A new Australian opera is a rarity – a new First Nations opera in the Sydney Opera House is a moment of history. As Leah Purcell said prior to the Sydney premiere, “If we get this right, it’s gonna be something special”.
Judging from the enthusiastic standing ovation from the capacity audience at the end of the Sydney premiere performance, they certainly got it right, bigtime.
Composer, George Palmer, recognised the operatic possibilities inherent in Henry Lawson’s classic 1892 short story about a heavily pregnant young mother, Molly Johnson, left alone to care for her three children in a remote Snowy Mountains hut, while her husband was out droving.
Palmer found an enthusiastic collaborator to work with him on the libretto, in Leah Purcell. Besides mining Lawson’s story as the source for her best-selling novel, Purcell had performed Molly Johnson in the play and film adaptations.
Purcell also directed the resultant opera for its premiere season earlier this year in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s brand new Glasshouse Theatre, as she has these triumphant performances in the Sydney Opera House.
An outstanding feature of the opera is how comfortably Purcell’s libretto responds to Palmer’s operatic treatment, which is epic, and superbly interpreted by the Opera Australia Orchestra sensitively conducted by Tahu Matheson who has been involved in the creation of the opera since its very beginning.
The initial shock of hearing Australian slang and indigenous language interwoven through Palmer’s ravishing score soon evaporates as the power of the storytelling begins to take over.
Played out in a truly beautiful setting designed by Isabel Hudson, in which a giant fallen snow gum dominates the stage. The tree provides shelter and protection for Molly Johnson and her brood, as well as a meeting place for the first nation people who keep a watchful eye over the family.
Magically, the background divides to indicate the passing of time, the changes of seasons, and most particularly, the blazing stars of the Snowy Mountains.
Molly Johnson (Nina Korbe) treats all intruders with suspicion in her efforts to protect her family. However, the audience only meet her eldest child, Danny, who is bordering on manhood, and sensitively interpreted by Nick Smith.
When a young aboriginal man, Yadaka (Marcus Corowa), on the run after being wrongly accused of murder, offers to work for Molly in return for food and sustenance, Danny is attracted by characteristics he perceives in Yadaka and is keen to emulate, Danny implores his mother to let him stay.
Molly relents and an uneasy friendship begins to form between her and Yadaka. However, tensions soon begin to surface between Molly and Yadaka when he informs her of her own aboriginality.
Meanwhile, having been alerted by a passing peddler (Shane Lawrencev) to Yadaka’s presence on Molly’s property Trooper Leslie (Elias Wilson) and townspersons, Robert Parsen (Simon Meadows) and John McPharlen (Zoy Frangos) arrive, setting off a chain of truly horrifying events.
Six First Nation dancers, among them Yolanda Lowatta and Waangenga Blanco, together with Vanessa Coolwell, Leonard Donahue, Jeanette Fabila and Zoy Frangos, provide a mystical connection between past and present as they watch over the young mother.
Tess Schofield has costumed the dancers in soft earthy floating fabrics of which choreographer, Yolande Brown, takes full advantage to create ghostly swirling images with which the dancers herald the ghastly events that climax the opera.
Purcell’s direction is secure and direct. She doesn’t shirk confronting images, nor is she afraid of sentimentalism, as in the beautiful first act aria, when Molly lullabies her stillborn baby with Sleep my little child, Sleep my child.
In the role which will define her career, Nina Korbe gives a compelling performance as the unfortunate Molly, a tragic heroine unafraid of uninvited intruders who threaten her security and that of her children.
Korbe contrasts Molly’s stoicism with an appealing wistfulness and pristine vocals, especially in her lovely second act aria, Each Night in the Silence of the Moonlight, sung to the exquisite harp accompaniment of Natalie Wong, in which Molly longs for a gentler existence than the one in which she endures confronting beatings, even rape.
Her friendship with Yadaka provides her only hope of escape, but even that is cruelly dashed when he is subjected to a grisly fate. As Yadaka, Marcus Corowa sings and acts with assurance, exuding gentleness and strength, qualities which inspire the young Danny to become the protector of his mother and siblings.
With this production Opera Australia have found a monumental opera of wide appeal, graced with a stunning score and gripping story to match and truly deserving of a place as a staple in its repertoire. It’s an opera every Australian should have the opportunity to experience.
The Drover’s Wife
Joan Sutherland Theatre – Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney
Performance: Friday 7 August 2026
Season continues to 15 August 2026
Information and Bookings: www.opera.org.au
Images: Nina Korbe as Molly, Marcus Corowa as Yadaka, Shauntai Abdul-Rahman as Black Mary and Dancers in Opera Australia’s The Drover’s Wife (2026) – photo by Carlita Sari | Dancers and Shauntai Abdul-Rahman as Black Mary in Opera Australia’s The Drover’s Wife (2026) – photo by Carlita Sari | Nina Korbe as Molly and Nick Smith as Danny in Opera Australia’s The Drover’s Wife (2026) – photo by Carlita Sari | Marcus Corowa as Yadaka and Shane Lowrencev as Douglas Merchant in Opera Australia’s The Drover’s Wife (2026) – photo by Carlita Sari | Nina Korbe as Molly in Opera Australia’s The Drover’s Wife (2026) – photo by Carlita Sari
Review: Bill Stephens OAM