THE NEW ZEALAND OPERA SOCIETY

Our first impressions, on looking over the media releases, season details and cast lists, as they stand, were of the familiarity of the repertoire again this year and surprise at the small number of New Zealand singers in principal roles.

Canterbury’s Suor Angelica looks as if it might be the first fully professional production of the work in New Zealand. How about the 1998 production by Opera Waikato? But there were various earlier non- or semi-professional productions. The first we have a record of seems to be in Auckland in 1987 by Operacorp.

Neil Jenkins remembers it: “...It was held in the Town Hall Concert Chamber and was mounted mainly as a vehicle for Jillian Anderton (she and Frances Wilson were friends and working together at that time). Frances was pianist (no orchestra) – it was what I would call semi-staged – no scenery – just furniture with black tabs – it was musically very accurate due to Frances Wilson’s involvement, but Jillian Anderton’s voice, although quite promising, was too light for the title role. The most outstanding singer was the mezzo-soprano who, I think, was Suzanne Blackburn. I think there were only two or possibly three performances.”

It was produced very attractively in 1988 by Victoria University, in a double bill with David Farquhar’s Shadow, marking the first use of surtitles in New Zealand.

Donations are being solicited for the purchase of the Wellington house that Douglas Lilburn lived in for over 40 years.

A trust has been set up with the intention of buying it and making it available for the recipients of the composer-in-residence fellowship that has recently been created by Victoria University and Creative New Zealand.

Canterbury Opera has announced its season for 2005. Another Tosca is going to have to be good for ten public not to say" Oh! not another Tosca" It will also require three strong voices and a conductor who knows Puccini.
The same must go for the coupling of Suor Angelica and Pagliacci is interesting.

Jonathan Besser's chamber opera will be welcome.

leslie Austin

Leslie Austin, President of the New Zealand Opera Society, looks back on the opera year to date.

I applaud Canterbury Opera for their A Little Night Music. To be honest I do not like Sondheim - for me his music is uninspiring and there are far too many words. This, though, was excellently cast.

Canterbury Opera's brave effort to bring off Verdi’s La Forza del destino did not work as well as it should have vocally, but I had no problem with the production apart from a few little stage details I could have done without. The orchestra as ever was lacking, and it was thanks to Brian Castles-Onion’s conducting that a number of things sounded better than they were.

The Sunday Star Times of 18 April published a report revealing that NBR New Zealand Opera (NZO) is facing a deficit of $420,000, and that pleas for Government assistance had been rejected. Apart from the limited level of state funding, the company was hit last year by a reduction in funding by a principal sponsor, Tower.

When one reads reviews in overseas opera magazines of increasing numbers of concert performances of operas, or parts of them, one might ask why our orchestras do not come more often to our rescue, given the funding limitations of our two professional companies.