Anthony Steel doesn’t believe that opera has had its day. With the right packaging and the right selection of operas it is an art form he is certain can still appeal to the young and the uninitiated.
The veteran festival director of five Adelaide Festivals and three Sydney Festivals cites Novaya Opera’s OperaMania as a great example of how it can be done.
Steel is very enthusiastic about the Russian company’s first Australian tour with OperaMania to premiere in Adelaide on April 4.
“What’s wonderful about OperaMania is that it’s a wonderful introduction to opera,” he says.
“Most people are familiar with The Three Tenors, Carmen and US musicals. If they want to progress from there this is a wonderful way to do it; all operas last an average of three minutes each. You don’t have a chance to get bored. That’s what attracted me most.”
Anthony Steel is the Australian secretary
Steel says opera buffs will love it too because this is the first time a Russian opera company will have visited Australia. “They’ve taken this show to many European countries with great success. They haven’t been out of Russia for a long time.”
The concept is the brainchild of Valery Raku, Novaya Opera’s resident stage director. Raku describes OperaMania as a program “made up of an uninterrupted series of excerpts carefully chosen to move between comedy, tragedy and lyricism”.
“The items are short and flow without pause from one to the next in a fast-moving production that offers a kaleidoscope of many of the best-known and most-loved pieces from opera, ballet and symphonic music and reflects their depth and diversity,” he explains.
Included are Chopin waltzes, Liszt’s Liebestraüme and Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C-sharp minor, a ‘Mozart medley’ of movements from his Piano Concerto No. 21, Symphony No. 40, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and the overture to The Marriage of Figaro. All in less than three minutes each.
“It’s an extraordinary list of music, a veritable whirlwind,” says Steel. “It’s very fast moving to achieve a quick flow from one aria to the next.”
The show is semi-staged with the orchestra on the stage, and singers and dancers on stage in full costume against a background of colourful lighting and moving images that illustrate the character of the music.
Novaya Opera has 80 soloists, four resident conductors, two orchestras, and a permanent touring arm. Founded in 1991, it is known for its productions of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, and for the originality of its staging. It also does many concert versions of operas and has created a unique genre of its own – semi-staged composer tribute shows.
“Novaya Opera is one of the best Russian ballet companies. It’s a young but very well established high quality company, amongst the top four in Russia, and the standard of singing and production is exceptional,” Steel says.
“This show is an extraordinary operation. They’re bringing out nearly 70 people altogether, including an orchestra of 44 musicians.”
Steel’s connection with Novaya Opera came about because he speaks Russian. He learned the language after the war; one of the last generation of Englishmen who had to do national service, Steel wasn’t accepted for a commission as he had asthma so he joined the Joint Services Language School in 1950.
“After three months we all set an exam and the top 20 went to Cambridge for a year to do Slavanic studies. Then we were sent back to camp to learn about the war in Russian. This was at the height of the Cold War.”
That skill came in handy when he met Novaya Opera’s tour producer, Gennady Polluck (aka Poleshchuk), and Steel became the company’s ‘Australian secretary’.
“That’s what I call myself; I think Gennady calls me the national co-ordinator. He doesn’t know his way around the Australian arts scene and I do. He needed someone to help him so I’m their representative on the ground.
“If OperaMania is a great success, we might see a Russian company bring a fully staged opera production to Australia. It would be wonderful but one step at a time.”
Steel last directed the Sydney Festival in 1997 and misses directing festivals “enormously”; he admits he loved putting together an artistic banquet for the people of the city.
“Worst part of directing festivals is spending most of your time on a plane. Also sitting through many performances that were just not right for an Australian audience.”
For more information visit Operamania.
OperaMania tour dates:
Adelaide Festival Theatre April 4 and 5, 7.30pm
Perth Concert Hall April 7, 8, 9; 7.30pm
Sydney Recital Hall, Angel Place April 13, 16. 17; 7.30pm
Newcastle Civic Theatre April 14; 3pm and 7.30 pm
Art Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall April 19 and 20; 7.30pm
Australian National University, Llewellyn Hall April 23 and 24 (7.30pm); April 25 (2pm)
Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Concert Hall April 28; 2pm and 7.30pm
