By Bridget Davies and Jessica Nicholas
OPERA
Tosca ★ ★ ★ ★
Margaret Court Arena, until May 30
You can’t blame an opera company for trying. With the State Theatre closed for renovations, the CBD theatres occupied by musicals and an opera fraternity long dissatisfied with its offering – Opera Australia had to try something different. Coupled with a recently announced $4.9 million operating loss, new artistic director Jo Davies was always going to need to find innovative ways to appease Melbourne’s operatic appetite. Opera in Margaret Court Arena, however, leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth and a sore back to boot.
Andrew Moran as Sacristan, the Opera Australia Chorus and Opera Australian Children’s Chorus in Tosca at Margaret Court Arena.Credit: Jeff Busby
Thankfully, the singing is stellar. A new, mostly excellent production of Puccini’s Tosca is the right choice when attempting to rekindle a regular audience while also diversify the demographic. Set in Rome in 1800, Floria Tosca is an opera singer, who attempts to save her beloved Cavaradossi, a painter, from a fate forced upon him by the corrupt chief of police, Scarpia. It’s a fast-moving plot; love, jealousy, betrayal and murder wrapped up in some of the most sublime melodies in opera.
This staging from Opera North (Leeds, UK) makes great use of a huge circular church dome throughout. The dome and intense use of lighting made the act III finale, which often comes off as naff, incredibly successful. It was a shame, though likely a venue-induced necessity, for conductor Garry Walker and Orchestra Victoria go mostly unseen. Barring minor amplification imbalances, the music was faultless.
As Tosca, Karah Son displays a dazzling depth of vocal colours, she is totally at home in this role. Her showpiece, Vissi D’arte is poignant and powerful, with plush richness and strength without strain. Englishman Robert Hayward is impressive as Scarpia, played here as something akin to Harvey Weinstein-come-Bond-villain. He has the necessary combination of baritonal heft and nauseating slipperiness to appropriately give us all the ick.
Diego Torre, playing the role of Cavaradossi, and Karah Son, playing the role of Tosca.Credit: Getty
The night, though, belonged to tenor Diego Torre. Cavaradossi has been in his repertoire for some years now, but this is it – this version is the one. You will not hear this role sung as well anywhere in the world right now. Torre soars with astonishing ease, resulting in goosebump-inducing high notes, the kind that made you forget the plastic seats and soullessness of a tennis stadium.
One can only hope the alternating cast, Nadine Benjamin, Warwick Fyfe and Young Woo Kim give such complete performances. Some of opera’s innate magic is lost in this setting, but if this is the heights of Opera Australia this season, the change we’ve been starved of has been satisfyingly served.
Reviewed by Bridget Davies
JAZZ
Jonathan Crayford ★ ★ ★ ★
JazzLab, May 25
Pianist Jonathan Crayford.Credit: Rita Nowak
It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what makes Jonathan Crayford’s music so alluring. There’s no doubt the New Zealander is a virtuoso musician, but virtuosity for its own sake is rarely engaging.
The name of the pianist’s 2014 album – Dark Light – offers a clue to his appeal. The title is a paradox, and Crayford’s music is full of paradoxes. There are shadows everywhere, but they’re always flecked with light. There’s formidable technique, but also heartfelt connection. There’s a fierce intellect behind his elaborately constructed compositions, yet also a spirit of sharing that allows his bandmates to be equal partners in creation.
On Sunday night at Jazzlab, those bandmates were Melbourne musicians Sam Anning (on double bass) and Felix Bloxsom (drums), both demonstrating the intense focus and sharp reflexes required to shape Crayford’s intricate musical journeys.
This was Crayford’s first performance in Melbourne in many years, and the pianist brought with him a clutch of new compositions from a forthcoming album – some of them so new that they only have working titles. April 2 had a hypnotic undertow that became more turbulent as it progressed, with an emphasis on three-way interaction rather than individual soloing.
Thingying began in an exploratory mode (Crayford plucking the piano strings then scrabbling and scampering across the keyboard, accompanied by fidgety drums and bass), before suddenly coalescing into a playful strut. The aforementioned Dark Light also made a welcome appearance, its descending and ascending chords and rolling sway creating a feel that was part lullaby, part brooding film noir.
Crayford seems instinctively drawn towards minor modes and unpredictable structures, but his music always sounds mysterious rather than forbidding. And when he does emerge into the light, the effect is utterly beguiling. Two gorgeous (as yet untitled) ballads were disarming in their simplicity and lyricism, revealing a different side of this multi-talented artist.
Reviewed by Jessica Nicholas