Nightingale Opera’s all-too-short season of Two Remain may well prove to be one of the most pleasant surprises among opera performances given in Melbourne this year. Leading American composer, Jake Heggie, is probably best known to Australian audiences from his riveting opera Dead Man Walking (2000), performed as part of the 2023 Adelaide Festival and recently seen via the Met’s Live in HD screenings starring Joyce DiDonato as Sister Prejean. Whilst Two Remain (2016) is less well known, it too delivers considerable emotional punch.
Like Dead Man Walking, Two Remain draws on actual events and real people who experience existential crises. Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer based this powerful opera on true stories of two Holocaust survivors: Polish political prisoner, Krystyna Zywulska, and German gay man, Gad Beck; both were Jewish but were sent to the death camps for their other “crimes”. Apart from the horror of the situation and the quest for survival, two major themes emerge from their stories: identity and memory.
The intimate space of fortyfivedownstairs was ideal for giving immediacy to these stories as the protagonists revealed the complexities of their dilemmas and their struggle to live authentically in today’s world while carrying a huge burden of shame.
One of the chief aims of Nightingale Opera is to nurture the development of young talent. Presented in collaboration with Nightingale Opera Theatre, Ohio, this production combined American and Australian resources in several ways, the most obvious being vocal, since three of the central roles were performed by American singers.
The production team also featured a combination of international expertise. With a commitment to championing contemporary operatic works, and extensive practical knowledge of Heggie’s work, American stage director Cynthia Skelley-Wohlschlager was able to guide the young Australian singers into a deeper understanding and appreciation of the opera. Similarly, John Simmons came with impressive credentials and extensive experience in Europe and America to conduct the six-piece ensemble for this important Australian premiere.
Evolving over several years, Two Remain divides the two stories into two separate Acts that culminate in ensembles where performers are spread across the front of the stage carrying remembrance candles, and, finally all 16 singing in resolute solidarity, carrying signs displaying the triangles that Auschwitz prisoners were obliged to wear: yellow (Jews), red (political dissidents), Green (criminals), blue (foreign forced labour), purple (Jehovah’s Witnesses), pink (homosexuals), black (asocial and work shy elements – gypsies, mentally ill and disabled). A powerful visual statement in this production, it stood in contrast to the beginning of Act 1, where Krystyna struggles to find words to describe her life in the death camp at the request of a Professor. The same struggle for expression is undergone by Gad in Act 2, although, conversely, when he tries to speak about his experiences, nobody wants to hear them.
Both Krystyna and Gad are haunted by “ghosts” from the past. As Krystyna sits at her desk we see a young Krystyna/Krysia with her friends Zosia and Edka singing songs to poetry illegally written by her. When written notes are discovered, Edka says that she has memorised everything – an idea that resonates with the practice of memorising the names of the death camp dead. Things turn extremely grim when an old childhood friend arrives, recognising her and revealing her real name, Sonia Landau, and with it her Jewish identity. In an attempt to save herself Krysia is forced to beat her for “lying” – part of the burden of shame.
Much of Gad’s story is less grim and focuses on his passionate relationship with Manfred as a seventeen-year-old, and life in Berlin before the war. When given the choice to flee capture, Manfred makes the fatal choice to stay with his family, while Gad suffers entrapment as a homosexual.
Heggie’s music is melodic and reflects the sound world of these two scenarios. In Act 1 we hear folk music, fragments of a Paganini caprice and passages of a Chopin waltz – Krysia’s memories of the music her grandfather played, in which she would lose herself and think up words for those tunes. Other music reinforces the action, whether gently lyrical or violent.
Act 2 has more of a musical theatre flavour and much of Gad’s part (for singer/actor) is spoken. Although there is some ensemble music, notably a terrific trio in the vein of an Andrews Sisters-type swing number in the Berlin “Golden Years” section, and the final chorus, it is Manfred who carries the vocal load. A romantically charged, loving connection is juxtaposed with horrifying descriptions of another Auschwitz prisoner, young Joe, being set upon by Nazi sadists. The clarinet – with its Klezmer resonance – is prominent in this Act.
Among the many excellent performances of the evening Bailey Montgomery’s Manfred was nothing short of extraordinary. Whether in a musical theatre vein or using a more clearly operatic vocal production, his reliable technique and command of vocal colour were just what the role and the music demanded. His interpretation was totally persuasive in its unwavering focus and emotional force. As Gad, experienced American theatre artist, Eric van Bars, was convincingly tormented without being at all sentimentally histrionic. He and Montgomery made a sensitive, sympathetic couple.
The Act 1 singers were also outstanding, with American soprano Lara Troyer terrific as the conflicted survivor, Krystyna. Her engaging presence and attractive strong, warm voice gave the role a compelling urgency. American soprano, Melissa Davis was also excellent as her younger counterpart, Krysia, her voice vibrant and her acting animated. The Australian contingent of Uma Dobia (Mariola), Linda Barcan (Zosia), Karen Van Spall (Edka) and Maria Woolford (Kapo Wala) all sang well individually and as an ensemble. Mostly covering major roles, Australian Young Artists Kate Pengelly, Sarah Amos, Victoria Knight, Maria Woolford, Stephanie Macindoe, Ruben Fitton, Alex Owens, Taco Kuiper and Darcy Towe all made valuable contributions to the success of the evening.
Although the singers wore body mics, these were not intrusive, and Noah Chrapot’s sound design worked effectively. The simulated scenes of violence were artfully choreographed by Lyndall Grant, and made even more effective by Kris Chainey’s lighting design and Melissa Davis’s costumes, which included spandex body suits for three slender, shadowy figures moving like evil spirits in the violent scenes – the antithesis of the showgirl costumes for the Berlin scene.
Under John Simmons’ baton, Kim Tan (flute), Cameron Smith (clarinet), Marianne Rothschild (violin), Charlotte Jacke (cello), Hamish Gullick (bass) and the always-admirable Coady Green (piano) played Heggie’s score with skilful attention to detail and style.
Photo credit: Cameron Grant
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Heather Leviston reviewed Nightingale Opera’s production of “Two Remain” by Jake Heggie, presented at fortyfivedownstairs on July 27, 2025.
