The Muffat Collective and The Choir of St Paul’s College | The Dragon of Wantley
August 11, 2024, Waddy Performance Centre, St Paul’s College, Camperdown, NSW
Sydney has been totally ablaze with extraordinary productions of every kind. This week alone I have seen a smash-hit musical, the world’s finest countertenor, a devastatingly brilliant modern opera, and now something unlike all of them – The Dragon of Wantley.
John Frederick Lampe, the composer of the night’s musical feast, is not a well-known name but perhaps he should be. The Dragon of Wantley was one of the most popular English operas of the 18th Century, and Lampe’s music alongside the witty and ridiculous libretto of Henry Carey shows us exactly why.
A dragon comes to terrorise the town of Wantley. Two sisters, each vying for the affection of the town drunk, entice him into fighting the dragon and saving everyone. The dragon’s ultimate demise comes in the form of a kick in his exceedingly vulnerable posterior, and the town sings “Huzza!” – all in a night’s work for your average opera singer.
St Paul’s College, under the direction of Jack Stephens, now has quite the collection of chamber opera under their belt. He began with the three operas of Henry Purcell; King Arthur, Dido and Aeneas and The Fairy Queen, and The Dragon of Wantley was a logical next step, though one wonders where on earth this opera was dug up from.
The music is reminiscent of Henry Purcell and in the form of Recitativo and Arias, as was fashionable at the time. The Muffat Collective were, as always, extraordinary. Matthew Greco led from the first violin for most of the night, and the freedom with which he played and ornamented encouraged each musician to do the same. Adam Masters, on the oboe and often doubling Greco’s lines, was exquisite, and one can always trust that a performance with his playing in it will be something special. Each player deserves mentioning as there was hardly a note out of place all evening, and they worked as one from opposite sides of the stage. James Tarbotton and Rafael Font on violin and viola respectively, Anton Baba on the cello, Pippa Macmillan playing the bass and Anthony Abouhamad on the harpsichord; surely this was a collection of Sydney’s finest baroque players.
The opera was staged in the brand new Waddy Performance Centre at St Paul’s College. The space is flexible, and seating and stage can be configured depending on the needs of the performance. For this performance, there was a small stage area where the principal cast executed minimal staging, and the chorus were seated in tableau behind the action. Stephens used costuming well, with the principal singers in full Victorian costume and makeup, the instrumentalists in period jackets and shirts, and the chorus in various headdresses in the style of court jesters.
Ariana Ricci and Molly Ryan as sisters Margery and Mauxalinda both put in stellar performances. Ricci had the bulk of the singing to do throughout the night, and the part of Margery showed off the flexibility and versatility of her voice, as well as some serious comic acting chops. The aria “But to hear the children mutter as they lost their toast and butter” was particularly hilarious, as Ricci kept returning to the table to butter pieces of bread. Molly Ryan’s voice rang out in the Waddy Centre, with rich low notes and high, agile melismas. The highlight of Mauxalinda’s part is undoubtedly “He’s a man, every inch”, where she excitedly espouses the virtues of the drunken Moore of Moore Hall. Margery and Mauxalinda are part ugly stepsisters, part Gilbert and Sullivan ladies chorus (think ‘Climbing over rocky mountains’), and always entertaining. With names like that, how could they be anything else?
Elias Wilson commanded the stage as the ever-inebriated Moore of Moore Hall, who is betrothed to Mauxalinda and finds himself in love with Margery. Even more problematically, he somehow agrees to slay a dragon. How any tenor is expected to sing coloratura while ‘inebriated’, I don’t know, but Wilson made it sound easy as he called for the dragon in “Dragon, Dragon, thus I dare thee”, despite having just consumed six pints of ale. Wilson’s voice is flexible and bright, and his characterisation of Moore of Moore Hall as a bumbling fool with a heart showed off his chops as an emerging tenor in the Australian Operatic scene.
Enter the dragon. Peter Coleman-Wright, Australian Operatic royalty, clearly enjoying himself immensely in a huge, feathered headdress, entered the scene through the audience. He came and terrorised the cast, and over the course of an aria (“Oh ho Master Moore, you son of a whore”) met his ultimate demise via a kick in the posterior. Coleman-Wright showed us why he is a national treasure, in surely one of the most enjoyable cameos of all time.
Jack Stephens in the role of ‘Gubbins’, while conducting and directing, deserves the biggest ovation. To assemble such a cast and make visions like this come true is no small feat, and it is a shame that performances like these only receive one or two showings. This unknown opera is a gem, with wit and hilarity from start to finish, and deserves the chance to be heard again. Look out for more performances with The Choir of St Paul’s College and Jack Stephens attached to them.
