Blast from the past: Facebook fans snap up archival programmes

A great ad from one of our old programmes

Thank you to all our Facebook page entrants who went in the running to win one of eight archival, souvenir programmes. Below are the winners and some snaps from inside these programmes. A good reminder to never let go of the ones you buy, as you're always certain to find some gems of information (or in the case of L'Incoraonazione di Poppea programme - a gem of advertising!).

Congratulations to our eight winners! Here are their entries..

Fantastic 80s glasses on Gordon Wilcock 

The Tales of Hoffman (1981)
Winner: Danielle Brown
The designs for productions of this show are always amazing! In particular, the costumes are just the most exceptional pieces I've ever seen. This production was before I was born. My first experience of this show was in film form, and it made me want to know how things like set design in such large spaces work and the intricacies of costuming. I've never seen it staged in reality though which is sad, but I have seen sketches, which to me are the closest thing to that. Also, who doesn't appreciate an Offenbach? Plus, coincidence, apparently the initial abridged version was originally staged on my birthday. I just found this out from a friend next to me... just saying, it's fate. You can't really argue with fate.

Fidelio (1984)
Winner: Lauren Holmes
I'd be happy with any of them really! but having seen final rehearsals of OA's Fidelio in 2009 and researching everything I can about the opera since then (after I fell in love with it and the romantic story), it'd be interesting to contrast the 1984 production with the one in 2009.

We wanted to choose something serious, but
pitchfork Pavarotti made us choose this instead.

L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1988)
Winner: Sam Yeo
L'Incoronazione di Poppea, because it was the first opera I was ever involved with. (Man, you sure know how to pick 'em...)
















La fanciulla del West (1989)
Winner: Sarah-Jane Doig
La fanciulla del West, because it was the first opera I saw live, albeit many years after this production!

Così fan tutte (1990)
Winner: Jamie-Lee MacDonald
This Opera was what inspired me many years ago to pursue my Career in music further. I love Mozarts Playfulness and constant energy in the score; and I was Born in 1990 so this program is already fated to be with me.

Eugene Onegin (1990)

Winner: Paolo Smith

My favourite opera! Tchaikovsky uses the unique structure of the opera to his advantage painting three different musical scenes, gripping! He also shows off the potential of the different classical voices, beautiful arias for S,A,T,Br&Bs. Lensky's aria shows that a tenor aria doesn't need to blow you out of your seats to be awe-inspiring. The characters in the plot are all 'real' and 3 dimensional, we can understand their motives and feel moved as their lives and selves are unfolded. Plus Tchaikovsky's own voice can be heard in much of Onegin's libretto: "Were I a man that sought a domestic life with you as my wife...." But, he wasn't that sort of man..... Oh how I would love to have piece of our own interpretation of this great work!

Fiddler on the Roof (1992)

Winner: Terry Mogi Cumming

Fiddler on the Roof for me please!:) because it is the first show I was ever in as one of the children when I was about 5 ... though I would like to say I was in the OA show I was not. It was Red Cliffs Musical Society .. I would also like to be able to say I was only 5 in 1992! :)

Der fliegende Holländer (1997)
Winner: Sarita Ester
The Flying Dutchman, what better theme for an opera, redemption through love. Wagner's libretto is awe-inspiring, one can tell his personal experiences influenced this work. Absolutely splendid!


Honourable mention: Greg Gray for his 'flattery technique'!

Thank you everyone for your entries! 'Like' Opera Australia on Facebook to hear about other giveaways and promotions, or just to stay in the loop about the company and its productions.

Opera is a family tradition

David Parkin as Sparafucile, and
Jane Parkin as the Countess in
Rigoletto 2009

David and Jane Parkin on performing together in The Magic Flute...

Siblings David and Jane Parkin have long looked forward to the day that they could perform in the same production. The dream came true last year, when brother and sister were cast as Sparafucile and the Countess in Rigoletto (Now available on DVD). This year the family upped the ante when the siblings, plus Jane’s husband Malcolm Ede, were cast in The Magic Flute. As it turned out, reality was not quite what they’d expected.

