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The Age
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Victorian Opera updates Mozart's Abduction for the modern era
, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. In 1781, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – one of the most profound geniuses the human race has produced – sat as a servant at the table of the Archbishop of Salzburg, above the cooks but below the valets. Already a much-travelled and admired child prodigy, he felt the humiliation acutely. He could hardly have imagined that within a year he would have left the Archbishop's service, propelled literally by a boot up the backside from the Archbishop's secretary, and be revelling in the massive success of his first really great opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio . He had taken his first trailblazing steps from musician as servant to musician as entrepreneur. Now, 244 years later, Victorian Opera is launching a new production of the opera, very much designed for 2025 Melbourne, with a shortened title, a brand new libretto and some musical cuts and additions. Abduction is what director Con Costi calls a 'delicious dark rom-com'. The original story tells of two women, Konstanze and Blonde, abducted and taken to a Turkish harem. When their boyfriends, Belmonte and Pedrillo, try to steal them away, they are caught, but released, along with the women, by the merciful pasha. Lyndon Watts and Cleo Lee-McGowan during rehearsals for Victorian Opera's Abduction. Credit: Casey Horsfield In Costi's retelling, the pasha becomes a Great Gatsby figure who holds elaborate and debauched parties, which the two women enter voluntarily due to possible dissatisfaction with their metrosexual boyfriends, who venture in to 'save' them. Costi has Belmonte ask his sidekick: 'Do you think they are having doubts?' Pedrillo replies: 'Surely not. I mean look at us – we're young, we meditate, we moisturise.' Delightful gentle mockery that is definitely not in the original text, but highlights Costi's trajectory. 'At its heart, it is a sex comedy,' says Costi, 35. 'It's some of the most exciting, dynamic and beautiful music Mozart has in his canon. Then the characters are incredibly rich and witty and funny, and dealing with an extremely contemporary conundrum: how best to live.' Victorian Opera has gone with a vibrant young cast to keep the energy high. Pasha Selim, a non-singing role, is played by Lyndon Watts, 30, who made his name as Aaron Burr in Hamilton , then as Candide in last year's VO production. He is equally noted in the realms of theatre and musical theatre. Have others traversed such a wide path? 'Melbourne is full of them, actually,' he says. 'In the art spaces in Australia, you have to diversify or there's not enough work. I am surrounded by a lot of artists who straddle various worlds.' This is Watts' first mainstream opera, and he is excited. 'I'm sort of pinching myself to be part of this incredible music. It's a dream – it's like doing Shakespeare, it's like the mastery of Hamilton or Sondheim,' he says. Mercy and empathy are the keys to opening the Pasha's character, he says. 'As long as you're honouring the human being, if it's larger than life or different from the original, I enjoy it for what it is.' Emerging soprano Cleo Lee-McGowan, also 30, has the most difficult role, Konstanze, with its formidable technical and emotional demands. 'It's a beast of a role,' she says. 'It's very long and it's very high, but it's also very low. Mozart wrote it for a friend [the diva Caterina Cavalieri] to showcase her virtuosity and the extremes of the human voice, so the challenge is how do I achieve these extreme technical demands while also keeping the beauty.' Her answer is not to think about it too much but to dive into the character and trust her musical preparation. 'I prepare brick by brick, focusing on the coloratura [virtuoso] passages and working out where I can take a breath, where I can reset, and just figuring out a strategy to get through this marathon. I must say it's the most challenging role I've ever sung, and possibly will sing.' Lyndon Watts with costumier David Anderson during rehearsals for Victorian Opera's Abduction. Credit: Casey Horsfield Lee-McGowan says the original setting may be strange, but it's highly relatable. Konstanze and Blonde are asking questions every young person is asking and probably through every stage of life: 'Who am I, and what do I really want?' The pair are the first of Mozart's canny, complicated women, prominent in his later operas, Costi says. 'You can't help but notice the music and the time that he gives to the female characters across his operas. He gives so many women … musical dignity, and that's why he is the great enlightenment humanist composer.' Costi says the big question he took a long time to grapple with, is what is the genre? The opera is not just a comedy but at times deeply serious, reflective and moving. 'It's not just a raucous comedic opera buffa, but it's not an opera seria where we are dealing with the plight of emperors and kings and queens.' Both forms had strict conventions which Mozart defied to produce something new. 