Songs of Love & War | Opera Queensland & Chrysalis Projects
I have always respected Opera from a distance. The beauty of the language, the music, and the virtuosic talent of those who perform it. The formidable nature of Opera’s women being of particular note to me. So much so the Queen of the Night’s Aria and Carmen’s Habanera have both made it on to my list of girlboss anthems. However, Songs of Love and War is my first live experience with Opera. A collaboration between Opera Queensland, Chrysalis Projects, Micah Projects, and Caravanserai Turkish Restaurant this work seeks to break down the barriers between the public and the Opera.
Caravanserai was a perfect choice of venue for this work. The voices of the performers (Amber Evans, Jessica Low, Sofia Troncoso, Shaun Brown, Nick Kirkup and Timothy Newton) fill the breadth and depth of the space deliciously. Tucked away in West End the restaurant’s intimate size only enhanced my fixation on the singers and musicians. I disappeared into another world forgetting modernity and visiting the time in which these songs were first created. All of the performances were absolutely delightful though there were a few stand outs – in particular those given by the ladies.
After a beautiful performance of the first portion of Tre Volte from Kirkup, Low consumed the fullness of my attention. My head shot in her direction the moment she began to sing. She moved through the space like a melancholy spirit. Wuthering Heights’ Cathy summoned by her Heathcliff’s regret at ruining her with his “love”.
Evans, Low, and Troncoso’s performance of Su, Su, su Pastorelli vezzoi brought back memories of my favourite kikis with girlfriends. Their chemistry was electric and their voices ethereal. They embody the flirty girls who sit near where the boys play touch-football during lunch and spent their time gossiping and vying for the attention of their potential beaus perfectly.
The true highlight for me was Low and Troncoso’s rendition of Pur ti Miro. A sapphic surprise that had my plus one and I make immediate eye contact and communicate the Queerness of the moment to each other with a pointed invocation of the limp wrist. Their voices blended magically, and their chemistry was silken and joyous in its quality. To see a song traditionally sung by a man and woman performed by two women was an exciting change.
Opera is not the snooze-fest many think it to be. It possesses the same drama, romance, and impassioned violence of the modern soap or young-adult drama. Imagine a Riverdale musical episode but if the singing was superb and the show was well-written. If held regularly, intimate and more financially accessible events like this might help improve my generations’ perception of this delicious artform. All-in-all Songs of Love and War provides audiences with food for the body and food for the soul.