“We were so pleased to have three family members in the same show,” Jane says. That is, until all four Parkin siblings, their parents and some of their partners went out to celebrate their youngest brother’s 30^th birthday. “We were nine family members and we all had the degustation menu. Within 48 hours, seven of us had come down with food poisoning.”

By the next day, three Magic Flute principals were down for the count. At the time it wasn’t funny at all, but when we meet at the Opera Centre a week later, both Parkins laugh when recounting the catastrophe. “Three family members in the same show turned out to be special in more than one way!” David chuckles, and Jane adds: “It’s certainly a birthday that we will remember!”

Growing up in a small country town, the family comprised of Jane, the eldest, who was the musician of the family; followed by Jill, who’d set her heart on a legal career; David, who became an engineer before becoming an opera singer; and Richard, an academic and journalist. Their mother played piano and cello and enjoyed singing, so it was inevitable that music would play a large part in the Parkin children’s childhood.

Jane, who recently became a mother herself, says: “I think encouraging us to play instruments was Mum’s way of keeping four kids occupied in a small town.” As the town had its own brass band, each child studied piano plus a brass instrument.  

David Parkin as Sarastro in
The Magic Flute 2012

Listening to music was as important a part of their education. “Mum inherited a large record collection from our grandfather, who loved opera,” Jane says. “We grew up listening to recordings of many of Australia’s famous singers: Joan Sutherland, John Pringle, Donald Shanks.”

And there were the video recordings of their favourite operas. “Jane wore out a VHS tape of The Mikado,” David recalls. “I watched it hundreds of times but she must have watched it thousands of times!” The children did not find it unusual that opera was such a big part of their lives. “For us it was just normal – people who didn’t have it in their lives weren’t quite normal,” Jane laughs.

Jane, the Parkin household’s musical ring leader, would often organise her younger siblings to put on shows for their parents, and it became a family tradition that on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day the siblings would perform a number for their parents. “They were variously successful,” David recalls.

One year they performed ‘Three Little Maids’ from The Mikado. Jane organised costumes and choreography and also assumed the roles of director and conductor. The show ran into trouble the next year, when in ‘Elegance’ from Hello Dolly, the youngest Parkin failed to master the pronunciation of “indubitably prove”. It was in-doo-baa-da-bly prue, he’d say. “After that the whole thing came to a crashing halt,” Jane says, laughing.

Jane Parkin as Cio-Cio San in
Oz Opera's Madam Butterfly

She always knew that she wanted to be an opera singer and pursued her goal through the traditional avenues: drama and opera qualifications from the Universities of Wollongong and Sydney, followed by a full-time position with Schools Company, followed by stints as an extra chorus member, which led first to full chorus membership, then to a place in OA’s Young Artist Program, and finally, to principal artist.

By contrast, David’s entrance into the opera world was sudden and dramatic, the result of a crash course in the art after his 2006 win in OA’s Operatunity Oz competition. Jane says: “Dave and I took completely different paths to our opera careers. His way has given him a fresh perspective on this career: as a result of his engineering background, he has a very logical approach to problem solving. Whereas when you spend your entire life in a creative field, you can get a little illogical.”

In turn, her knowledge of matters vocal and musical continues to be invaluable to him, as is her knowledge of how an opera company functions. “To be able to compare notes on how we’re both travelling professionally is very valuable,” he says, adding that “from your sister you get pretty frank advice!”

His engineering career was doing very well when Operatunity Oz came along. “Jane said at the time that the competition would be a very good way of getting a taste of the opera world without going through the traditional, ten-year path. I wanted to sing in front of opera professionals and get some critical feedback. I never expected to win.”

David Parkin as the King in
Aida 2009

When he did, OA supported him with training and coaching, and by giving him small roles and covers. Yet it was another year before he set his heart on an opera career, and several more before he felt confident enough to say goodbye to his well established IT career.