'The game I really want to play with the audience is this oscillation between things that are comedic and witty, and you're hopefully laughing, but at the same time grappling with quite serious things. 'It's an exciting challenge of really gear-shifting between comedy and human beings at the end of their tether. It has the tropes for romantic comedy, but there's so much threat and menace hanging over the world that they're in – I can't really think of a parallel.' The set model for Victorian Opera's 'exciting and fun' Abduction. Credit: Casey Horsfield There is a joy, he says, in embracing what is wild and dark about being human and also unravelling the complications of control in a relationship. 'Where does love and commitment transform into something controlling? These things are very interesting to me, particularly in the contemporary climate of a modern Victorian age of ethics and etiquette.' Costi says the contemporary, cult-like, world he has chosen lets him reflect the sexual allure, danger and strangeness of a harem. Loading He is categorical that his revision is not about having the audience going away talking about the director – a charge levelled at some directors in Europe. 'I'm an opera fan. I'm a Mozart obsessive,' he says. 'Wunderkind directors throwing arbitrary grenades at things for shock value is actually kind of passé. That was interesting in the 1980s. There's now something much more interesting in how do I actually tap into what I think is the intention of the composer and the essential qualities of what makes this a fantastic opera, but treating opera as a living, dynamic medium.' This production, he believes, is an ideal introduction for people who are not regular opera goers. 'I like to think there's something in it for connoisseurs and for first-time opera goers. I want both to leave having had an exciting and fun and moving experience.'
The Print
a day ago
- Politics
- The Print
India's UN envoy calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire, says humanitarian aid is beyond politics
Harish said that sustaining life is beyond any realm of politics and conflict. He reiterated India's stance that there should be an immediate ceasefire. He highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed, and many more injured, with medical facilities damaged or destroyed, and children deprived of schooling for over 20 months. New York: India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, on Wednesday, emphasised the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, urging purposeful dialogue and diplomacy to bring the parties together while delivering a statement at the High-Level International Conference on 'The Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of The Two-State Solution' in New York. 'Humanitarian assistance is vital in sustaining life and must remain outside the realm of politics or conflict…India has also been clear on the measures that must be undertaken in the short-term – An immediate ceasefire, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian assistance, release of all hostages, and the path of dialogue and diplomacy. There are no alternatives to these measures,' he said. 'We appreciate the efforts of all friendly states that have facilitated such measures between the parties,' he added. Ambassador Harish called for immediate attention to the humanitarian assistance pillar, ensuring an uninterrupted aid flow to Gaza, including food, fuel, and basic necessities, without hindrance or politicisation. 'Our efforts must now focus on how to bring about a two-state solution through purposeful dialogue and diplomacy, and bringing the parties to the conflict to engage directly with each other…The humanitarian assistance pillar demands our immediate attention and action. The human suffering in Gaza continues unabated. Tens of thousands have been killed, and many more injured. Several medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Children have been deprived of schooling for more than 20 months. Humanitarian aid needs to flow without impediments,' he said. 'Palestinians in Gaza must have access to food, fuel and other necessities without hindrance,' he added. India has advocated for an immediate ceasefire, sustained humanitarian assistance, release of all hostages, and dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path forward. Ambassador Harish reiterated India's readiness to contribute to achieving practical solutions that make a tangible difference in the lives of Palestinians, emphasising the need to follow up on action points emerging from the conference. 'It is also India's earnest desire to see peace and calm prevail in the Middle East. Lasting solutions are required to achieve this. Certain action points are emerging from the Conference. Following up on them is the key. Let us not be content with paper solutions but strive to achieve practical solutions that actually make a tangible difference in the daily lives of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. India expresses its complete readiness to contribute to this noble endeavor,' he said. This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. Also Read: India, Pakistan are sleepwalking toward another crisis on the LOC
