Auckland Town Hall hosts Bluebeard’s Castle opera on love and dementia

Susan Bullock and Lester Lynch perform "Bluebeard's Castle" in August 2023. Photo / Supplied

For opera newbies, British soprano Susan Bullock says that her performance of Bluebeard’s Castle with American baritone Lester Lynch is an ideal introduction to the art form.

“It is a short piece, just over an hour, so that is not too much of an ask of a first-time opera audience member,” she said from Europe before two performances at the Auckland Arts Festival this week.

The production is a reimagining of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok’s only opera and is considered to be the first ever operatic psychodrama, the tale of a young bride confronted by the imprisoned wives of her older husband in his castle of secrets.

“In our production, where we haven’t changed a single word in the English translation from the original Hungarian, the story is much more about love, and there is a huge amount of love in the music,” Bullock said.

“It isn’t presented as some gothic horror story but an exploration of what the effects of dementia are on a loving, long-term couple.”

Bullock says that it’s a wonderful story that so many people will recognise and maybe have experience of within their own family and friends.

“All the women behind the ‘doors’ are in fact Judith herself at various stages of her life, and the ‘castle’ is a trunk of treasured belongings which spark these memories,” she said.

“It is a production which speaks to many people who are living with dementia or are caring for a loved one with it.”

The production was created by award-winning director Daisy Evans for the UK’s Theatre of Sound in 2021. It debuted in New Zealand in Wellington and Christchurch in 2023, receiving rave reviews, including “close to perfection”.

New Zealand Opera Director Brad Cohen, who is conducting the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra for the show, says it’s a wonderful opportunity to do a pared-back staging of what is absolutely a masterpiece.

“This staging is a wonderful exploration of love in later life with loss of memory, possibly encroaching dementia,” Cohen told RNZ in January.

“And the idea is that, not that she’s the eighth wife, but that she’s the same wife that’s been through eight chapters in this marriage. It’s a really powerful, beautiful interpretation of the piece.

“The beautiful thing about what the opera does is the orchestra fills up the emotional space. So you have these voices declaiming and saying normal things above this ocean of emotion in the orchestra that’s non-verbal.”

This staging is the third time that Bullock has collaborated with Lester Lynch, whom she describes as a wonderful colleague and friend, on Bluebeard.

“In such a raw setting as ours, we have to be very vulnerable and open, and with Lester it is very easy,” she said.

“Trust between performers is paramount at all times but especially when dealing with such a sensitive subject like dementia. It will be interesting to see how we develop the performance further during our time in Auckland.

“The orchestration is fantastic and very dramatic, and the audience sees the full orchestra on stage behind the action, so it is a very immersive and emotional experience.”

British soprano Susan Bullock performs in New Zealand Opera’s Bluebeard’s Castle on March 13 and 14 at the Auckland Town Hall. Part of the Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival, featuring Auckland Philharmonia. For more information visit nzopera.com