In some ways, Operatunity Oz was a double-edged sword, says Jane. “It provided David with wonderful opportunities, but some people in the opera world looked at him and wondered what a singer with little formal training and no experience was doing in an opera company. We were all very proud of him when he won, but I was never prouder than in the years that followed. I have never seen anyone work so hard. In twelve months, Dave did what I’ve done in ten years. There was so much pressure, so much stress, so much work, that I am not surprised that for a while he was not sure about it all.”   

When the Parkin family gets together now, there are no concerts. And from this month, Jane is changing her name to Ede, her husband’s name. Life is always changing. But some things are passed on from generation to generation. At home, Jane and Malcolm do not sing opera, as their nine-month-old daughter finds it too loud. But they do make up songs for her, all day long.

“She thinks this is just what parents do.”

Figaro loses the plot... sometimes

Most people associate the role of Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, which opens at Melbourne’s Arts Centre this month, with 'Largo al factotum', the aria in which the Barber sings “Feeegaro Figaro Figaro Figaro Figaro!” at breakneck speed. Many artists make the same association, which is why inexperienced baritones who assume that for Figaro, the opera is more or less the aria, sometimes lose their way. So says José Carbó, the singer who to many Australians is Figaro.

“Inexperienced performers tend to think that once they can belt out that aria from start to finish without falling apart, they can sing the role. But the aria is actually an easier part of the role,” he says, with a laugh.

The fact is that from 'Largo al factotum', which ends on a top G that singers are traditionally expected to hold for at least six seconds, Figaro goes straight into a 10-minute recitative with the Count, which is as high and which culminates in an even higher duet. “So you have the aria, then the recit, then the duet, all scaling up in tessitura. With experience comes the knowledge that you need the stamina to sing at that pitch for 20 minutes, not five.”

Born in Argentina, from Spanish-Italian stock, Carbó’s family migrated to Australia when he was five years old. The story of how he ended up in opera is well known but good enough to repeat: On his way to work one morning, he heard John Denver and Plácido Domingo sing a duet. “It was the first time that I heard an opera voice. I was blown away by the sound; I went home and tried to mimic it.”  A few months later at a barbecue he sang Domingo’s part with a friend, for fun. Guests were astonished. They convinced him to get classical voice training.

“That turned my life around,” Carbó says. But it took eight years of private training to get his first role, as the Wig-maker in OA’s 2002 revival of Ariadne auf Naxos. “Mum was OK with it; Dad was a bit shocked because I was on the cusp of making a good living as a builder,” he recalls. “But I knew if I didn’t sing then, I never would. It takes a lot of courage to follow who you know you are, and to trust that it will all turn out well.”

This winter, he will make another OA debut, as Fritz the clown in OA’s Australian debut production of Korngold’s Die tote Stadt. “Really it’s just an aria and a sextet, but the aria happens to be the most beautiful  in the opera,” he says, with a laugh. (Hear José sing this stunning aria in the YouTube video below)





If much of Carbó’s overseas career has been in Italy (Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, Turin’s Teatro Reggio Emilia, Milan’s La Scala) and Spain (Madrid’s Teatro Real and La Coruña), he stresses that fluency in the vernacular is not essential for working in opera in these countries. “The global financial crisis is having a far more profound effect on opportunities for opera singers in the Northern Hemisphere than language ever will – Spain and Italy are broke; at the moment there’s almost no work in these countries.”

Carbó remembers his 2009 La Scala debut, as one of twelve principals in Il viaggio a Reims, a selection of Rossini tunes, as “surreal”. “Performing there was a great experience, but I didn’t even get to sing an aria. I’d like to go back one day and blow the place apart, which is what all opera singers dream of doing!” he says, laughing uproariously.

He found Italian audiences warm and responsive and not nearly as hard-nosed as their Spanish counterparts.