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Pa. Ranjith seeks separate law to prevent caste-based crimes
Filmmaker Pa. Ranjith on Wednesday criticised the DMK and its allies for what he called 'ignoring the need for a separate law' to deal with caste-based crimes in the State after the brutal murder of Scheduled Caste youth Kavin Selvaganesh, a software engineer and son of school teacher on July 27. He urged the State Government to constitute a special committee comprising of SC activists, retired judge and intellectuals, akin to Retired Justice K. Chandru's committee that studied caste discrimination in schools, be to study and prevent honour killings. In statement, he pointed out that the District Collector has not visited the family of the victim despite being required to do so as per the provisions of the Prevention of Atrocity Act (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), and rued that the scheduled castes are having to fight for minimum form of justice even at times when media spotlights such atrocities. 'The current DMK government is displaying the same kind of apathy just as the previous government when it comes to handling Dalit-related cases. The law-and-order situation in the State has deteriorated on multiple fronts and the fact that the parents of the accused are police personnel raises serious concerns about how this case will be handled. The Tamil Nadu government must ensure a completely transparent investigation and arrest Surjith's parents without delay,' said Mr. Ranjith. Mr. Ranjith said the State government shouldn't just stop with providing government job to the victims' family but pay special focus to monitor districts where caste-crimes are high. 'Districts like Tirunelveli, Sivagangai, Pudukkottai, and Thoothukudi must be declared as 'atrocity-prone areas' under the provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and establish special police stations,' he said.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Did We Miss the Happy Ending in ‘Hamlet'?
To the Editor: Re 'Listen to 'Hamlet.' Feel Better,' by Jeremy McCarter (Opinion guest essay, July 23): I appreciate Mr. McCarter's provocative thoughts on William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet.' I agree with most of them, but the conclusion is off. Hamlet is ready to face death in the lines quoted at the end of this essay, but not because he has found peace, at least not completely. While the play can indeed be read as a coming-of-age story, 'outgrowing' gloom, whether about the past or future, is not really the point. Mr. McCarter points out that Hamlet's curiosity has sustained him through his dark times. But it is something more than that. Hamlet is fiercely dedicated to finding out the truth, revealing it and correcting the lies and calumnies told to conceal it. When he knows his death is near, his final plea to Horatio is to 'tell my story.' Hamlet's great life force comes from his unquenchable desire to help the truth to 'will out,' as it were. The rest, as he says in his dying breath, is silence. Dorothy Dean WaltonMexico City To the Editor: I taught 'Hamlet' for 35 years, mostly to gifted high school seniors. I witnessed numerous adaptations and costume updates. Never did anyone take this tack. I love the idea of an uplifted and resolved Hamlet who has learned to live in the moment! My students would have loved it, too. Particularly in these trying and confusing times. Dana EdenbaumBala Cynwyd, Pa. To the Editor: 'If it be now, 'tis not to come: if it be not to come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.' So says Hamlet. This is wisdom beyond common or good sense; it is elemental. And it answers another gloomy Shakespearean character's thesis by showing how to travel the way to dusty death. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Wall Street Journal
23-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Failure Taught Them How to Succeed
My father and my mother's brother began their careers in the now defunct savings and loan industry in Chicago in the late 1950s. My uncle George was a young executive at Fairfield Savings and Loan, where his father, my grandfather, was president. In the early 1940s, my grandfather—'Pa' to us grandkids—had been a federal bank examiner. When the government decided to convert the failing Fairfield bank into a savings and loan—commonplace after the Depression—Pa got the nod. Right place, right time. My dad was an apprentice real estate appraiser at Draper and Kramer, a mortgage banking company. Established in 1893 by Arthur W. Draper and Adolph F. Kramer, the firm still operates today. According to its website, it became 'one of Chicago's premiere mortgage banking and residential real estate management firms,' promoting home ownership and providing residential financing during a critical period of city growth.
