It’s not only pop megastars and major sporting events that can attract capacity audiences in our fair city. Hours before starting time, people of all ages – most armed with rugs and picnic baskets – were pouring into the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to hear the first of three concerts given by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Bowl; it’s not often that you get a chance to enjoy a free concert given by a first rate symphony orchestra and two outstanding soloists.
The weather might have been a little on the warm side and people did have the option of staying at home under the aircon to listen to Puccini in the Park on the radio or watch it live-streamed on MSO.LIVE, but most locals seemed to prefer to actually be “in the Park”. Living up to her reputation as “Queen of Opera”, ABC Classic FM presenter Mairi Nicolson had the dual role of (ironically) “warming up” the crowd half an hour before the concert and compering the concert. Always charming and enthusiastic, she made everybody feel embraced and grateful for the establishment of the Sidney Myer Trust Fund that enables these concerts. She gave a special welcome to a big favourite with MSO audiences – conductor Benjamin Northey, who had just celebrated 20 years with the orchestra
Before Nicolson’s appearance, and in keeping with the customary start to MSO concerts, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon’s Acknowledgment of Country was played; however, the string quartet that begins the work only gradually emerged from the crowd noise. The background music of short excerpts from MSO recordings as people arrived – an idea that some may have found a little irritating after a while – meant that most people would not have registered that the concert had actually begun until they heard cellist Rohan de Korte reading the text.
The program of some of Puccini’s most famous operatic works began with the Intermezzo to Act 3 of Manon Lescaut, which acted as a prelude to the stories of passionate love that followed. Featured solos by cellist David Berlin and violist Christopher Moore were among the most poignant moments. Atmospheric lighting with patterns on the Bowl’s ceiling heralded this and each item.
After wowing the crowd with a stunning performance of “Nessun dorma”, tenor Paul O’Neill told Mairi Nicolson that this was the first time he had ever begun a program with that aria. It was an unexpected choice but it certainly paid off. After those sustained high notes, he had the audience at his feet. They couldn’t wait for the orchestra to finish those last few bars before the cheering and whistling and applause began – such power, such breath control, such manly beauty of tone! Nobody was going to fall asleep now. It was an absolute winner – the only danger being that what followed might be an anticlimax.
Perhaps it was a tiny bit, but Puccini has given his tenors (and sopranos) plenty of opportunities to seduce an audience with vocal brilliance. And it was not simply a matter of long, loud top notes. There were more of those to come – and to enthral – with tenor arias and duets from Tosca, La Bohème and Madama Butterfly, but Paul O’Neill showed notable refinement and sensitivity in softer passages. In “E lucevan le stelle” (And the stars were shining) in particular his range of expression and vocal colour, from softly voiced high notes to the most heartfelt outburst, was both impressive and moving.
When Mairi Nicolson asked Natalie Aroyan how she managed to create chemistry with a partner in a concert performance, she immediately replied, “Have you heard him sing?” and compared O’Neill to Pavarotti. Aroyan herself is a highly talented actress in addition to possessing a luscious soprano voice admirably suited to verismo opera. Their performance of the Act 1 duet from Tosca was dramatically convincing and sung with wonderfully rich soaring tone. Aroyan’s “Vissi d’arte” was at once beautifully controlled and ardent.
In some respects it was a pity that she and O’Neill didn’t continue with the rest of Act 1 of La Bohème after he had finished singing “Che gelida manina”; Aroyan must have been itching to continue with Mimi’s aria after Rodolfo’s invitation to tell him about herself. The following duet would have been superb and it seemed a waste that her work on the role with the great soprano Mirella Freni could not have been heard. Perhaps another time? Instead we heard Butterfly’s big tragic aria as she waited for the deceitful Pinkerton and the ecstatic duet as they celebrated their night of passion – so appropriate to the outdoor setting.
Although it was possible to follow a translation on a mobile if you had found the QR code supplied in the program – if you had a program – it seemed that most people didn’t. When Mairi Nicolson asked any Italians in the audience to raise their hand quite a few went up, but many people would have appreciated surtitles to more fully engage with the drama. That said, just listening to the sound of those two glorious voices and the MSO’s superb playing of Puccini’s sumptuous melodies was enough to transport us to another world. We certainly didn’t want to be looking at our mobiles when we had those two riveting singers on stage.
There are two more MSO concerts to enjoy at the Bowl: Saturday February 24 at 7.30 (with that fire-cracker flautist Eliza Shepard, plus a Melbourne Youth Orchestra concert at 6pm) and Wednesday February 28, at 7.30. Fortunately, the weather forecast is looking very encouraging indeed.
Photo credit: Mark Gambino
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Heather Leviston reviewed “Puccini in the Park”, presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on February 21, 2024.