José Carbó as Figaro in
The Barber of Seville

“Spain has produced some of the world’s greatest opera singers – Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo, José Cura, José Carreras – and when the Spanish go to the opera, that’s the standard of singing that they expect. If they’re not overly enthused with your performance, you’d get very polite clapping. If they don’t like it at all, you’d get booed and you won’t be invited back.”

By contrast, the Seattle audience for whom he sang at his US debut in Barber at the beginning of last year, was very generous. “If you’re good, American audiences love you, and if you’re not that good but you’re still trying your best, they love you too.” He hopes to go back to the States when a suitable role comes up.

In Australia, increasingly there’s not enough work to keep local singers employed full time. “In this country you can’t be proud; you have to get out there and do what you have to do to survive – teach, skimp, sing at weddings. I probably average between three to four  roles a year around Australia, which is great but it will take five to keep my boys in a good school.”

Yet opportunities do still come to Australian artists. This autumn, ABC Classics is releasing a collection of Spanish and Argentinean songs with Carbó and guitarists Slava & Leonard Grigoryan. Repertoire focuses on tangos, Spanish songs and Piazzolla pieces.

Mr Figaro’s admirers are likely to bring that item home as soon as it becomes available.

Taryn reaches the Bigtime

This month in Melbourne, Taryn Fiebig makes her role debut as Pamina in Julie Taymor’s hit production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Fiebig, who began her career as a light soprano and became a household name as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, has lately been charming audiences as Musetta in La bohème, and moving them to tears with her rich, beautiful  portrayal of Mozart heroines such as Zerlina and Susanna.

Speaking to Allerta! in a rehearsal room at the Sydney Opera House, Fiebig, friendly and relaxed in jeans and a feminine top and with her blonde hair tied back in a pony tail, tentatively agrees that her voice has shown noticeable progress with each new role that she’s taken on.

“For me, the difference lies in the evenness of tone and the increased volume that I’ve acquired.” She attributes the development of her voice to practice and singing a variety of roles. Not that she took for granted that it would happen. “Of course you want your voice to improve. But mine has changed significantly. It used to be a light baroque voice; it’s become more dramatic; it’s a good lyric now. It’s surprising how much we can develop the potential inside us if we’re given the right roles and direction.”

Fiebig has had many mentors and each one  has helped her in a different way. But more than mentors and a good voice, a singer needs the maturity to take criticism on board. “That’s probably the main thing that’s changed in me,” she laughs. “The ego is not so strong any more and criticism no longer threatens me.”

Vocally, Pamina is well within Fiebig’s range and capability; the challenge of Julie Taymor’s Flute lies in the fact that the production has been cut. “You don’t have as much time to establish Pamina’s character, yet the audience still has to believe that she’s madly in love with Tamino.”

Having started her career as a cellist in West Australia, playing My Fair Lady and Evita among other things, Fiebig works from a solid musical base. It’s a background that has given her a much better understanding of opera. “The score is the foundation of everything we do. I would be nervous without knowledge of how it works.”

  

She learns her roles by playing her part on the cello, and before coming to opera she used to accompany herself on the instrument at concerts. Yes, audiences loved it. “It’s a bit like… “ (she pats her head while rubbing her stomach)“…doing several things at once.”

 

Taryn Fiebig as Zerlina in Don Giovanni 2011

Besides doing concerts, in the early years Fiebig performed small roles in plays and kept up her ballet training. It wasn’t until she was 31 that a director friend, Talya Masel, suggested that she tried opera. “’Tassie’, she said, ‘All the disciplines that you’ve done culminate in opera. You should go to opera school.’” Mazel promptly organised for an audition at the Australian Opera Studio, where she was teaching. Fiebig laughs when remembering her reaction: “I thought, ‘You must be joking, I’m not good enough for that.’ So I didn’t turn up for the audition.” But Mazel rang and said, “Get your arse down here! We’re not leaving until you’ve been!” Fiebig did the audition and was accepted. After two years with the Opera Studio, she moved to Opera Australia.

