Operantics | The Medium
Oct 19th – Oct 22nd, 2023, The Independent Theatre, North Sydney
Guest reviewer: Celeste Haworth – Opera Australia Mezzo Soprano
Carlo Menotti was apparently rather notorious for not finishing his operas on time. He is quoted by NY Times reporter Heidi Waleson as saying: ”I have a kind of terror of finishing my works”, and “That’s why most of my works remain unpublished…I’m one of those terrible mothers that keep their children next to them all the time and never let them go. They might be run over by cars.”
It is this dark humour, attention to detail and sense of the macabre that pervades The Medium, Menotti’s short chamber opera staged by Operantics at its premiere Thursday.
Menotti made his inedible mark on modern American opera by adapting his Italian flair with operatic dramas in English, that were reflective of the changing times of 20th Century, and he explored characters that were both real and flawed.
The Medium (1946) is the embodiment of this, a melodrama about a fraudulent spiritualist Madame Flora, whose seances exploit both her own daughter Monica and the grieving customers. Madame Flora’s world blurs between reality and the supernatural, as she becomes a victim of her own making, haunted by ghostly voices and spectral hands.
Operantics is the brainchild of its Artistic Director Katie-Miller Crispe, and if The Medium is anything to go by, Sydneysiders should rejoice that this up-and-coming small company has utilised such talent.
The opera was in safe hands with director Jane Magão, Green Room Award nominee, and herself a soprano.
The atmosphere was set immediately with beautiful clusters of flickering candles placed strategically around the stage – extending the space further into the auditorium, and further inviting the audience into the world of a 1940’s salon once the curtain rose.
The orchestra was a chamber ensemble placed side stage, a well-pitched balance interweaving between the singers and the drama, led by conductor Phillip Eames.
Everything was strategic – nothing was extraneous, and what was there was used extremely wisely. Magão’s use of the tools at her disposal in such a clean and explicit way, meant the focus of what the audience was meant to be looking at was always precise. Lighting and staging were employed so effectively as to be elegant in its minimalism, with strong effects wielded precisely for only the most dramatic moments.
However, it was the combination of the standard of acting, singing and direction that elevated what could have otherwise could have been a university level production in any other hands, given the shoestring budget.
Despite being a tragedy, this production brought out many comedic moments thanks to the direction and superb acting of its singers, with the diction of every word clearly understood.
Ruth Strutt was darkly funny and perfectly cast as the volatile fortune teller Madame Flora, with expressive singing that wrung truth and a variety of colours from every phrase.
Louise Keast, who shares the role of Monica with Katie Miller-Crispe on alternate nights, had a lyrical and sparkling tone that captured the flowing line and beauty of Menotti’s more melodic and innocent moments, with the well-known Monica’s Waltz a highlight.
Toby was acted by Sam Martin, a clear and demanding physical performance that neither overshadowed nor faded alongside his operatic colleagues.
The supporting roles were all very well acted and sung: Mrs Gobineau sung by Maria Hemphill brought a steely, almost desperate optimism to her role, Mr Gobineau sung by Ian Warwick was a jovial and supportive husband, and Mrs Nolan sung by Elena Marcello had great stage presence and poise in embodying a woman of that era suffering loss.
This opera is accessible, funny, tragic, beautiful, mysterious – and in both its brilliance and brevity, left the audience wanting more.
Photo credit: Rosa Doric
