and Silva, an elderly uncle and guardian - vie for the affections of Elvira. The plot is convoluted but easy to follow, however modern audiences feel little connection to the various codes of honour at play, so we care less for the characters involved.

BRAVE

The story may have gone cold on us but the music hasn’t, and under the baton of Verdi specialist Renato Palumbo, the Opera Australia Chorus and Orchestra excel, making it a show well worth seeing.

It was a brave decision by OA’s artistic director Lyndon Terracini to program it during the pandemic, particularly as it is a co-production with La Scala Milan, featuring sumptuous sets, a huge cast and lavish costumes, and with four principals including two international singers, Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov (Carlo) and Ukrainian bass Vitalij Kowaljow, making their Australian debuts.

OA regulars tenor Diego Torre and soprano Natalie Aroyan, coped well with the demands of the plot. Torre fared better in his solos, notably Come rugiada al cespite, and the duet with Aroyan, Ah, morir potessi adesso, but his light and slightly closed timbre did not always impose itself on the superb ensemble pieces. Aroyan demanding aria Surta e la notte was well carried off and Stoyanov’s arias were a highlight.

Vitalji Kowaljow was imposing in Opera Australia's production of Verdi's Ernani. Picture Prudence Upton

Kowaljow, imposing as Elvira’s uncle and would-be husband Don Roy Gomez de Silva, left one hoping that we would hear more of this fine bass in future OA productions.

Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s decision to set Ernani as a show within a show served for the most part to dispel one’s sense of disbelief at the on-stage action. Actors in 19th century garb danced in and out with props, mimed raising and lowering flats with pulleys and put on a mildly amusing mime show for the five-minute scenery shift between the third and fourth acts.

But the real stars of the night were the excellent chorus and the orchestra, whose remit included some lively interludes both on- and offstage as well as in the pit, where COVID-safe masks were worn by the string and percussion players.

DETAILS

● OPERA Ernani by Giuseppe Verdi

● DIRECTOR Sven-Eric Bechtolf

● PRODUCTION Opera Australia/La Scala Milan,

● STARRING Diego Torre, Natalie Aroyan, Vladimir Stoyanov, Vitalij Kowaljow

● WHERE Sydney Opera House

● SEASON Until February 13

● BOOKINGS Phone [phone] or visit www.opera.org.au.