It was the night of Valentine’s Day as the audience gathered in the Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank for an intimate performance that celebrated ‘Songs of Desire’. Although I was looking forward to witnessing the Opera Queensland Studio for the first time, the change of venue (due to unforeseen maintenance at the time) still made for a cosy night ahead where the audience could appreciate the talented mezzo-soprano Hayley Sugars.
An enjoyable aspect of the performance was that Hayley Sugars not only sung each of the songs outlined in the program, but she also provided little tidbits of contextual knowledge to each song. The program provided english translations to songs such as L’invitation au voyage by Henri Duparc and Von ewiger Liebe by Johannes Brahms for example, however, a few of the songs were also sung in english. The performance was made all the more intimate when Sugars explained that the chosen songs were her own personal favourites.
Not only did the performance, and the way it was presented, allow us to understand Sugars as a performer, but we could also understand her as a person, as she provided her own personal anecdotes throughout the show. When it comes to songs that make us think of love, romance and 'desire', there are far too many songs that are brought to mind, especially in a classical context, however, Opera Queensland's 'Songs of Desire' provides a nice balance of content without overloading the audience. What I really enjoyed about this performance was that whilst it was only one hour long, it allowed for just enough time for the audience to fully immerse themselves in the operatic range of Sugars.
From lighthearted cabaret songs such as Tell Me the Truth about Love by Benjamin Britten to My Lover is a Farmer Lad by John Jacob Niles and So in Love from Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter to Gretchen am Spinnrade by Franz Schubert, there is so much ground covered in this, what could be described as 'short and sweet', performance. Each of the songs selected for the performance also do a good job in sticking to the theme of ‘Songs of Desire’. Opera Queensland has presented a performance suitable for a simple evening out where one can indulge themselves in the romantic whirlwind that classical music, especially opera, brings to the table.
With the broad selection of music chosen for the performance, there was a new message and story to each of the songs performed by Sugars. Whether the work had a celtic influence, or was a Broadway number or even a haunting piece of opera that originated from a poem - there was something there in the mix for everyone to enjoy.
It is an exciting time for opera and this is largely because of the creative work that Opera Queensland provides to audiences in Brisbane. I look forward to seeing more work from Opera Queensland, and I don’t just mean the large-scale productions, but also the more intimate performances such as the one I saw on the evening of Valentine’s Day.
14th - 15th February 2020
Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank
Joanna Letic