When circus and opera combine
Upcoming opera Dido & Aeneas combines jaw-dropping acrobatics and exhilarating physicality with the stunning musicianship of Opera Australia.
According to Yaron Lifschitz, there is only one commandment in circus.
“We’re nine shorter than the Torah,” he laughed while chatting to The AJN about his latest collaboration with Opera Australia, Dido & Aeneas.
“The commandment is ‘thou shall not bore’.” And according to Lifschitz, this opera certainly won’t be boring for anyone.
Directed by Lifschitz, who is the artistic director of acclaimed acrobatic troupe, Circa, Dido & Aeneas combines jaw-dropping acrobatics and exhilarating physicality with the stunning musicianship of Opera Australia.
“This opera is fast-paced, it gets a move on, it doesn’t drag,” Lifschitz explained. “It’s got this amazing hard, fleeting energy. It really is a ripper of a piece.”
Dido & Aeneas reprises the winning formula of Lifschitz’s previous work with Opera Australia, the highly praised Orpheus & Eurydice.
Dido and Aeneas is a tragic opera composed by Henry Purcell around 1688. Based on Virgil’s Aeneid, it tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her doomed love affair with the Trojan hero Aeneas. After escaping from Troy, Aeneas arrives in Carthage and falls in love with Dido. However, witches plot to destroy their happiness by reminding Aeneas of his destiny to found Rome. When supernatural forces command him to leave, Aeneas abandons Dido despite his love for her. Heartbroken by his betrayal, Dido sings her famous lament, When I am laid in earth, before dying of grief.
As Lifschitz says, it’s opera, the woman dies. But, the director describes it as a cutting-edge contemporary production.
“You see a stage full of singers, chorus acrobats all working together, all inhabiting the same world. It’s very visual but also stark. It’s a story of love and loss and tragedy. But it’s also a story of history and empire, and it has this contemporary feel,” he said.
While Circa and Opera Australia have worked together in the past, Lifschitz explained that they’re always learning from each other.
“It’s like going from cooking on a little one-burner stove to being in an industrial kitchen,” he said when asked how it feels to be working with the company. “You’re part of a really big machine, full of people who are extremely good at what they do, and you have the heft of the largest arts company in Australia behind you.”
But, as Lifschitz reminded The AJN, Circa punches well above its weight. “We do things in a very efficient and refined way,” he said. “A lot of the systems need to adapt to each other and that’s challenging at times. But I think we both come out richer for having dealt with different ways of thinking and working.”
For Lifschitz, being back at the Sydney Opera House is yet again, a dream come true.
“When I was at drama school, I remember walking up those stairs and thinking ‘one day, I’m going to have an opera in that theatre’, which was a fanciful dream,” he recalled. “And we do. And that’s an amazing feeling. When you walk into the Sydney Opera House, it brings out the best of everyone. I think you realise you’re in one of those incredible iconic venues and you have to rise to the occasion, which is absolutely spectacular.”
Dido & Aeneas is at the Sydney Opera House from March 13. For tickets, visit opera.org.au
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