The Operative Word with Daria Masiero

Daria Masiero

Why do you do the job that you do? It has been my childhood dream. Music is an expression of emotion which is an expression of life itself. I am so lucky to have the gift to sing.

Who has influenced you most professionally? My music teacher at school. He believed in my talent and encouraged me to pursue this career.

Is there any other profession that you would have liked to have followed? Of course! I would have loved to have been a clown in a paediatric hospital, where I could put a smile on sick children’s faces.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? I don't believe in perfect happiness, but in moments of happiness.

If you could have dinner with a historical figure, who would it be? Seneca. I would like to have a long chat with him about making the most of those moments of happiness.

What is your greatest extravagance? Maybe unconditional love.

One thing you regret is…Not having had the chance to say goodbye to my music teacher before he died.

If you could have any opera character as a friend, who would it be? If I felt light-hearted, Princess Turandot, because I would like to explain to her that men are not as bad as she believes they are. On a more serious note I would like to be friends with Carmen.

Masiero as Liu in Turandot 2012

Who or what is the love of your life? The idea of love.

What are you optimistic about? Hope. Once a friend told me that we live from hope to hope. What is important is that we do not forget to live the moments between.

You would like to devote more time to…My parents. With my job it is difficult. I wish I could have a long vacation with them.

What is your favourite food? I'm Italian. We are obsessed with good food. So it is really hard to decide which food I prefer. Probably dessert.

What is your most treasured possession? My family.

Which is the opera that got you hooked? La bohème and Don Carlo.

Which opera do you never need to hear again? Contemporary opera.

If there’s one quote that really speaks to you it’s…“Do not trample on dreams.”

What is your idea of misery? Compromising the soul.

You still hope to…Hope.

Which characteristics do you most admire in others? The ability to speak your mind without fear.

Masiero as Liu in Turandot 2012

You feel guilty when you think about…eating too much chocolate.

What type of holiday do you most enjoy? I love visiting new cities and trying to learn as much as possible about them.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I don't know where to start. 

Who is your favourite band? Queen, Incognito.

You spend too much money on…Shoes and travel.

Your greatest achievement has been...My last Tosca in Parma, and to be happy with what I have.

The book everyone loved but you could not finish was...Anna Karenina, but I’m still reading it.

What is your favourite kitchen appliance? Washing machine. I could not live without it.

How do you stay up to date with new technology and trends? I keep up to date because I love technology. Even if at times I wish I could live without it.


Daria Masiero stars as Leonora in Il trovatore, showing 29 January - 5 March at Sydney Opera House. Click here for more information and tickets.

Carmen dining a feast of Spanish food

Fresh Catering Santiago Tart with Dried Fruit & Almonds, Catalan Creme with Dark Chocolate & Berries

Fresh Catering, the company which catered to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour - La Traviata last year, is back and ready to give Carmen audiences the treat of a lifetime. Says MD Peter McCloskey: “We played it safe in 2012, but this year we’re pulling out all the stops, extending the food offering and pushing the boundaries of what can be done in an outdoor setting. Our aim is to make the Carmen dining experience the best that Sydney has seen at an outdoor event.”

Fresh Catering Tapas with Paella De Fiesta

What emerged from 2012’s Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour is that a large percentage of audience members want to eat, and arrive early to do so. But within this broad frame of reference, different people are looking for different dining experiences, and this year Fresh Catering is providing options accordingly.  

Top of the range is a newly introduced à la carte restaurant. Instead of providing food cooked on site, kept in bain maries and served as customers come through, as one would usually do for a large outdoor event, at the à la carte restaurant those who want a slightly more formal eating experience can sit down and be served. On offer will be shared Spanish-style platters to be enjoyed with friends, over a glass of wine and followed by a range of desserts. McCloskey says: “If you’re aiming for this type of experience, come when the gates open at 5.30pm so that you have time to explore the site and find your seats before sitting down to a leisurely meal.”

