West Australian Opera back on stage with Cosi fan tutte

Local artists including Sam Roberts-Smith star in Mozart's comedy at His Majesty’s Theatre.

Prudence Sanders, Sam Roberts-Smith, Ashlyn Tymms and Paul O’Neill at His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth. Picture: Colin Murty

Opera singer Sam Roberts-Smith was due to start a tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil, when the lockdowns started in March, and he was forced to fly home to Perth and two weeks in quarantine.

And while his guest spot with singing group the Ten Tenors was cancelled, another opportunity opened up with West Australian Opera.

WA Opera on Saturday ­becomes the first major opera company to return to live performance with a fully staged production when it opens ­Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte at His Majesty’s Theatre.

The cast originally included singers from interstate but WA’s closed border led the company to look for talent closer to home.

Roberts-Smith was not in the original cast but is happy to step into the shoes of his baritone colleague Samuel Dundas in the role of Guglielmo.

“West Australian Opera said they would go forward with the production, but they could only use people who were here, and I was here,” Roberts-Smith said. “My colleagues are extraordinary singers, and it was fortunate that we were all here at the same time.”

Cosi fan tutte is a comedy about two pairs of lovers, in which the men disguise themselves to test their girlfriends’ faithfulness. Roberts-Smith’s on-stage girlfriend, Fiordiligi, will be sung by Prudence Sanders, who was a member of the original cast.

They will be joined by tenor Paul O’Neill as Ferrando and ­soprano Ashlyn Tymms as his sweetheart Dorabella; both singers were in WA and recruited for the performances. The production of Cosi fan tutte is from England’s Glyndebourne festival opera, originally directed by Nicholas Hytner.

“It’s based around these two young guys trying to deceive one another’s girlfriends,” Roberts-Smith said. “But it’s not the men who have the power here — the girls are very powerful characters, and they’re just as bad as the boys, really. You feel for these characters. It’s all about romance and fidelity and young love.”

Perth-raised Roberts-Smith embarked on a very different ­career from his brother, former SAS soldier and Victoria Cross ­recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.

“I was about to embark on a sporting journey, and follow in his footsteps,” he said. “But I had a very bad knee injury which ruled me out of playing any school sport. I thought, maybe I’ll try singing lessons.”

Roberts-Smith, who has sung with Opera Australia, is excited to be returning to the stage.

“I feel so lucky and grateful there’s some stage performances happening,” he said.