BY LUCY RASH AND MEGAN BURSLEM
Opera Australia
Falstaff by Verdi
State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, 1 December 2014
It can take a few arias and several scene changes before a decision can be made on whether or not a production is worth its salt. Not tonight. The very moment Opera Australia troubadour Warwick Fyfe burst onstage as the plump and libidinal Sir John Falstaff, it was clear we were in for the choicest of nights.
Fyfe’s name alone holds a miraculous appeal on paper. Here, flanked by droogs Jud Arthur (Pistol) and Kanen Breen (Bardolph), he demonstrates his signature command of stage from first note to curtain call. His caramel baritone is as clear and warm as ever, but the opera faithful have come to expect nothing less. Despite some hairy Act I moments noting slight discrepancies between Maestro Christian Badea and the cast, Fyfe’s Falstaff is the inarguable centre of attention and every bit the gullible, hedonistic, lovable fool he is meant to be. Though, his character was such that he often had his pelvis directed towards those surrounding him – and his crotch was overtly accentuated by a hilarious costume.
Once you steal your eyes (and ears) from the rotund-Romeo, the superlative operatic powers of the cast become wondrously apparent. Jane Ede, Jacqueline Dark, Dominica Matthews, and Michael Honeyman are stars of the night.
The musical connection between the four femme-fatales is strong throughout, as they plot, plunder and purge their way to a last laugh. With such a star cast, this can be the only result. Yet, in some respects, the true surprise of the evening was Jonathan Abernethy’s starry-eyed Fenton as he proclaimed his undying love for Nanneta (Taryn Fiebig) in the stirring ‘Dal labbro il canto esasiato vola’ (‘From my lips, a song of ecstasy flies’). It is also in Act III we see the cast’s polished ensemble capabilities come to fruition and the glue that holds orchestra and cast together, is ultimately proclaimed dry.
Simon Philips’ 19-year-young production has lost no charm. This evolution, directed by Australian favourite Hugh Halliday, makes ample use of carefully focused light and colour to create scenes which are neither too busy nor too sparse. It is a production that is aesthetically very pleasing to the eye, even if Fyfe’s gyrating pelvis is not!
Image supplied. Credit: Jeff Busby.
