Elizabeth Lewis in Dido
and Aenaeus
Jeremy Kleeman in Faramondo
Brisbane Baroque
April 2015
Some opera arias are danger territory – traps for old and
young players. The Queen of the Night’s high Fs probably head the list; will
she get it/them all? “Dido’s Lament” has three dangers: one, that everyone knows
how it should be sung; two, that “… laid in earth, may my wrongs create …” are
dotted crotchets that must not sound jaunty and three, that “Remember me, remember
me, but ah! forget my fate.“ has the “e” of remember sung on a high-ish G. “e”
flattens the mouth and pitches the sound forward and the note very easily
sounds tinny. I’ve heard first class singers not manage it.
Elizabeth Lewis’s voice is still maturing but I’d heard it
develop enough over the past 16 months since she joined Victorian Opera’s
Master of Music program to know that she would have the depth and vocal
richness to produce a beautiful sound. As well, the great Lisa Gasteen and MoM
would have made sure that she would be technically eminently capable of producing
the notes and acting the role.
In short I knew she had the voice, the talent and some of
Australia’s best opera teachers. So it was a case of sit back, relax and wait
for her small (even if it is the title role) but immensely powerful singing to
grab me.
It did.
She went home to Queensland for that triumph. But for my
money she’s ours in Melbourne until she graduates in November 2015.
I last heard Jeremy Kleeman sing a complete opera as the
title role in The Magic Pudding in 2013 towards the end of his two year study with the MoM program. In
that, his acting (he had the part nailed) and singing were memorable – and first class. Faramondo is light years away from The
Pudding – well, 276 years away. But Jeremy seemed to span that divide with
apparent ease. He seemed as much in control of Teobaldo, the captain of the
guard, as he was inside the head (bowl?) of the curmudgeonly pudding.
Two things struck me about his performance in Brisbane: one,
that his voice is maturing beautifully – deeper and richer and two, that his
acting skills are great. In Pudding he was grumpy and constantly threatened
with violence, in Faramondo he got royally beaten up by the black shirts in motorbike helmets – blood on his chest and
all. But still he kept singing – superbly. It occurred to me then that he is in
line for AO’s Don Giovanni. He is well on the way to developing the voice and
he looks good as a member of the bbbb*.
I’m looking forward to seeing him standing on the dining
table, going to hell.
*bare belly button brigade
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