Concert Reviews

Reviewed by Neville Olliffe

Samuel Pepys' London; Salut! (Nadia Piave, soprano; Sally Melhuish & Hans-Dieter Michatz, recorders; Myee Clohessy & Delphine Barbot, baroque violins; John Ma, Baroque violin & viola; Tim Blomfield, bass violin; Andrew Byrne, lute, theorbo & Baroque guitar; Monika Kornel, harpsichord; John Barnard, Pepys) Sydney Conservatorium; 11/08/06

Extracts from Samuel Pepys' diary helped set the music in time and context. At the stage where our soprano attempted to woo Pepys and failed, she rained adjectives upon him. One adjective was 'mouldy', and. John Barnard, as Pepys, fitted the mould perfectly.

However, if there was anything that could be so ungraciously, but deservingly described as a hit, it was Nadia Piave's singing and theatrical presentation. She displayed excellent vocal control and versatility, and a basic knack for audience persuasion. This was especially so in Henry Purcell's, 'From Rosy Bow'rs' and 'Bess of Bedlam', and also in John Eccles', 'I burn, my brain consumes to ashes', where, as well as playing victim, one could say, she fired up the cremator.

Most of the vocal pieces were accompanied by guitar, theorbo or lute, with bass violin and harpsichord. This combination proved.....................

Batavia (opera by Richard Mills, libretto by Peter Goldsworthy); Director, Lindy Hume; Conductor, Richard Mills. Opera Australia; Sydney Opera House; 19/08/06

Against the odds (as some who know me would say), Yours Truly was offered the chance to review a contemporary opera production. ‘But what does it have to do with early music?’ I can already hear.

Well …

The opera's story, although not claiming to adhere strictly to the facts, is based on the wreck of the Dutch, United East India Company vessel, Batavia, on an island off the West Australian coast in 1629. The vessel, with 316 persons aboard, was bound for Batavia, the Dutch trade centre of the East. 40 perish in the wreck. The story, so far, is captured in the opera up until the end of Act 1 (interval). The murder and mayhem that follow consume Act 2, and the retribution, Act 3. What happens on the shores where the survivors are cast is not a happy story, and by the time the opera concludes, around 200 of the 316, have perished.

It is not your usual opera– there are no singing sirens, or goddesses, there is no swooning and there are no deaths attributed to broken hearts. Instead there is rape, murder and harsh capital punishment. Religion and 17th-century laws of the sea, fail to stand against human nature at its worst.

The Batavia story is sobering. Would one, then, expect the Batavia opera to be lilting and lovely? For me, the opera is as befitting the plot, as a plot to a casket. The musical score is heavily overcast, but there are some miraculous rays of sunlight. Here enters our........................................

Member Article

After approximately one hour’s drive south-east from Toulouse on the A61, one comes across an elevated stopping place for cars – called ‘Aire’in French.  From here one can enjoy an uninterrupted panorama of the surrounding countryside and in particular, the entire expanse of what must be one of the rarest mediaeval ensembles in Europe.  The city of Carcassonne, set up on its prominent, rocky foundation, was first settled by the early Gauls in the 6th century B.C. and before being occupied by the Romans in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.  Its unique position lent itself to becoming an impregnable stronghold against marauding forces which besieged it over the centuries.  One fanciful story relates how a noblewoman solved the problem of a lengthy siege where the city inhabitants were being starved within the walls and who had no alternative but to surrender.  Madame Carcass had the ruse to give all the remaining food to a pig, which she had thrown over the walls.  The pig burst open, spilling forth what appeared to be an abundance of food. The enemy, bewlidered that the city could be so prodigal to lavish abundant food on an animal, gave up the siege.

By the early 19th century, Carcassonne eventually fell into a state of disrepair, so much so that its fabric was desperately requiring attention. Its subsequent restoration and classification by UNESCO as a world heritage site are by no means insignificant. This situation was not unique in France; the ravages.....................

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