The L’Enfant Opera Double Bill was the brainchild of the Director Stephen Barlow tracing the arc of French Impressionism to Romanticism and highlighting two very different situations of the errant son, with both set in bourgeois France.

 

Debussy composed L’Enfant Prodigue (The Prodigal Son) in 1884 winning the esteemed Prix de Rome about an estranged youngest son finally returning from sea. It highlights his mixed but eventually loving reception from his family and was based on a biblical tale from the book of Luke. Meanwhile Ravel’s spectacular fantasy L’Enfant et les Sortileges (The Boy and the Magic) was written later between 1917 and 1925. Here, the mother attempts to control her unruly and very naughty only son by sending him to his room hungry. Whilst pouting in his bed in defiance he enters an imaginative living diorama of characters who have been hurt or spoiled by his careless and selfish behaviour. 

 

The Director, Barlow was attracted to ‘knitting the two very different operas together to form a two Act opera Les Deux Enfants'. Both Acts highlight the unconditional love and co-dependent relationship between a mother and child and that ultimately all wrong doings will always be forgiven. Poignantly he has dedicated this work to the memory of his own mother Sue who never saw his son’s work on stage.

 

Thankfully, both Acts were performed in French, as intended. With a large screen above the stage translating in real time, although it was slightly distracting. Early in the first Act I stopped reading it and instead focused on the action on stage. However, it satisfied all in the audience by enabling those who wanted literal translations to partake, while others could focus on the performance alone with mere glances to confirm the gist of the story. I have been subjected to many English translated Operas and when you hear a whole 10 minutes devoted to a description of the state of a character’s footwear, or on the merits of a red apple, you beg not to understand the lyrics and instead imagine that all the words are meaningful whilst enjoying the music.

 

My reaction to the contrasting Acts was also dichotomous, as I found Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue to be staid, simplistic and rather boring visually. The cast of six played their parts well and I enjoyed the dissonance of voices created by the music, but the set and costumes were plain. The final reunion and jubilation of the son’s return after years of mourning seemed muted and stifled, but perhaps this was intended.

 

In contrast L’Enfant et les Sortileges was a fabulous, fantastic fantasy. The same set was used at the start of the Act which then morphed into a woodland as sprites appeared from the fireplace and furniture sprung into life. The cast was large with 34 participants in amazing supernatural costumes. Each fantasy creature or animated object that had been broken by the impish child sprang into life and admonished him for his recklessness. A whirlwind of the supernatural ensued as the boy was whisked into another world of talking animals and trees, all willing to wreak revenge on the poor small boy. Fortunately, his true loving nature was revealed as he helped one of the injured woodland creatures that he had once tortured. He was forgiven and returned to his loving mother with a lesson well learnt. The final scene ended with the prodigal son from the first act handing the boy his own childhood toy boat which was a lovely touch binding both Acts together with sentimentality. 

 

Throughout the evening the orchestra was flawless with notes of emotion emanating anonymously from the pit. At the conclusion they all peered above the pit like meerkats, to be greeted by the audience with rapturous applause. Until I saw their youthful faces, I had forgotten that this was a student-centred production due to the skills of the singers and orchestral performers all of whom were trained at the Griffith University Conservatorium. This year celebrates 60 years of the Brisbane Conservatorium and the outstanding production of the L’Enfant Opera Double Bill is a testament to all involved. 

 

By Dr Gemma Regan