Desire and Longing

At Opera Queensland’s Studio, Desire and Longing offered something increasingly rare in performance: intimacy without compromise. Xenia Puskarz Thomas and David Belkovski created an atmosphere of startling immediacy, drawing the audience into a world where sensuality, memory and yearning were not merely themes but living forces in the room. In the Studio’s warmly lit cabaret setting, with candles flickering on tables and festoons glowing at the rear of the stage, the atmosphere was both elegant and inviting.

The program moved from the tactile sensuality of Baroque and French repertoire into the more interior emotional landscape of Schumann’s Liederkreis. That progression gave the recital a satisfying dramatic arc, travelling from externalised passion to introspection, from desire as physical impulse to longing as something more elusive and spiritual. The result was a program that felt carefully shaped rather than simply assembled, allowing each theme to illuminate the other.

Puskarz Thomas is a performer of striking presence, combining poise and grace with a quiet but unmistakable strength. Her stagecraft is as finely honed as her vocal technique. Every facial expression registered with emotional truth, and her communication was never decorative or imposed. It emerged organically from within, giving each phrase dramatic intention.

Vocally, she possesses a sound of exceptional beauty: warm, clear and richly centred, with sustained lines that seemed to wrap themselves around the room. Her control of dynamics and phrasing was particularly impressive. She understands the expressive power of restraint and was unafraid to let a line bloom gradually, shaping volume with intelligence rather than sheer display. Her trills were deft and elegant, her vowels beautifully formed, and throughout the recital she demonstrated an ability to move across emotional states with real conviction. There is something almost otherworldly about the sound she produces, yet the feeling behind it remains recognisably human.

Belkovski’s contribution at the piano was far more than accompaniment in the diminished sense of the word. His playing was responsive, alive and dramatically alert, giving the recital both propulsion and nuance. He coloured the musical landscape with sensitivity, attending carefully to style while never losing expressive immediacy. The articulation in the earlier repertoire had vitality and lift, while in Schumann the playing deepened into something more inward and psychologically searching. He shaped texture and pacing with a sure hand, supporting the vocal line while also creating an emotional architecture of his own.

Most impressive was the level of immediacy between the two performers. Their connection felt instinctive, as though they were breathing the same thought before it had even become sound. It is not unusual to praise musical rapport, but here the coordination genuinely felt extraordinary, producing the kind of artistic unity that allows interpretation to seem inevitable rather than manufactured.

The production elements also deserve recognition. Sound and lighting were handled with care and precision, enhancing rather than intruding upon the performance. In a room like this, technical design can easily make or break the sense of intimacy, and here it was judged beautifully. The Studio itself remains one of Brisbane’s most appealing performance spaces, particularly for this kind of chamber-scale work. Its informal elegance lowers the threshold for those who may feel daunted by opera in a more traditional mainstage environment, without sacrificing artistic seriousness. That balance of accessibility and excellence is no small achievement.

Desire and Longing was an exquisitely curated recital delivered with intelligence, technical finesse and emotional depth. Puskarz Thomas confirmed herself as an artist of rare communicative power, while Belkovski proved an equal partner in shaping the evening’s emotional and musical world. Together they created a performance that reached past polish and into something more affecting, speaking directly to that private place where music bypasses analysis and lands in the spirit. For Brisbane audiences, it was also a timely reminder of how valuable Opera Queensland’s Studio Series continues to be: thoughtfully programmed, beautifully realised, and an ideal doorway for newcomers as well as a pleasure for devoted opera lovers.

Kitty Goodall

Photography by Kitty Goodall