Fresh Catering Chocolate & Orange Tart
with Hazelnut Praline, Selection of Spanish
Cheese with Muscatels & Crackers

Some people come straight from work to the theatre, and these audience members tend to look for a quick bite to eat. No better place to find it than at the Empanada Bar. “Last year’s pizzas were extremely popular, and this year we wanted something similar but Spanish in flavour; something that we could cook on site and serve really fresh.” Empanadas were the perfect solution. “They’re going to be big and fresh and we’ll serve them with lovely salads.” Empanada Bar sweet treats will include Catalan crème with dark chocolate and berries, and Spanish-style mille feuilles.  

Some audience members arrive 15 minutes before the beginning of the show and still like to have something to eat. For them, there’s the Chorizo Bar, which offers barbecued sausages and Spanish beer. McCloskey says: “Gone are the days when everything had to be formal and stitched up – have a sausage and a beer and enjoy the opera!”

Fresh Catering Cocktail Party Menu (Spanish)

If sausage is not your thing, another quick meal on offer will be Paella di Fiesta. “Having chefs on site cooking in giant pans is such fabulous theatre. And paella epitomises Spain.”

From a catering point of view, pre-theatre dining is not the end of the story, since one of the most important lessons that Fresh Catering learned from last year’s experience, is that Opera on the Harbour audiences, unlike their Sydney Opera House cousins, want to eat during interval. “That surprised me,” McCloskey says. “I’m a regular opera goer and I know that at the House opera audiences don’t tend to eat halfway through a performance.” At Carmen on the Harbour, during interval peckish patrons will be catered to with a range of Champagne bars offering chilled wines, champagnes, oysters and other sweet and savoury delicacies.

Fresh Catering Marinated Chicken
 Guindillas on Brioche Rolls

On colder nights, those in search of a hot drink will be able to grab a quick filter coffee. “Serving espresso coffee to a large crowd is very difficult; even the Sydney Opera House doesn’t attempt it.”

McCloskey is certainly speaking from experience. During last year’s Opera on the Harbour run, on each of the 18 consecutive nights of performance Fresh Catering moved 500 pizzas,150 portions of fish and chips, 25kg pasta, 45kg braised lamb, 40kg tomatoes, 150 bunches of herbs, 20kg pumpkin, 30 bunches of leeks, 50 litres of roast tomato sauce, 20kg beef fillet, 30 bunches asparagus, 300 salads, 150 antipasto plates, 200 portions of desserts and 30kg lamb shoulder.  

Spicy Beef & Green Olive
Empanadas, and a Spinach &
Mushroom Empanada

There were neither shortages nor leftovers to speak of. But no one could have predicted that this would be the case. As McCloskey says: “We’ve catered to 10,000-guest events, but 3,000 people over 18 consecutive nights, that’s daunting – you’re ordering hundreds of kilos of everything, day after day, and there’s the logistics of transportation and delivery and employing and training extra staff.” Plus there’s the imponderable of the weather: “Planning food that you can keep if the event is cancelled involves a very specific kind of thinking.”

Having grown up in an opera-loving family, to McCloskey catering to arts organisations (Fresh Catering holds contracts with the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Sydney Theatre Company and Historic Houses Trust’s Vaucluse Tea Rooms and Elizabeth Bay House) comes naturally. “We know what arts consumers want because we’re arts consumers ourselves.”

As an avid opera lover, he’s passionate about enabling new audiences to discover the art form. “What better introduction to opera than the total experience: Sydney Harbour at sunset, beautiful food shared with friends, and glorious opera!”

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: Carmen is showing 22 March - 12 April at Fleet Steps, The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Click here for more information and tickets. 

2012: The highlights and the hairy moments

Artistic Director
Lyndon Terracini

Allerta! sits down with Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, who reflects upon the year that was.

  

Allerta!: What was the hairiest moment of 2012?

Lyndon Terracini: [Laughs] There were a few! Building Julie Taymor’s extremely complex Magic Flute set felt like flying by the seats of our pants, but in the end we sold more tickets to the production than we’d sold to any other Flute production in Sydney. I was especially thrilled that so many young people came to see the show. The most beautiful sound in the world is the sound of children laughing, and I heard that in Flute every night. 

