Image: Wayne Tigges and Anna Devin in Faramondo. Photo by Darren Thomas
“It’s a big sing!” remarked the gentleman sitting next to me, and I couldn’t agree more. The first Brisbane Baroque Festival opened with the Göttingen International Baroque Festival’s production of Faramondo, one of Handel’s rarely produced operas. Even with a lively re-staging by director Paul Curran it is not hard to understand why the work is rarely seen. The plot is remarkably silly – though no sillier than many more modern operas or contemporary musical theatre shows. Characters fall in love with their mortal enemies instantly, commit themselves to killing each other and, almost in the same breath, offer to die for each other. Sibling rivalries are not quite as they seem – but no plot spoilers here. The final denouement is worth waiting for – even though we know it is coming.
Structurally, the kindest thing to say is – what structure? A series of wonderful, gloriously tuneful and passionate arias are strung together with a minimum of recitative or dialogue of any description. The arias are mostly a few repeated lines on the themes of love and vengeance. But with this quality of music, and the fabulous skill of these particular singers, there is little to complain about. The program synopsis explains who is who, who wants to do what to whom and why, and once Act I has introduced all the principals and established the context via the staging device, Acts II and III are easy to follow.
Curran has updated the setting to an imagined state run by feuding Mafioso types and armed militia, and the subsequent endless vendettas upon each other that have become so familiar to us, from Bosnia to ISIS. The stage is kept busy with soldiers coming and going, often for no good reason, which is often quite distracting. The women take off their shoes and put them on again, everybody pretends to be about to leave and then changes their mind. This happens a lot.
The story of Faramondo may originally have been about honour, but this production demonstrates how ridiculous the glorification of vengeance is by ironically contrasting the heart-stopping music with the often disgraceful actions of the characters. Faramondo (Jennifer Rivera), sits heart-broken against a wall and sings an achingly beautiful yearning for the daughter of his enemy Rosimonda (Anna Starushkevych) while a bunch of his soldiers torment a prisoner behind his back. His sister, Clotilde (Anna Devin), sings a glorious invocation to her lover Adolfo (Tai Oney), who is Rosimonda’s brother, urging him to defy his father and protect Faramondo, while finding an apparently endless supply of weapons in the most unlikely places.
The international cast are, without exception, some of the most virtuosic Baroque singers in the world, and their acting ability is likewise second to none. Rivera’s Faramondo is a charming, rather ineffectual leader whose soldiers couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag. Wayne Tigges as Gustavo, King of the Cimbrians, struggles to manage his unruly family and mob along with his inappropriate desire for Clotilde. Gernando, King of the Swabians, as sung by Christopher Lowrey, is a vicious foe, and – incredibly – a rather endearing pervert with a penchant for stealing Rosimonda’s underwear.
This farrago of contradictory characters wander, run, hide and reveal themselves within the sets and costume designs from the Göttingen International Baroque Festival production, with the terrifying front cloth depicting hunting dogs bringing down their prey a constant reminder of what is behind their motives. The singers are supported and enhanced by the wonderful Orchestra of the Antipodes, playing period instruments, under the direction of Erin Helyard.
Helyard’s deep, insightful understanding of this demanding music is the seam of pure gold that binds all the elements together, guaranteeing that the structural integrity of the opera’s oddity is always delightfully accessible.
Faramondo has two more performances at the Conservatorium Theatre, on Thursday 16th and Saturday 18th April at 7 pm.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Faramono
By George Frideric Handel
Text adapted from Apostolo Zeno’s Faramondo
Presented by Brisbane Baroque in collaboration with the Göttingen International Handel Festival
Directed by Paul Curran
Conservatorium Theatre, South Brisbane
Brisbane Baroque
www.brisbanebaroque.com.au
10-18 April
