On 29th November this year, it will be 100 years since the death of one of the greatest composers of opera for the theatre. His full, long-winded name? Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini – born 22nd December 1858 in the beautiful Tuscan town of Lucca and raised in a family bursting with musical prowess.
So, who would grumble over honouring the composer with a worthy tribute? On Thursday evening at Hamer Hall, Opera Australia (OA) brought that opportunity to the stage, capturing and showcasing a string of extraordinary scenes and emotions from Puccini’s operas and doing so with exceptional talent.
Although a composer of orchestral works, sacred music, chamber music and songs for voice and piano, Puccini is primarily known for his operas. No less than four of them – La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), from a catalogue of 12 – are among the most frequently performed today.
Another six are never too distant waiting in the wings with only his first two operas, Le Villi (1884) and Edgar (1889), occasionally seeing the stage.
For the evening, a memorably thrilling, affecting and judiciously curated two-part program started with a stage-filling Orchestra Victoria (OV) colouring the booming Prelude to Act 1 of the Californian gold rush era setting for La Fanciulla del West (1910) with impactful might. A large part of the program’s success came to presenting arias and duets in a broader context with restrained but astute direction by Miranda Summers.
With Italian-based Australian conductor Daniel Smith at the helm and quite clearly eliciting every potential within the musical writings, Puccini was guaranteed to be in excellent hands. Especially notable – apart from Smith’s own enthusiastic, entertaining and rapturously gestured mannerisms – out of the pit and on the stage, the acoustics resonated deliciously.
Hosting the evening, veteran Australian baritone Peter Coleman-Wright introduced each segment covering 9 of Puccini’s operas with an informative and congenial approach – also stepping in for a couple of cameos but not quite hitting the convincing form of old, however.
The two big-name advertised faces of the night included acclaimed Australian soprano Nicole Car and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja. Sadly, Calleja contracted COVID just a few days before his departure for Melbourne.
With just five days to prepare, Young Woo Kim filled the gap splendidly and, following up OV’s magnificent introduction, the dashing Korean tenor wowed with tremendous ardency as the opera’s signature tenor aria Ch’ella mi creda received both a rare and phenomenal local outing.
It is likely Kim left no one disappointed, possessing that compelling charismatic edge bonded with expression and technique that makes the audience feel exactly what the singer channels.
Up next, Australian soprano Lea Goodwin arrived to sing the popularly known, pleading and tender-hearted O mio babbino caro – from Puccini’s one-act dark comedy, Gianni Schicchi (1918) – with highly commendable purity.
It was Goodwin’s later second part renditions of Magda’s Chi il bel sogno from La Rondine (1917) and Liù’s Tu che di gel sei cinta from Turandot, however, that the radiance, breadth and depth of her voice delivered the most impressive results.
In between performances at the world’s most famous opera houses and in her only Australian appearance of the year, Car demonstrated her abilities to render characters of meaningful presence with tirelessness and enigma.
Contrasts of delicacy and power poured out as part of Cio-Cio San’s delusional hopes in Un bel di from Madama Butterfly. Car continued with devastatingly moving portraits of Mimí (La Bohème) and onto the title roles of Manon Lescaut and Tosca.
Amongst highlight after highlight, it was Car’s achingly stirring performance of Manon’s Sola, perduta, abbandonata – with declarations of “No, I don’t want to die!” – that stood out even more. Beginning on her knees and desperately trying to conquer the certainty of imminent death, Car imbued her Manon with layer upon layer of soulful honesty and self-realisation in a brilliant reflection of ‘verismo’ opera and Puccini’s influential force in its development.
Car and Kim paired in stellar form as Tosca and Cavaradossi in a re-enactment of the passionate and mildly comic Act 1 love duet Mario! Mario! Mario! And, with Coleman-Wright as the ruthless Scarpia, Car sensationally brought home the horrifying predicament Tosca finds herself in during Act 2 and concluding with a ravishing interpretation of a questioning heart in Vissi d’arte.
In Car, every note and the ineffable in-between is of consequence and it is this understanding and execution of her characters intentions that is a marvel to experience.
Following up with another operatic hit and adding feeling and fibre with easy-going assuredness, Kim’s E lucevan le stelle was a heartfelt sculptural masterpiece. Then, shortly after to wrap up the gala, Nessun dorma from Turandot rang out with meteoric wonder.
The music predictably shone and pulsated start to finish with exacting dramatic energy under Smith’s guidance. With perfectly synchronised and oft-coruscating strings at one end, explosive and brazen brass at the other and a wealth of musical richness in between, nothing felt amiss.
But, in the end, while the praises go out to the artists on stage and to OA and the extensive team behind the scenes, it was Puccini who really stole the limelight.
Opera Australia: The Puccini Gala Concert
Hamer Hall – Arts Centre Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Performance: Thursday 25 July 2024
Series: 25 & 27 July 2024
Information: www.opera.org.au
Image: Nicole Car, Young Woo Kim, Julie Lea Goodwin, Peter Coleman-Wright and Orchestra Victoria in The Puccini Gala – photo by Jeff Busby
Review: Paul Selar