Voxalis offers opera … with an erudite and popular twist
Brisbane boutique opera company Voxalis is offering singers a new way to reach their public and performers and audiences are loving it
There’s nothing new about plundering opera for popular entertainment. Andrea Bocelli, Andre Rieu, Il Divo, The Ten Tenors and others have been doing so for years. But Voxalis, a boutique, alternative Brisbane-based opera company co-founded by Matthew Schwarz and Camilo Lopez, is quickly building a reputation for presenting classical song in innovative and enjoyable ways while preserving the integrity and dignity of the artform.
Lopez, the artistic director, curates themed recitals with the program’s selections woven together through tailored narrative and theatrical links such as the recent Shakespeare presented in the hallowed surrounds of Saint Andrew’s Uniting Church in Brisbane’s CBD.
Sex, ambition, revenge, death and supernatural elements are integral to Shakespeare’s plays. As traditional opera peddles high drama, it’s hardly surprising The Bard’s plots have inspired composers to write operas based on his works. Shakespeare presented solos and duets from Verdi’s Macbeth, Thomas’ Hamlet, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet and Purcell’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, transporting the audience to a Shakespearean world.
A Sunday afternoon concert such as this may not have the gloss and night time glamour commonly associated with opera, but the generous acoustic enabled the voices to soar. And it was thrilling to listen to authentic performance by three polished and powerful soloists in the intimacy of a church with the occasional intrusive thrum of traffic.
The program wasn’t backed by an orchestra, but since the repetiteur John Woods is such a class act this wasn’t a deficit. His sensitive introductions set the scene, he represented each song’s emotional essence and provided rock solid accompaniment.
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Soloists Dominique Fegan, Anna Tafini and Leon Warnock inspired confidence. All three owned the music and respected the source material squeezing every drop of sentiment from the melodrama. Fegan’s plaintive O Let Me Weep from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen touched the heart while in framing Lady Macbeth her anguish blazed in partnership with baritone Leon Warnock in Fatal mia donna. Warnock’s authoritatively tortured Macbeth drew pity.
Fearlessly, emerging artist Tafini explored Juliet’s distress in every nook and cranny of her impressive range in Gounod’s aria Dieu! quell frisson … Amour, ranime mon courage! when the love-struck Juliet resolves to suicide. Warnock also convinced as an unravelling Hamlet in Vains Regret … Doute de la Luere.
The world premiere of three songs by Zachary Miezio, including My Love Denied and The Forest of Arden, revealed this young composer’s tender, limpid language and his inclination to foreground the singer and melodic line. His rhythmically complex music contrasted with Verdi’s hand-wringing intensity.
Schwarz and Lopez are graduates of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University. There they witnessed how the optimism of trainee singers curdles when, towards the end of their training, reality bites and they wonder where they can find work.
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In Sydney and Melbourne with as many as ten alternative opera companies between them – including Pinchgut, Chamber Made and Concordia Ensemble – things are a little easier.
In Brisbane, Opera Queensland and Underground Opera have been the only possibilities for employment.
Acutely aware not all graduates can go overseas or resettle interstate, the pair initiated Voxalis, with the highly respected Marilyn Richardson as patron. The strategy of casting experienced performers alongside newcomers creates the possibility of rewarding mentorships through rehearsal and live performance. Similarly, in an effort to make opera more affordable, students are offered pay-what-you-can tickets.
In the forthcoming Two Queens, the company’s most ambitious venture to date, soprano Leanne Kenneally sings Mary Queen of Scots and fellow soprano Morgan England-Jones will portray Elizabeth 1 in a bespoke adaptation of Donizetti’s lyrical Maria Stuarda and Robert Devereux. Tudor history fascinated Donizetti but the compelling moment, in Act 2 of Stuarda when the royals confront each other outside Fotheringay Castle pitting and fuming in a breathtaking bel canto duet, never occurred. The big hit to listen out for is ‘Deh! Tu di un úmile preghiera il suono odi,’ Mary’s last prayer before her execution. Something to look forward to.
Two Queens, Saturday, October 28, 7.30pm, The Old Museum, Bowen Hills
Masterclass with Iain Henderson, 6pm, Saturday, November 4
The Song of the Earth, Saturday, 7.30pm, November 14
In April 2024, Voxalis presents Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel with an orchestra at The Old Museum, Bowen Hills.