A rare art: Voxalis and friends breathe new life into opera and song
This year Voxalis Opera aims to brings rarely performed works to life in an intriguing collaborative program with a talented list of artists.
Venezuelan baritone Camilo Lopez and conductor-arts administrator Matthew Schwarz co-founded Voxalis Opera in 2021. Since then they have curated three seasons, making Voxalis Opera a valued asset in Queensland’s cultural scene.
Brisbane-based classically trained singers have embraced the model, which nurtures opportunities for local talent to perform.
This year’s season begins April 4 and 5 with two recitals – Cabaret and The Golden Age – promoted as immersive, evocative and relaxed shows mounted in partnership with FourthWall Arts.
Collaboration – collaboration – collaboration is the catch cry for this year’s Voxalis program, which flaunts several mutually beneficial partnerships with Opera Queensland, Southern Cross Soloists, 4MBS and FourthWall Arts. Voxalis is also contributing to the Tyalgum Music Festival in northern NSW in September.
“Much as I love Brisbane, it’s a small town with many music companies,” Lopez says. “It makes sense for us to join forces with other companies so we can share budgets, venues and artists.”
Apparently, the intention is not to usurp or step on anyone’s toes but to expand the reach of Brisbane’s well-established classical organisations and to ensure opera can remain relevant and prosper.
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Artistically, it’s a smart move because several of these partnerships secure a vibrant palette of instrumental colour to complement Voxalis Opera concerts that previously have been exclusively piano-fuelled.
Lopez and Schwarz are driving an expanded concept of opera and art song. Voxalis Opera has also teamed up with the Queensland Art Song Festival, directed by soprano Alexandra Flood. They’re keen to broaden audiences by bridging the divide between opera, music theatre and high art.
Voxalis Opera delights in producing rarely seen shows
Broadening the scope of these genres is consistent with performing in settings beyond the formalities of concert hall walls. These trends are, incidentally, pursued by the most visionary of companies on the national and international arena. Lopez admires the work of Sydney’s Pinchgut Opera and Metropolitan Opera New York, in particular.
Voxalis Opera delights in producing rarely seen shows. Last year Lopez was proud to present For a Look or a Touch, written by American Jake Heggie. The premiered work, set against the harrowing backdrop of Nazi Berlin, explored the love between Gad Beck, an elderly Holocaust survivor, and Manfred Lewin. Tragically, Lewin was executed because of his homosexuality.
“Yes, it was sad,” Lopez says. “Intense. A musical mix of spicy harmony, jazzy passages, cabaret and lyrical operatic elements. But the audience was moved by it. They found it accessible.”
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“A costumed Hansel and Gretel was another gem. We transformed St Andrew’s Uniting Church into a little theatre with a small set on a modest stage. Christmas trees were placed all around the piano and the stage. In subdued lighting they looked like a tiny forest.
“My special pick this season is Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande. Really, it’s a play transformed into a stream of haunting, impressionistic music but without arias or duets. The dialogue is sung, somewhere in between recitative and melody. Lois Redman is directing with Mark Connors on piano. I’m singing Pelleas and mezzo-soprano Aylish Ryan is Melisande.
Soprano Katie Stenzel is excited about the adventure of singing songs and duos by Ravel, and the composer’s contemporaries, in Ravel 150, a partnership between Voxalis Opera and Opera Queensland.
Soprano Katie Stenzel sings Ravel. Photo: Ronan King-Rose
“I’ve never sung Ravel before but I enjoy singing in French and there are few chances to do so in Brisbane,” Stenzel says. “I went down a rabbit hole of art song by Ravel and listened to a lot of it, which I loved. Camilo and I worked together. Having the freedom to choose a program that suited us both as singers was great. I sing better when it’s something I’m really connected to.”
Of the impact Voxalis Opera has had on the local arts scene Stenzel says: “Lopez and Schwarz are diversifying the opera landscape. They champion the wealth of talent here by engaging locals in events which blend tradition with fresh approaches. Doing so benefits opera buffs and encourages those new to the artform.”
One day Lopez would like to mount a fully staged opera with Camerata or Ensemble Q – if they were willing and funding permitting. Lopez has aspirations to put on a wider range of shows but, for the moment, he’s keeping details under his hat.
With as many as 30 singers and musicians in the program this year, including the brilliant guitarist Clancy Anderson, there’s a great deal of work involved behind the scenes. Hot property as a baritone, director and administrator, Lopez finds it hard to switch off.
“Sometimes I take a long walk or I give myself a day off and binge on trashy Netflix soaps,” he says.