As for the inaugural Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour La Traviata; it certainly presented a few hairy moments. We didn’t finish the site until ten minutes before we opened the gates on opening night, for one thing. And I’ll always remember the moment, at 5am one morning, when the structure that the stage was going to be built on was lowered on to the pylons. If it bumped them in the wrong direction, they would either bend or snap and it would have been a complete disaster. You could feel the tension in the air that morning as this massive frame was being lowered on to the pylons.

Stuart Skelton will perform in
the Melbourne Ring Cycle

Then there was our first big storm in the lead-up to opening night. I went down there and water was pouring into the orchestral room and the dressing room; the crew were putting black plastic rubbish bags up to try to contain the water. It was hairy.

In the winter season my heart missed a beat or two when on the first night of Die tote Stadt, the wonderful trick whereby Cheryl Barker walks through the screen, didn’t work. She had to walk around the screen. I was sitting there, dying.

Then there was the first night of Lucia, when as the orchestra started playing the overture, the screen wouldn’t go up. I was fumbling for my iPhone, wondering “Who can I call…?”  Those kinds of moments...they age you. [Laughs.] 

Later in the year there was the moment when Houston Grand Opera pulled out of the Ring co-production. We have a lot of co-productions with major theatres, and while they offer many advantages, one drawback is that you are exposed to other companies’ difficulties. Most of our co-productions are with four or five partners, so it’s not a major disaster if one pulls out, but with the Ring we only had one partner.  Fortunately we built in a big contingency for the production. The shortfall in expected funds for the Ring will be absorbed into our annual activities and will not impact on the production in any way.

Yarrabah! The Musical

Allerta!: And what were some of the year’s highlights?

LT: When on opening night of La Traviata on the Harbour, 3000 people spontaneously leapt to their feet, it was pretty special. Another amazing moment was when on the first night of South Pacific, the audience was on their feet again. It was wonderful that so many young people came to The Magic Flute, having the time of their lives. I was also incredibly moved when at the end of our Community Choirs project, choristers walked on stage at the Sydney Opera House and their relatives and friends in the audience waved at them, and they were just thrilled. Finally there was Yarrabah! The Musical, drawing an audience of 4,500 people among the North Queensland Aboriginal community. At the end of it, people were cheering with tears running down their cheeks. That was extraordinary, a life-changing experience.

Community Choirs Project

Allerta!: In 2012 Opera Australia significantly expanded its activities and its budget. Could you tell us more about this?

LT: Our budget increased by $30 million last year, and we had to earn that extra $30 million; our core government funding did not increase. I think it’s fair that we earn our keep, but in order to do so, we’ve had to play to a much larger audience than before. To be attractive to that larger audience, we’ve had to diversify, and in the process we discovered that we have many different audiences rather than one big audience. In a democratic society, if everyone is paying tax, then it’s our job to make sure that as many people as possible get the benefit of that tax. And so, we are now making it our business to play to each of the audiences that support us, often through different productions. 

Former Chief Executive
Adrian Collette

Allerta!: 2012 saw OA’s much-loved Chief Executive, Adrian Collette, move on to new challenges. What are your thoughts about that?

LT: I was really sorry to see Adrian go, even though I understood why he felt that he needed to do something else at this stage of his life. When I first came to OA he was very welcoming, and he’s been tremendously supportive of everything that I’ve done. We’ve never had a disagreement. One of the reasons that things have been going so well at OA, is that there’s a chemistry among senior management members that makes things work. Adrian has been an extremely important part of that.  

Handa Opera on Sydney
Harbour: La Traviata
(Photo by Jonathan Summers)

Allerta!: The inaugural Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour was a great success. In future, what role will it play in Opera Australia’s planning?

LT: It’s part of our mainstream program now. 61% of people who bought tickets to La Traviata had never been to the opera before. I think that’s part of the reason why Aida and Butterfly did so well last year – that new audience is now discovering our other productions. I foresee that Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour will drive much of what we do in future.

Allerta!: You’ve been called an impresario. Do you think the title is apt?

