top of page

MEDIA RELEASE, 03/08/2015

Opera Prometheus

In Partnership with the National Trust

presents

Gian Carlo Menotti’s

The Medium

 

This September, edgy new chamber opera start-up Opera Prometheus (oPr) presents Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium at the National Trust’s Experiment Farm Cottage. This rarely performed one-act opera is a psychological thriller which follows phoney medium Madame Flora as her mind unravels. Be one of only twenty people per show to be locked into the intimate dining room of Experiment Farm Cottage with an exceptional cast of emerging and established artists:

 

Madame Flora (Baba): Hester Hannah

Monica: Zoe Drummond

Toby: Gerard O’Dwyer

Mrs Gobineau: Jess Harper

Mr Gobineau: Paul Smith

Mrs Nolan: Laura King

 

Director: Sharna Galvin

Music Director: Sarah Penicka-Smith

Producer: Melanie Penicka-Smith

Piano: Gareth Chan

 

Performed in English with piano.

 

Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007) wrote The Medium in 1946. It was only the fourth of twenty-seven operas he composed, and he wrote the libretti for all of them. The Medium is a vivid portrayal of people struggling with trauma. The lives of Madame Flora, her daughter Monica, and her mute servant Toby, are all captive to the medium’s dark past, and Menotti illustrates life in their tiny apartment with a gripping exploration of violence, alcoholism and co-dependence. Madame Flora’s three clients are all struggling to come to terms with the untimely deaths of their children and seek comfort in seances, but even this measure fails them as Madame Flora’s mind unravels. This is opera at its most real and gripping, and Menotti’s score is a magnificent realisation of the minds of his characters, with some hauntingly beautiful arias, especially for the young and idealistic Monica.

 

Opera Prometheus’s charter includes providing audiences with intimate operatic experiences in unique venues, and we are proud to be partnering with the National Trust for the first time in this production. The dining room at Experiment Farm Cottage becomes Madame Flora’s apartment, allowing only twenty audience members per show to experience The Medium unfolding around them. Roxanne Fea (Regional Manager Western Sydney) says the National Trust is very excited to be the hosting partner in this innovative event. ‘We see our properties as vital cultural hubs for our many communities,’ she says. ‘Spending an hour in the house, immersed in an opera, will give audiences the chance to remember the space’s history as someone’s home, as well as give a new appreciation for its elegance and timelessness.’ A special 1.30pm-2.30pm tour of the Cottage is available before each 3pm performance.

 

Founded in 2010 by Bernard Leon, this is oPr’s second production under its current board of creatives, Sharna Galvin and Sarah & Melanie Penicka-Smith. The company’s charter is to provide role experience for early career opera artists. Madame Flora’s trio of clients are all played by young Sydney-based opera singers. Soprano Jess Harper is incredibly excited to be working on this production, after having worked with oPr on Hans Krasa’s Brundibar in 2014. Jess says, ‘Supernatural themes will always be a source of wonder and terror, so it’s great to be exploring that using the media of music and drama.’

 

Baritone Paul Smith, who has just finished composing his own chamber opera, is greatly inspired by Menotti’s music. ‘Menotti balances beautiful melodies with tense and intricate harmonies,’ he says, ‘and the details in the music and text are brought out in our production - I’m really looking forward to sharing the opera’s narrative with our audience in such an intimate and tailored space.’ Soprano Laura King agrees: ‘I love pushing the boundaries in opera, so working with oPr is an absolute delight. The Medium is quirky, eerie, and underground, and oPr enhances these qualities with a totally dark and raw approach to the material.’

 

oPr also welcomes Hester Hannah’s return to our production. This is Hester’s second time playing Madame Flora and her powerful interpretation is a highlight. Hester has many years’ experience in opera and on the concert hall platform. She has performed with Opera Australia, is a member of the Tall Poppeas, and appears regularly with early music ensemble Thoroughbass. The roles of Monica and Toby are played by Zoe Drummond and Gerard O’Dwyer, both newcomers to our company. Actor Gerard O’Dwyer, winner of the 2009 TropFest Best Actor Award, is making his operatic debut in The Medium, and we are thrilled to have him bring his talents to the role of Toby. Soprano Zoe Drummond is a graduate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music who has performed nationally and internationally. Her Monica is both naive and resourceful, with show-stopping arias that will haunt you long after the final note.

 

Tickets are limited; only sixty people will have the chance to see this production. We encourage you to book now. 

 

Performances:

3pm Saturday 12 September

7pm Saturday 12 September

3pm Sunday 13 September SOLD OUT

Tickets: $40/$40 + booking fee; available from www.trybooking.com/IOLS

 

Experiment Farm Cottage Tour:

1.30pm-2.30pm Saturday 12 September

1.30pm-2.30pm Sunday 13 September

Cost: $8 per person. Please call 9635 8149 to book your place.

 

Enquiries:

Melanie Penicka-Smith: 0408 027 359

 

bottom of page