Opera Queensland Under The Stars and Back in Theatres

Beth Keehn chats with Opera Queensland’s Artistic Director and CEO, Patrick Nolan, and reviews the 2021 season launch at Brisbane’s Riverstage on 28 November, 2020.

When I spoke to Patrick Nolan, he was in Upper Tooloom in Northern NSW, working with the singers, director and production team who are developing a new Australian work – Are You Lonesome Tonight – that promises to seat Puccini and Verdi alongside Dolly Parton and Paul Kelly. Patrick explained: “It’s opera meets country music and looking at what those two genres share – and you’d be surprised at how many similarities there are in the themes and emotional range. Also, both forms have superstars who are virtuosic in how they sing and tell great stories. That show is going to travel more than 6,000km touring to 27 regional towns all over Queensland, and will also be part of a festival that we are launching in 2021 – the Festival of Outback Opera – with hubs in Longreach and Winton, and other shires around those two towns, such as Barcaldine and Barcoo. That will happen over 10 days in May. There will be some very big-name singers involved in that project, so stay tuned. The inaugural festival will start with Singing in The Night, a series of concerts in Longreach and Winton presented in partnership with Camerata, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.”

Happy 40th Birthday

Opera Queensland turns 40 in 2021, and there was a definite party atmosphere as the 2021 season was launched under the stars at Brisbane’s Riverstage. It all started with a warm Welcome to Country by the entertaining Shannon Ruska that had the whole audience up and dancing some basic Aboriginal steps. And, judging by the enthusiastic reaction and capacity crowd, audiences are ready and raring to go back to live entertainment in 2021. That party atmosphere was helped by the fact that Queensland theatres can now sell seats to full capacity. And also, the launch was the first chance for the Opera Queensland Chorus to perform together live since the lockdown period prevented in-person meetings and rehearsals. Those 60 joyous voices backed up superb performances by shining star performers, a mix of home-grown talents and adopted newcomers to the Brisbane creative community – Jose Carbo, Eva Kong, Sam Piper, Xenia Puskarz-Thomas, Kang Wang, Hayley Sugars, and Sofia Troncoso – hosted by Brisbane-born baritone, Jason Barry-Smith, with outstanding music courtesy of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) and conductor, Queenslander, Dane Lam.

World-class Queensland talent

The chance to see any of these international-class performers live in 2021 is going to be a treat. Internationally trained Queensland Conservatorium graduate, Kang Wang, is certainly going to be a star to watch out for in the caramel-smooth tenor space – I’m already searching him out on Spotify, alongside the surprise special guest, who turned out to be none other than another local music legend, Megan Washington. As Patrick Nolan said in his launch speech, one of the positive side effects of the lockdown was the return to their Queensland homes for many of our local artists. And one thing the launch party underlined for me was the wealth of world-class talent living in Queensland, many bound for world-stage stardom. Washington’s performance was outstanding. You may have seen her perform her song ‘Catherine Wheel’ from her new album Batflowers live or online, but trust me, you ain’t seen nothin’ until you have seen this singer backed by the full power of the QSO. While arguably a launch is a simple taster event, there was nothing half-hearted about Washington’s performance: it was a genuine showstopper! And the exciting news is that the singer-songwriter is collaborating with Opera Queensland in 2021. The results will be well worth waiting for if this performance is any indication of the possibilities.

The 2021 season calendar

Of the 2021 season, Patrick said: “After this year, and the challenges that we’ve all faced, the new year’s season will be one of renewal. We will be doing two shows that we had planned for 2020 – we thought it was important to give our audiences an opportunity to see them. In early 2021, we’ll be presenting a new Australian piece called Lorelie, which tells the story of the Sirens from the mythical creatures’ perspective, as they examine why it is their fate to lead sailors to their death. Lorelei is written by three young composers and librettists, including Casey Bennetto who wrote Keating: The Musical – so it’s an interesting mix of genres and music; some of it is very operatic while other parts are free-flowing – we call it ‘Cabaret Opera’ – it really plays with style and storytelling and is a really wonderful piece that will be performed in the Concert Hall – featuring Ali McGregor, Antoinette Halloran and Dimity Shepherd – three really well-established and highly-regarded singers in opera, but who manage the crossover to more contemporary genres.

