BY ALISON PARIS
Opera Queensland is opening its 2019 season with John Adams’ A Flowering Tree – a fantastic tale of a young peasant woman with the ability to transform herself into a tree possessing beautiful flowers.
With themes of magic, love, and beauty, this 21st Century opera may just be a striking and unique production.
We talked to rising opera singer and chorus member Emma Nightingale about A Flowering Tree, her role in the story, and the upcoming Opera Queensland season.
A Flowering Tree is one of OQ’s most intriguing contemporary productions to date. What are your thoughts on being involved in something so new to Queensland’s opera scene?
Opera is the most incredibly moving artform, and I think, as artists, we have a responsibility to ensure its longevity. By presenting such a contemporary work, I think we are helping to do this by inviting audiences to see that opera is like any other artform – dynamic and ever-evolving.
I am a passionate advocate for opera in Queensland, and I think it’s really exciting to be performing in a work that maybe some of our newer – as well as regular – audiences identify with, more than the traditional corsets and horns!
You’ve been involved with a number of Opera Queensland productions before – what’s different about A Flowering Tree?
It’s been a really interesting experience working on such a modern opera. Our conductor – and inaugural artist-in-residence – Natalie Murray Beale said: ‘John Adams really changed the course of opera in the modern age’. Having a piece that only premiered 11 years ago is very refreshing as the composer is still active, and there aren’t any ‘tropes’ to contend with that can sometimes be associated with some of the standard repertoire.
Of course, the music itself is challenging; and there is a lot of singing that wouldn’t necessarily be considered ‘operatic’, which has been hugely fun!
What has it been like to work alongside a John Adams expert such as Natalie Murray Beale?
Natalie Murray Beale is an absolute powerhouse, and it’s been a real masterclass to work with her. Her level of knowledge and attention to detail really make the music dance off the page, and her insights into the composition process have really helped bring a new depth of meaning to the work.
Alongside a small main cast – consisting of Eva Kong, Adrien Dwyer, and Craig Colclough – what role does the chorus play within the story?
I think that being a member of an opera chorus is a real skill in and of itself, and as a unit the chorus always helps to drive the story. In A Flowering Tree we are not only characters, but at times form part of the instrumentation of the score itself. With such a small principle cast, we make up the gamut of other characters that appear in the story, from Kumudha’s sisters selling flowers, to princesses and her friends, to crowds of commoners.
We are really lucky to have such a fantastic group of artists in the chorus, and such a skilled chorus master in Narelle French that I think our cohesiveness of character really shines.
How are you feeling about OQ’s program for 2019?
The 2019 season is really bold and brave. While there is something that will appeal to everyone, I think even regular audiences are going to be really excited by things they might not be expecting to see on an opera stage – like the collaboration with the fabulous Circa in Orpheus and Eurydice; and the lush, modern direction of the classic Tosca.
Opera has the power to surprise and move us, and I really think the 2019 season is going to do just that!
See A Flowering Tree at QPAC from 2-6 April.
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