NAKED CITY: VERDI WITHOUT ELEPHANTS?
Sydneysiders, and those who direct our cultural events, love the big ticket number – anything to get the jump on Melbourne when it comes to promoting the arts. If we can’t make it better we can certainly make it bigger and cynics would say that’s the primary motive behind the massive $11 million dollar production of La Traviata on Sydney Harbour.
Critics of this operatic splurge have suggested that the only reason the harbour was chosen was that the city itself could not supply an ice rink large enough – even though “La Trav On Ice” does have a certain ring to it. Come on now, let’s not be partypoopers when it comes to bagging what has been billed as “the most spectacular opera production ever seen in Sydney” – even if it means donning an unfashionable plastic raincoat to ward off our inevitable bad weather. Admittedly that’s a real bummer when you have just shelled out $150 to hire a snappy tux for the night.
The city will no doubt embrace this latest cultural behemoth, complete with outdoor dining and gold class seating which only the filthy rich can afford. However, whether La Traviata is the most suitable choice for this kind of floating extravaganza remains to be seen. After all, like many operas, it has a less than happy ending when the heroine Violetta finally succumbs to the ravages of tuberculosis. Given the current focus on finally eradicating TB from Australia perhaps all patrons could be given a free chest X-Ray, if some of the old mobile vans could be resurrected for the event.
Health concerns aside we would loved to have seen some poetic licence employed with this production. Okay so it’s not Aida and paciderms were rare in eighteenth century Paris, but the inclusion of elephants would surely have added some much needed chutzpah to the event. Three or four of Taronga’s current Thai herd could be floated across the harbour on a barge each night, and whilst OHS concerns might prevent them from actually mounting the main stage, their mere presence on the harbour foreshores would evoke memories of Verdi’s famed Elephant March. Not to mention the opportunity for free elephant rides at intermission as part of the special VIP package.
With the Opera House often deemed unsuitable for the production of these mega productions it’s only a matter of time before our favourite Sydney harbour location, Cockatoo Island is given over to a staging of Wagner’s epic fourteen and a half hour Ring Cycle. Given the length of the performance opera lovers would need to camp out on the island with a special wake up service provided should they nod off at any time during the event. Yes there would be elephants and a big name director like Baz Lurhmann or James Cameron called in to instil some real Hollywood glamour.
Over the years productions of the Ring Cycle have been adapted from Wagner’s original German mythology to place them in a more contemporary setting such as Pierre Boulez’s celebrated 1976 production set in an hydroelectric power station. The post industrial ambience of Cockatoo would lend itself to something like an old washing machine factory and you can see the joke coming a mile off as the island hosts a stunning 2012 production of Wagner’s “Rinse Cycle”!
THE HIT LIST: Rosie Ledet hails from South West Louisiana and is widely regarded as the one of the most entertaining Zydeco artists to emerge from that rich cultural melting pot. Rosie is renowned for her wild hip shaking dance grooves and her raunchy lyrics, full of amusing double entendres. Together with her bandThe Zydeco Playboys she makes her first ever visit to Australia over the Easter period, following a sell out European tour. Rosie will be joined by Sydney’s ownBridie King and her trio for a very special Bluefest sideshow at Notes in Newtown on Thursday 5 April.