“In the middle of 2021, we are creating a new production of The Marriage of Figaro – one of the great operas by Mozart – I’m directing, and it will star Sofia Troncoso and Jeremey Kleeman, Eva Kong and José Carbó. I really wanted to direct this production in 2021 because it’s joyous – the music is some of the most beautiful music you’ll ever hear; and also because the story has a lot to offer us in terms of where we are with the history of the world. When Mozart wrote it, it was just before the French Revolution – one of the defining moments in the history of Western culture – and I feel like we might be at another one of those moments in time now, with a lot of change, and we are working out how to respond to the challenges that we are facing. The lockdown was a moment of pause; it gave us time and space to think.

“The third production is in collaboration with Opera Australia – Verdi’s Aida, starring Australian soprano Natalie Aroyan. This new production will be at the Lyric Theatre at the end of 2021 and will feature much digital wizardry – the production features massive projection screens that fly all over the stage and form different shapes and spaces, with images that define each scene. It is quite a visual feast. Aida is another production that has a lot of questions about power and loyalty and love – great questions that opera really explores in very interesting, passionate, complex and wonderful ways – and Verdi is always a pleasure to be with.”

Get up close and person with Opera Queensland’s Recital series

Opera Queensland’s Recital series will continue, featuring (among others) Jane Sheldon, Kang Wang, Eva Kong, and Deborah Cheetham, who is making her Opera Queensland debut. Also debuting with the company will be Indigenous performer, composer and singer-songwriter, Jessica Hitchcock, who will perform her Songs That Made Me at the Tivoli  in September 2021 as part of Brisbane Festival. Patrick said: “Our Recital series is an important part of our programme – and in 2021, we’ll be introducing audiences to some new singers. This is an opportunity to get up close and personal with them in our studio. It’s an intimate and really terrific space acoustically – it’s just a singer and a piano, and their brief is to put together a programme of music that they love and are passionate about and tell us why it’s important to them. It’s been a really big hit for us for the last couple of years – audiences responded in a really enthusiastic way to meet the performers. I think people will be craving connection – and in 2021 we’ll expand that programme, which I’m thrilled about.”

Community and connections

The company’s commitment to connect with audiences was obvious from the season launch and its mix of shows, styles and performers. As Patrick said: “Our 2021 programme includes some really wonderful singers, a great combination of some of our most established singers and some stars who are going to be big names for the future. Our community and outreach programmes are also an important part of who we are as an organisation, so we wanted to include that for our 40th birthday celebrations.” The launch event showcased Opera Queensland’s youth outreach work through its relationship with Yeronga State High School and a performance of ‘Songs of Belonging’, the song they wrote with composer Helen Franzmann. The performance was truly a highlight of the launch event.

In 2021, the company continues its dedicated schools and youth programme and will partner with shake & stir theatre co. to present The Frog Prince and Puccini’s La Bohème in September, and will also introduce its new Disability and Reconciliation action plans.

Digital singing space

In the digital arena, the company will continue its Sing Sing Sing programme at the Emporium Hotel’s Piano Bar, and continue to stream via Zoom. Patrick told us: “Digital has always been an important part of what we do. We did a project with Google and created an app called ARIA (with the AR for augmented reality) and that was the beginning of how we could use the digital sphere to tell our stories with audiences in different ways. Obviously, once you go online, you can reach so many different people – and that was the lesson we learnt this year. With our ‘Aria a Day’ online, we discovered that we had this really big audience, not only beyond Queensland but beyond Australia. So, we will maintain and expand on the relationships that we’ve built in 2020. In 2021, we’re going to work with other international opera companies to get an insight into some of the opera productions throughout the year. And we’re also looking into the possibility of a digital subscription package too.”

To close, I couldn’t resist asking Patrick: If you could have dinner with any character from an opera, who would it be and why? He immediately replied: “From the season next year, it would definitely be Susanna from The Marriage of Figaro: she’s a genius. Susanna is the centre of a world that’s in chaos and she brings it all into order – and I think we need a woman like Susanna right now in the world.”

Find out more about Opera Queensland’s events: www.oq.com.au

Images: Opera Queensland Under the Stars (Photographer: Glenn Hunt); Opera Queensland presents Lorelei; The Marriage of Figaro - Soprano Sofia Troncoso; and Opera Qld and shake & stir theatre present The Frog Prince.