BARE BONES OPERA’S INAUGURAL CONCERT @ AUSTRALIAN PERFORMING ARTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL GLEBE

Bare Bones Opera said that “Opera has become bloated by big houses and even bigger budgets. It is our mission to explore the theatrical roots of opera as an art form, and to produce, perform, and facilitate, small scale opera that creates a big impact.”

Bare Bones Opera exceeded my expectations and provided two hours of must-see opera in Italian, German and Russian. They have the advantage of using an Intimate performance space. All the voices were bright and magnificent, and performances also benefited from the excellent acoustics of the auditorium.  The Sydney debut of  “Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia” was an audience pleaser, and exactly as intended, was played on the harpsichord.

Triple-bill including Rimsky-Korsakov’s almost verbatim operatic adaptation of Pushkin’s tale, alongside two of Mozart and Salieri’s own farcical works;  Der Schauspieldirektor   (Mozart   – 7 February 1786, KV 486)  and  Prima la Musica, Poi le Parole (Salieri  – 7 February 1786). These two  pieces were interestingly composed for the same competition, and debuted at the same time, in the same room.                  

Likely for the first time performed here in Sydney, “Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia”  (For the recovered health of Ophelia) KV 477a; is a piece of music for harpsichord, composed in 1785 by Mozart AND Salieri, with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte of Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan Tutte fame (to name just a few).  This piece was thought to be permanently lost to the ages, but was discovered in November 2015, located within the depths of the collection of the Department of Music History in the National Museum‘s Czech Museum of Music.

The story of the infamous (but highly fictionalised) rivalry between Mozart and Salieri. Peter Shaffer’s film adaptation of his own play, “Amadeus”, was greatly inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s “little tragedy”, the dramatic poem “Mozart and Salieri”.  “Mozart and Salieri”   is a one-act  opera  written in 1897 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.  English SURTITLES were provided by using your iPhone or your smartphone at this website:   http://bit.do/rimsky  – – –   http://inyahead.net/opera-surtitles/audience/?rimsky.

The final concert will take place tomorrow, Sunday 7 August at 3 pm, at the Australian Performing Arts Grammar School (APGS), 255 Broadway, Glebe. The school hall used for the concert is on Level 3.

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