The Pearlfishers

The Pearlfishers
By Georges Bizet. Opera Q. Director: Michael Gow. Conductor: Graham Abbott. Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. 25 May – 3 June 2017

With The Pearlfishers Michael Gow has provided Opera Q with one of their most satisfying productions of recent years. Gloriously sung by the principals and chorus, Bizet’s much-maligned score is not just a one-hit wonder as some believe, but a work of infinite romantic beauty.

Gow has made some major revisions to the risible plot, setting it in colonial times in Ceylon, the period in which it was written, and relocating the inland city of Kandy to the seaside. In developing the three principal male roles as Europeans he has given the characters more depth and made them more believable.

This production, which was commissioned by the Opera Conference, and has already played Sydney and Melbourne (Australia Opera), and Perth (West Australian Opera), now comes to Brisbane with its much-lauded star performance by Emma Matthews as the veiled priestess, Leila. She was born to sing this role. Her creamy coloratura is full of dramatic intensity, easily soars above the orchestra, and is emotionally thrilling, especially in Comme autrefois.

The vocal electricity generated by Aldo Di Toro (Nadir) and Grant Doyle (Zurga) when they sang their famous first-act duet Au fond du temple saint, was palpable. As far as the audience were concerned they could do no wrong after that and they didn’t. Toro’s first act soliloquy Je crois entendre encore was just beautifully passionate, as was Doyle’s third-act remorseful L’orage est calme.

Andrew Collis, an Opera Q favourite, once more excelled as the villainous Nourabad though the part offers him little to get his teeth into, but it was the Opera Queensland Chorus with their harmonies and tone that lifted the performance, particularly the Wagnerian-influenced chorale Brahma divin Brahma.

Robert Kemp’s decayed temple set design was simple but effective whilst his burnt-orange and yellow saris were as colourful as a Ceylonese bazaar.

There’s no doubt Bizet’s score is a neglected gem. That it comes to life so vividly is due in no small part to the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and its redoubtable conductor Graham Abbott.

Peter Pinne

Images: Emma Matthews as Léïla and Grant Doyle as Zurga and the Opera Queensland Chorus. Photographer: Stephen Henry.

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