Opera
Passions Run High The Merry Widow
Vanessa Scammell
Suckers for swelling melodies and hopelessly romantic duets – and who is not – will have all their breathless wishes granted in one of the most beautiful operettas to be conceived – Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow – which will be staged next month in all its sumptuous glory by WA Opera. The operetta was premiered in 1905 in Vienna which inevitably cued full tulle skirts and plenty of opportunities for the famous waltz. WA Opera’s production will hurtle the story to Art Deco Europe but expect some fancy footwork here, too, as it is in the creative hands of guest director Graeme Murphy. Graeme, in his former life as Sydney Dance Company founder, was beloved of Perth audiences for his extraordinary abilities to tell stories in movement. With opera, which he has ventured into over the past 10 years, he has a very broad canvas. The roles of Hanna (the ‘Merry Widow’) and Count Danilo are played by two singers with growing reputations. Perth-born Taryn Fiebig is now a principal artist with Opera Australia and possesses one of the most magically lyrical soprano voices around. She is matched by Alexander Lewis’s tenor voice which was shaped by his time spent here at WAAPA. Together they make a crushingly handsome pair.
Keeping passions in check in the orchestra pit is one of the busiest conductors in Australia, Vanessa Scammell, who spoke to Medical Forum from Melbourne where she was in rehearsal for a new production of Hello Dolly.
studying singing and coaching of singers and I thought I had something to offer. Around that time a friend put on a charity fundraising production of Oliver! and asked me to conduct it.,” Vanessa said.
The Merry Widow is Vanessa’s first mainstage production for Opera Australia, though she’s taken Oz Opera’s La Traviata on the road in what is known as the ‘hot tour’.
“I did and I loved it but I also knew that I wasn’t going to be hold up without extra study so while I was on tour with a variety of musical theatre shows, I did a Masters in conducting and studied with various teachers overseas while I was on tour.”
“We performed in Tennant Creek, Darwin, an open-air venue in some rainforest where it didn’t stop raining and to Perth. It’s a tough gig where everyone works really hard but there’s such a great standard of singing and it is such a lot of fun.” Being in the dry confines of His Majesty’s Theatre is an “absolute thrill”, she said. While the ranks of women conductors in Australia is growing, it still makes a headline but for Vanessa, whose musical journey began as a repetiteur for Opera Australia, it is a perfect fit but it’s been hard work to get there and it has meant embracing her opportunities when they arise. This philosophy has seen her taking up the baton before symphony orchestras one evening and in the pit for productions such as South Pacific (for Opera Australia), Phantom of the Opera, Chicago and West Side Story on another. It was hours in rehearsal rooms listening to singers and artistic directors when she began to wonder if there wasn’t more she could give to the creative process.
“If I was to stand up in front of a group of professionals, I needed to be proficient and confident in what I was doing. That is how it started and I fell into it and things took off pretty quickly.” Vanessa said one her greatest influences has been conductor Simone Young, for whom she auditioned when Young was artistic director of Opera Australia. “I spent a lot of time watching Simone in the rehearsal room and learnt so much. I’ve also been lucky to work with Australian Ballet’s Nicolette Fraillon, another great female conductor who has been completely encouraging and generous with her time with me. And Guy Noble has been a steadfast friend. He gave me my first orchestral gig. It’s quite a collegial environment in Australia.” Of Graeme Murphy, Vanessa said he had an unbelievable ability to tell stories. “I can’t wait to collaborate with someone who is such an intuitive storyteller.”
By Jan Hallam
“As a piano player you sit back and play, you don’t really have a voice but I had been
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Book
Review MEDICAL FORUM
(Yuval Noah Harari, Harvill Secker)
The broad and elegant sweep of Harari’s pen (OK, more likely a mouse) explores the communal life and organisational skills of Homo Sapiens, the most dominant and destructive species ever to walk on planet Earth. This brilliant and often funny book has garnered rave reviews, and rightly so. The future we’re staring at will, says Harari, ultimately belong to the Human God. Predictability, the queue for immortality won’t be overly long because only the very rich will be able to afford it. The age of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data is just around the corner and medicine will be utterly transformed. Yes, the algorithm will see you now. Winter is coming!
JUNE 2017 | 53