NZ Opera
Wednesday, October 12
Mayfair Theatre
The moving story of author Janet Frame’s sojourn in Seacliff Mental Hospital provided the foundation for extraordinary opera The Strangest of Angels, an impressive first night event for the Dunedin Arts Festival.
Created by the local team ofcomposer Kenneth Young, librettist Georgia Jamieson Emms, and soprano Anna Leese, directed by Eleanor Bishop, and featuring Leeseand fellow soprano Jayne Tankersley, the performance was accompanied by 15 players from Dunedin Symphony Orchestra.
At its heart, The Strangest of Angels was the story of Frame’s nurse and former classmate from Oamaru days Katherine Baillie, as her own fragile mental health unravelled under the pressure of her situation.
The performance was a tour de force for Leese, who sang and acted superbly throughout, handling Young’s swooping vocal lines with aplomb.
Tankersley was in more of a supporting role, bringing Frame’s uncertainty and fragility to the fore.
The orchestra was excellent in support, bringing Young’s wonderful, often ominous, score to life.
The adaptable set, designed by Rachel Marlow and Bradley Gledhill, was cleverly evocative of a place of confinement, suggesting bars and padded rooms using rows of lights.
Costume design by Nic Smillie completed a brilliant theatrical opera package.
