Opera is to be listened to, certainly, but it is also a real spectacle when the music, the action on stage, the costumes and the stage sets, not to mention the performers and the orchestra, blend together to make a never-to-be-forgotten experience.
An opera costs a great deal of money to stage, and the Festival Opera is not rolling in the stuff, but to put this opera in an Art Deco setting was a gamble that certainly paid dividends.
With the resources at their disposal and the support of local firms and individuals, they have achieved a production that would be a credit to any stage they chose to perform on anywhere in the world.
Jose Aperico, conductor, director and set designer, is clearly an inspired genius. Watching him at rehearsal, and later at the actual performance, it was obvious that he communicated passion and enthusiasm which clearly inspired the performers, from those who took the lead roles to the school children who took part so professionally.
If you think opera is boring you should have seen these youngsters dance. They would change your mind if nothing else did.
The Elixir of Love is a comic opera and never have I seen a performance of Dulcamara, the quack doctor, acted with such comic skill as was acted by New Zealand's own Joel Amosa. Not only is he an accomplished Bass-Baritone, he comes across as a genuinely witty man in his own right.
If you still have the image of the fat lady then you ought to have seen the young Armenian soprano Hasmik Torosyan in the role of Adina. Slim, attractive and in the role, truly seductive, she played the part to perfection, along with Miguel Lobato from Spain, Dawid Kimberg from South Africa and Milla Dickens again a local artist. What a formidable team they made.
One could fill pages with the names of those who made this production so entertaining, but I must mention Sarah Walmsley and Anna Pierard the directors of the company.
I wonder if Napier realises just how fortunate it is to have such talented people in their midst. By the time you read this article the final performance of the opera will have taken place.
Next year make a date NOW to book your seat for whatever performance they are staging.
I am pretty sure you will not be disappointed.
-Terry Waite CBE, was held hostage for five years in Beirut, Lebanon from 1987. He is President of the International Musical Eisteddfod at Llangollen, Wales.
-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.
