Eucalyptus - The Opera | Brisbane Festival, QPAC and Queensland Symphony Orchestra
All images: Billy Wilson-Coffey
The opera is often regarded as grand, luxurious, and extremely European. Most of them (at least the classics of the form) are performed in either French or Italian and tell stories about the royal, the wealthy, the divine, or the interactions of common folk with those forces (power, money, god/s). Eucalyptus – The Opera in adapting a work of Australian fiction explores what would happen if the everyday of a small town, full of small people was communicated as grandly as opera allows.
As one might anticipate, the plot of the opera mirrors that of Murray Ball’s 1998 novel. Ellen lives with her father Holland in a forest of eucalypts that he has been planting since her mother died. He is overprotective and doesn’t want her getting involved with the men of their rural town who are all variously infatuated with her (because of course they are). Holland sets the boys a challenge; “you can marry my daughter if you can name every single eucalypt on my property”. Ellen doesn’t love this. In fact she’s just about ready to accuse her father of being mad to stop it from happening. Regardless, men come from across the world to try and name all the trees, but all fail one way or another. It seems one massive nerd might actually do it just as Ellen falls in love with someone else, a man she meets amongst the trees who starts telling her stories about far-away lands.
The fairy-tale qualities of the novel position it nicely for adaptation as an opera, in my opinion. And the drama of rural towns (as somebody born and raised in one) can often feel as heightened and epic as the form allows them to be here. In particular, the women of the chorus being dressed for church really adds a delightful touch to the already inherently gossipy quality of some of Oakes’ libretto. I do wonder how much of the novel was pruned away to make it fit the operatic structure and if perhaps more could have been included so that each musical and emotional peak had a little more room to breathe.
All images: Billy Wilson-Coffey
As always, the orchestra and the vocalists are operating on a virtuosic level and as such cannot and should not be faulted. Desiree Frahn (Ellen), Simon Meadows (Holland) and Michael Petruccelli (The Stranger) in particular were utterly outstanding. The sound of Eucalyptus – The Opera is haunting, rustling, arid, and imposing all at once. The composition is the aspect of this work that leans furthest into the conventions of Australian Gothic; something my plus one and I agreed the rest of Eucalyptus’s parts could’ve done just a bit more.
Eucalyptus – The Opera might be about the everyday of a small town, full of small people but their grandiose experience of that mundanity is portrayed to dazzling effect here. Evocative, haunting, and distinctly Australian, this work is one I hope to see do very well and thus usher in a new wave of Australiana at the opera.
‘Eucalyptus - The Opera’ plays at The Concert Hall, QPAC from 4-5 September as part of the 2024 Brisbane Festival.
All images: Billy Wilson-Coffey