 

“I came to opera late, but all the things that I’ve done came together in opera. And now they’re beginning to blossom.”

Was she lucky? She doesn’t think so. “There’s luck in an opportunity, but if you’re not ready to take advantage of it, not all the luck in the world will help you. I was lucky to have been the understudy in Pirates of Penzance when Emma Matthews fell ill and was unable to do the performance, which was being recorded for DVD. I went on within six hours, sang Mabel and was on the DVD. As a result of that I was offered Eliza in My Fair Lady. All that ‘luck’ would have come to nothing if I hadn’t been ready.”

Doing covers has enabled Fiebig to acquire a wide repertoire, but it’s also led to her opera career being all-consuming. “Work is 80-90 percent of my life,” she says. Having gone freelance at the beginning of this year has left more time walking the dog (a daschund called Malcolm - pictured below right), cooking, going to cafes and catching up with friends.

She plans to do a few overseas auditions at the end of the year. “It’s time, and hopefully something will come out of that. But I’m realistic.” She laughs, embarrassed. “There are a lot of sopranos out there.”

Having been in all four OA recordings for DVDs and films is a big advantage. “Since they’re really one take, they’re a true representation of what we do live. I hope that they will carry some weight."

Taryn Fiebig with her daschund Malcolm

Making the films was a wonderful but at times sobering experience. “When you’re on stage, the pit is between you and the audience, which means that there’s a little leeway for wrinkles and out of place hair…whereas in film, knowing that the camera’s …there (she holds her hand in front of her nose and stares hard at her middle finger)…can get into your mind a little.” The first time was the easiest because she did not realise how close the cameras were. When she saw The Marriage of Figaro, she grasped that every hair follicle was exposed. 

“With subsequent films we made a lot of mistakes in the first run because we were all so self-aware.”

Having come a long way in a relatively short time, Fiebig’s advice to young singers is to take their time.

“Perfect all the different aspects of what makes an opera singer - acting, movement, dancing, singing, language. You can’t learn those things in a room at the Con; you have to practise them in performance. The good thing is that as opera singers we have the luxury of time. By age 35, a singer’s career is only beginning.”

Revelations from Rachelle

Rachelle Durkin as Violetta in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: La Traviata

Revelations from Rachelle

When Rachelle Durkin auditioned for a place at Perth’s Academy of Performing Arts, she did not know what a treble clef was. Now the soprano, who shares the role of Violetta Valéry in Handa Opera on SydneyHarbour: La Traviata with Emma Matthews, is a regular at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where she was a Young Artist until 2004.

Why do you do the job you do? As a child I acted and sang my way around the house. I remember wanting to do musical theatre when I "grew up". I auditioned but couldn't pass the dancing round and so I was rejected. Opera was my only other choice really. I auditioned for the Academy of Performing Arts in Perth not even knowing what a treble clef was, and was offered a place in the Certificate of Music program. I grew to love opera in that first year and now I can't imagine doing anything else.

Who has influenced you most professionally? Joan Sutherland. Her technique was flawless, and I have always sought her recordings when I am studying a role. I am inspired by many other singers too, as well as by coaches, singing teachers and even people who aren't in the profession.

Is there any other profession that you would have liked to have followed? I guess it would have been interesting to see where the music theatre thing might have taken me...if only I could dance, ha ha! 

What is your idea of perfect happiness?  Happiness is fleeting of course, and different for each individual, but I can only imagine holding your own child, your own creation in your arms, being the closest thing to perfect happiness.  Feeling truly comfortable in your own skin, watching a sunset, or doing something for someone else can also make you very happy.  And taking time to smell the roses does work.

If you could have dinner with a historical figure, who would it be? Jesus. I would love to see that water to wine trick. Seriously, I would love to see the man; I’d have a lot of questions for him.

What is your greatest extravagance? I don't care for shoes or handbags, but I do love food. I have paid a pretty penny dining in some of the best restaurants in the world. There is nothing better than getting all dressed up and sharing an exquisite meal with someone interesting and fun.
 