LT: [Laughs] If you want to be relevant in a performing arts company in the 21^st century, you need a very wide range of skills. Being artistic director of a company such as OA forces you to combine the skills that come from a lifetime of experience. Everything I’ve done in my life has been preparing me for this position.

Meet the masks in A Masked Ball

Chorus members model the
masks for Review Magazine

When you buy tickets to an opera called A Masked Ball, you expect to see masks. Our new production by Spanish company La Fura dels Baus, which opens at the Sydney Opera House this month, will not disappoint audience members who made this assumption – designer Lluc Castells’ 190 hand-made creations, which turn the singers wearing them into expressionless, cloned numbers, took our Art, Millinery, Wardrobe and Props departments a year to develop and produce.

Head of Art Steven Vella smiles when recalling his first encounter with La Fura dels Baus: “I saw a really outrageous production of theirs in Sydney in the 1990s; it was performed in a huge, dark room and there was raw meat and blood; audience members were chased with trolleys and they were running and screaming. It was really out there.”

Vella was thrilled when he heard that OA was producing the new Masked Ball – or Ballo, as it is known in the opera world – with the Spaniards. Working on the production turned out to be even more stimulating than he’d expected. Even if it had its moments. 

Once Vella and his colleagues had studied Castells’ highly detailed bible of drawings, the first challenge was to find suitable fabric for the masks and hoods. By the time Castells came to Sydney in early 2012, Art had come up with prototypes made of deusith, a soft, thermo-moulding plastic material imported from Germany. Originally each singer was going to have four different masks, but Castells, who speaks little English and communicated via a translator, simplified the design to one flesh-coloured mask worn over a hood, plus a separate chrome mask for the ball scene.

Soprano Tamar Iveri in rehearsals
with her mask

Vella had sleepless nights over the chrome masks. He and his team had come up with a prototype from the same deusith that they’d used for the flesh-coloured items, which they sprayed, but Castells wanted chrome as shiny as that of the mag wheels on a new Ferrari. “The only way to get such a finish was to have the masks electroplated,” Vella recalls. “We tried that, but the heat damaged the material. We then tried plastic, but heating the mould melted it. Finally Props and Art made flexible fibreglass resin versions of the masks. We spent many hours sanding them to get the perfect finish before sending them for chroming.”

The hoods presented obstacles of their own. Vella had sourced a wetsuit-type fabric for them, but each time he dyed a piece it would come up a different colour. Spraying the fabric produced the desired result, so that Millinery was finally able to make the hoods.

Both masks and hoods had to be ready for the chorus fitting in October 2012. Kimberley Harford, a freelance designer recruited to help, and to whom Vella handed over the project once the developmental stage had ended, remembers the angst that the first fitting caused. “We were cutting it fine because two days before the fittings we still hadn't received all the materials, but in the end everything arrived and I managed to mould the masks in time.”

Harford cut the back pieces with a pair of lace scissors, while an artificial flower manufacturer cut the complicated deusith front pieces. She then moulded and assembled each mask based on individual singers’ head measurements. 

Mask and hood

She connected the front and back pieces of each mask with rubber bands reinforced by elastic. “I made 20 deusith samples to find out what type of glue would stick deusith and rubber band together, and the answer is, no glue will do that – we ended up using rivets,” she says, with a laugh.

A chorus fitting is not for the faint-hearted, as each mask had to be modelled on the face that was going to wear it. Harford says: “Singers’ costumes have to fit perfectly to enable them to sing well. In Ballo it was not just the mask, there’s the hood as well, and the fit of one depends on the other.”

Looking back, Vella and Harford agree that the journey to opening night was stressful at times, but that they’re absolutely thrilled with the end result. “It wasn’t until they put on the suits and the hoods and masks that you really got the idea,” Harford says. “It looks amazing on stage.”

After its Sydney run, A Masked Ball will travel to Melbourne, and then to four other opera companies around the world. 

A Masked Ball is showing 16 January - 12 February at Sydney Opera House; And 12 April - 3 May at Arts Centre Melbourne.