As I entered the Queensland Conservatorium in South Bank there was a bit of a buzz going on between the predominantly pensioner aged attendees as they enjoyed their glasses of wine on this Monday evening. There were also some pre-show talks about the performance, which I attended so I could gain a bit more background into what I would be experiencing.  This new chamber opera performance was created by theatre legend Michael Gow, with the music by Calvin Bowman and the late Alan Curtis, who passed away in July last year. The lead singers were Australian soprano Emma Matthews, mezzo Sally-Anne Russell and were joined by bass-baritone Jeremy Kleeman.

The story is a take on a section of Ludovico Ariosto’s long (like 90 pages long) poem Orlando Furioso from the 16^th century. The play opens up with Orlando having recently learnt that his lover Angelica has ditched him for his rival Medoro and is not taking it very well. Orlando’s bestie Astolfo does his best to calm him and after failing to do so he naturally heads off to the moon to retrieve Orlando’s sanity, which is being kept by the scary moon guardian Selena.

My expectations going in was that I would be seeing a colourful backdrop, so I was disappointed to find a bare stage with the five musicians positioned in the middle, in clear view, without any attempt of blending them into the set. Early into the performance I realised I would have to find that imagination I used to own once upon a time to fill in the gaps for the performance. The costumes for Orlando and Astolfo were Shakespearian in design but the stand out costume was Selena’s evil Disney princess turquoise blue dress and diamond thorned crown like an enchantress from the sea. Emma Matthews explosive soprano vocals as Orlando conveyed a manic character who was filled with anger and frenzy, though it was Sally-Anne Russell’s acting and vocals as Astolfo that really took the audiences attention, as her character jumps between consoling friend to making everyone in the audience laugh as Astolfo trembles in horror  while flying in a chariot over the seas and through the night sky accompanied by Jeremy Kleeman’s character Magus. For the most part Jeremy’s character takes a back seat to other characters, although he does get a few great chances to take the lead especially in the sombre solo of Now the Storm Be Over. 

Phoebe Briggs, who led the musicians on harpsichord, did an exquisite job of conjuring genuine 18^th century baroque music, with the violinists Rachel Beesley and Zoe Black putting on an exceptionally dizzying performance. 

Whilst I think the performance could have been more enjoyable with a few extra set pieces (and less sound guys walking on and off stage carrying things and creating distractions which ruin the atmosphere being created in the middle of a song), the overall performance was thoroughly entertaining and a great experience to hear such beautiful archaic music accompanied by such powerful vocal performances. “I remember my first opera!” I can now casually bring up in conversation with friends, however I will probably need to check out at least one more before I start bragging.

- Thomas Harrison