One thing you regret is...Not being able to see my family more often when I live in New York.

If you could have any opera character as a friend, who would it be? Probably Olympia (the doll) in The Tales of Hoffmann. I know she's not real, but I would love to see all the mischief she would get up to. I'd just sit back and have a great ol’ laugh.

Who or what is the love of your life? My family. I have the best family anyone could ask for. Down-to-earth, fun-loving, forgiving and honest.  They mean everything to me.

What are you optimistic about? Having a normal life.  Hubby, kids, a house with a garden, a dog and some fish.

You would like to devote more time to...  Visiting with my family.

What is your favourite food? Seared Fois Gras. Sorry my little feathered friends. 

What is your most treasured possession? I bought locket necklaces with the word “Sister” on it from Tiffany’s on 5th Ave in Manhattan New York, for myself and my two sisters. I wear mine every day. It keeps me close to them. 

Which is the opera that got you hooked? Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. I heard it in my first year of university and fell in love with the aria ‘When I am laid in earth’.  I cried on and off for days after hearing it.

Which opera do you never need to hear again?  I actually can't think of an opera that I would never go to again.  Quite often it's the productions that ruin the experience for me, not the music.

If there's one quote that really speaks to you its... I heard one from Doctor Phil, made in reference to arguing within relationships, that I thought was funny: "No matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides" 

What is your idea of misery?  Being around ignorant people, bullies, or people who talk about themselves for hours. 

You still hope to... continue singing of course, hike the entire Bibbulmun track in Western Australia, get my scuba diving licence, travel travel travel, buy a really nice pad, and have a child...one day!

Which characteristics do you admire in others? Confidence, charisma, honesty, spontaneity, selflessness, kindness, patience.

You feel guilty when you think about... War.  I think about the innocent lives that are uprooted, and the pain that parents and children suffer, and I feel very guilty at how lucky I am.  It puts things in perspective for me when I think I'm having a bad day.

What type of holiday do you most enjoy? I tend to grab a guide book and plan full itineraries each day.  I think a cruise might make me slow down a bit more, and so I would love to go on the QM2 one day and be made to relax.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I wish I weren’t so hard on myself sometimes. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I don't like failing at anything.

Who is your favourite band? Don't have one.  I have thousands of songs on my iPhone and I listen to everything from The Beatles to Top 40.

You spend too much money on? Dining out.

Your greatest achievement has been? Coming from humble beginnings in Perth and landing myself a place in the Young Artist Program at the Metropolitan Opera.

The book everyone loved but you could not finish was?  Sorry Harry Potter fans. Couldn't get into it.

What is your favourite kitchen appliance? My Nespresso machine. I love my coffee.

How do you stay up to date with technology and trends? Easy, I don't!

Who is your favourite heart throb? At the moment, Ryan Gosling. Tell me one girl who didn't like the movie The Notebook! 

A fever for opera

Carlo Barricelli

Tenor Carlo Barricelli (pictured left) is everything you’d expect an Italian singer to be: passionately in love with opera, well versed in pizza, beautifully dressed, handsome, demonstrative, generous.

We agree to meet outside Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building, and he turns up with fellow Italian singer Daria Masiero (pictured below right), Liù in the Sydney run of OA’s hit production of Turandot. In the Melbourne season, which opens this month, Barricelli shares the role of Calaf with Rosario La Spina, as he did in Sydney.

The artists announce that they are hungry and politely suggest an upstairs Italian café where the pizza is very good. They seem to be old favourites of the maitre d’ because he quickly finds a quiet table amidst the lunchtime buzz.

 “What’s capsicum?” Barricelli asks, when we’ve been handed our menus. “Peperonata,” Masiero says, and to me: “If you’re going to have salad, you must try some of my pizza!”

I do. More than once. The waiters are attentive; they seem to know the artists.

