Review: Tristan und Isolde at Northcote Town Hall
Review by Greg Gorton
BK Opera’s rendition of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde is an enthusiastic production that takes risks other companies rather take, while maintaining the core elements that make for great Opera. With incredible singers and some unique staging and design, a show is created that I guarantee is unlike anything you’ve seen before.
When seeing prestige opera, there is a mental bingo card that I have never failed to fill out. The lead actor will sing with his foot elevated on a step or chair. There will be over three minutes in which not a single performer moves from their mark. Grand, powerful voices will be forced through microphones into speakers to produce musical quality far less than if I stayed home and put on a CD. And, of course, there will be a needlessly expensive practical effect to prove that the price of the ticket was worth it.
That bingo card was untouched during the lower budget fare that is BK Opera’s Tristan and Isolde. Instead, the show relied on what most matters in opera - compelling music, incredible voices, and proper performance. In fact, the way that BK Opera approaches the work makes me wonder if it isn’t opera as much as it is (and this is the highest compliment I can give to live performances of any kind) theatre.
The tale of Tristan and Isolde has been told across Europe since the 12th century. Wagner’s version is a simple tale, with few characters, continuous music, and truly poetic lyrics of the highest standard. It’s the tale of an honourable knight and an Irish queen, a love spell, and the inevitable deaths that finishes every tragic romance.
For director, Kate Millet, it is a tale filled with complexities. One that can allow a show to focus on the characters over the relationships - how rage and cowardice can destroy, even in the face of love, and how honour can be the worst thing a person has.
The music for this production is incredible, with an arrangement for two pianos, played perfectly by Konrad Olszewski & Shauna Beesley. It would be easy to close your eyes and simply enjoy the beautiful voices of Lee Abrahmsen and James Egglestone, which fill the Northcote Town Hall. In such an intimate space, the practiced voices of all performers fill your heart without ever overburdening the ears, and in this matter more than anything else the show exceeds expectations.
Most performers are also adept actors, a rare find in opera and other musicals around Melbourne. While the primary stars slip easily into the characters it is Belinda Dalton who especially stands out, full of expressive movements and expressions as the concerned and naive Brangaene.
The performers in this production are far more physical than most operas expect. While tame for most theatre, the love scene between the two heroes is quite explicit by operatic standards, and requires much physicality during song. Likewise, the fight scene in the third act is surprisingly elaborate for such a moment, with Ricardo Magno’s choreography expecting more than a few swings of a sword.
The design of Tristan and Isolde is highly ambitious, especially for this level of production. A thrust stage, representing first the bow of Tristan’s ship, and then the worlds of Cornwell and Kareol, works well with its multiple levels and angles. A central practical device, first only a sheet with projected waves, is a courageous attempt at replicating grand special effects, even if the final impression is not quite as aesthetically pleasing or working as a visual representation of themes. The sound design, which sits quietly and effectively beneath the music, is just as well-crafted as one would expect from the constantly impressive Jack Burmeister. While Oliver Hall’s costumes may not have accounted for the distractions they might impose during later scenes, they still stood out as eye-drawing and thought-provoking.
Sadly, the most glaring issue with BK Opera’s production is also one that may ruin the night for some. Much of the early scenes of the play are in half-light and shadow, which are more than acceptable for a night-sail filled with levels of spite and rage. However, as the show continues, the production remains in the light of dusk, a strain on the eyes, and often accentuating the shadows caused by a rig that doesn’t adequately cover a stage that comes so far into the audience. This combined with somewhat sloppy blocking, can make the two-and-a-half hour show more tiring than it would in other circumstances.
BK Opera’s Tristan and Isolde is a brave offering by a company that is doing its best to drag Opera into the 21st century. While the peak of this company is still well into the future, this show is an engaging example of what you might achieve if you step out of the predictable conventions used by larger companies.
