The film was born out of restrictions imposed on the performing arts by COVID-19 – in particular, the ban on public performances for much of 2020 – and features an all- Australian cast and creative team. It is somewhat startling but oh so exquisite and refined musically with glorious performances of the almost forgotten madrigals of Barbara Strozzi.
Barbara Strozzi was an Italian composer and singer of 17th century Venice who published eight volumes of music during her lifetime. The illegitimate daughter of a noble Venetian poet, who encouraged her to pursue her talents by studying with the acclaimed opera composer Cavalli, Strozzi was one of the few female composers of her time to write under her own name.
The music for A DELICATE FIRE was selected from Strozzi’s Opus 1, her first book of madrigals, published in 1644. The lyrics are by her poet father, Giulio Strozzi and are meditations on the diversity, exaltation, sorrows and delights of love, inspired by a quote from Sappho.
Led by Erin Helyard on harpsichord and chamber organ, the Orchestra of the Antipodes is in splendid form on their period instruments featuring Anthea Cottee on cello and lirone, Hannah Lane on baroque harp and on theorbo and baroque guitar.
The opera cast is stellar, being led by Anna Dowsley and Taryn Fiebig with a magnificent chorus. The dancers (Allie Graham and Neale Whittaker) are tremendous. Shannon Burns’ choreography is full of striking contemporary athleticism.
The music was recorded at the City Recital Hall while all filming was done in an empty inner-city warehouse space, cold and bleak . The setting is definitely contemporary, made to appear a film set and sometimes we see the frantic scene changes. Locations change frequently, a car is used ( and there is the very effective use of a blurry car mirror) . Both interior and exterior locations are indicated ( eg inside a house vs a park) and often the ‘weather’ varies.
Highlights include ‘Lament’ sung by Dowsley standing in a transparent phone box trying to contact her lover, who is confined to her home by her restrictive father. Dowsley is passionate, anguished and despairing, her voice liquid demanding and impatient.
‘Quarrel of the Five Senses’ is set in a busy TV studio and the chorus is important to this piece. For hearing everyone wears headphones and CD players, for smell everyone holds huge bunches of roses, for sight they hold magnifying glasses, the taste is symbolised by everyone having icecream cones. There is a refined elegant solo yearningly describing touch which is contrasted by the finale of this segment with a tumbling boisterous solo, the chorus adding agreement.
‘Song of Beautiful Lips’ is a beautiful duet sung by the two women ( Dowsley and Fiebig) outside with picnic rugs in a bouncy yet melting,lush, sumptuous union symbolised by their cutting and sharing watermelon.
‘L’Humano Affetto’ is a flowing, rippling quartet of voices to which accompaniment we see a large truck’s doors open to reveal the two dancers at first in a garden scene, then there is an acrobatic love scene with the mattresses and sofa diagonally inside the truck.
‘An Old Lover Abandons the Field’ utilises a lot of the space and jumps between interior and exterior segments. It has strong, determined music which at one point is quite stirring and military-like . The two singers unearth period costume style buried jackets and surrender to love. There is even a live horse!
‘A Prayer to Love’ sees the huge warehouse space configured with a large grey cross of soil ( gravel ? ) on the floor and features the two dancers in white and Donohoe, Fiebig, Jones and Greco as singers. Fast, furious music which surges, bubbles and leaps is the background for a rolling, sliding, slipping pas de deux.
Fabulous performances and delicious music. Thrilling.
https://www.pinchgutopera.com.au/
A DELICATE FIRE will be available to stream from 29 October – 13 December 2020.
Running time is just over an hour with a short ‘making of’ documentary, as well