Handel Partenope

Opera Australia

Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House

March 12 – 31

After a lacklustre summer season – an unfunny Barber, a poorly sung Butterfly (second cast) – Opera Australia has come up trumps with its new production of Handel’s Partenope. Unusual for the genre, it is a satirical comedy in which director Christopher Alden has had a field day with his imaginative production, drawing from the visual language of Salvador Dalí, Man Ray and other surrealists of the 1930s. What surprised me most of all was the number of successfully funny moments, including some perfectly timed vulgarisms that might have seemed gratuitous and silly in less capable hands.

Many opera productions have failed because theatre directors intent on “saving” the art form have stuffed them up. On the other hand, many early works have been rescued from obscurity through imaginative new productions. Handel’s operas in particular have stood up remarkably well to a range of bold new theatrical ideas. Partenope is not one of the composer’s greatest scores, but it is served well by a clever staging such as this one.

There would be very few opera buffs left who would now prefer to sit...