While munching on pepperoni pizza and insalata verde, we talk about Turandot. People refer to ‘Nessun dorma’ as ‘the Pavarotti song’, and these days popular artists sing it with microphones, Barricelli says, shaking his head. There’s so much more to opera than that. “To go on the stage, I have to study for many years, get experience, and I don’t know if my lunch was poisoned and how my vocal chords are going to react to that!”

Jud Arthur and Daria Masiero
in Turandot 2012

Across the table, Masiero rolls her eyes, apparently in support of her friend’s view of popularising opera arias. 

Calaf is a very difficult role, Barricelli says. “You stay very high all through the night. You need good …good…distribution of energy.”

You have to pace yourself? I venture. 

“Exactly. Exactly.”

It’s a very beautiful opera, he says, sitting back. “One step closer to the heaven of the opera. No?”

 “Every tenor wants to sing that score,” Masiero agrees, offering me another slice of pizza.

For Barricelli, once he’d decided to make opera his career, the Turandot moment came fairly quickly. He was studying political science and economics – the plan was to become a politician – when at a friend’s party, after he’d entertained guests with a Neapolitan song, one of them, a retired opera singer, advised him to get some formal training.  Barricelli started taking singing lessons, then enrolled at the Conservatorium, and after graduation took up private lessons with his idol, the late Franco Corelli.

At the mention of his teacher’s name, Barricelli starts talking more animatedly, throwing in more Italian words as he goes along. “When was with him I…respirara?”

Breathed? I try.

 “Breathed!” he says. “When I was with Franco, I breathed opera. Franco said to me, ‘Carlo, you have a fever – malato – for opera!’ When opera touches you like that, you can’t go back.”

Masiero laughs affectionately and touches his shoulder. “Carlo, you love opera so much,” she says.

He laughs too, and begins to tell me about the type of voice a tenor needs to sing the role of Calaf: a lyrical voice to begin with;  a big, heroic tenor for the section in which he challenges Turandot; a Romantic voice for the final scene. These differences may seem trivial, but they’re very difficult to pull off.

Carlo Barricelli

When I ask why, Barricelli breaks first into Italian, then into song, perfectly illustrating the difference between the dramatic and lyrical tenor voice.

 “That’s amazing. That’s beautiful,” I tell him. “I see exactly what you mean.” Across the table, Masiero smiles at me.

There’s another challenge to Turandot: the switch in style that comes from Puccini not having finished the score. “I agree with Toscanini, who once stopped the opera where Liù dies,” Barricelli says. Next to him Masiero vigorously nods her head. “Because for Toscanini, Turandot finishes here. Alfano completed the opera, and his music is also very beautiful. But not like Puccini.”

While we finish our meals, Barricelli tells me about his background. Born in Adelaide and brought up in Italy, where his parents returned when he was a baby, he came back to sing: Il tabarro, then La bohème, Tosca, La fanciulla del West, and now Turandot.

 “The country is beautiful and the work is good, so I like coming here,” he says. His accountant wife travels with him when she can, but often has to return to their home in Bologna before the end of a run. 

“The opera singer has a very sacrificed life,” Barricelli says. “Very, very sacrificed. It’s a very beautiful life too, because the adrenalin gives you a lot of power.”

Even in Italy, few people understand what’s involved. “They ask, what is your work, and when you say you’re an opera singer, they ask, So what do you do during the day? They don’t understand how much work it takes to train your voice and rehearse. They don’t understand that you always have a war inside you because your body is your instrument, and if it doesn’t feel well, your instrument is not well.”

There are many roles he’d still like to sing. “I have very young career, even if I am not a young man!” This with a laugh. And he’d love to do Manon Lescaut. The Puccini one? Naturalmente!

As we say goodbye, and they warmly hug me, and Barricelli absolutely insists on paying for lunch, it’s impossible to understand how  anyone could not be in love with this big, colourful art form - the sheer magic of it and the passion of the people involved.

It feels good to have been touched by that magic over pepperoni pizza and insalata verde. Naturalmente.

The Opera Australia Chorus in Turandot