Jessica Dean and Anthony Hunt

Without further ado, we are in February already!

Time has a habit of passing quickly in London, when one spends an hour on the bus getting to college and an hour getting back, in the dark of winter, it can seem quite depressing. People are always huddled up in their coats, focussed on getting home as quickly as possible, which of course never goes to plan, as the bus is diverted, or the tube is delayed. Even more disappointing is the distinct lack of snow in London this January! We were promised a little by the meteorologists one weekend, but in the event it didn’t materialise! Although it is still quite cold, I suspect the opportunity for snow has passed.

January is really the tale of the Opera Scenes. First day back, the Academy Opera had three weeks in which to rehearse and stage over an hour and a half of selected opera scenes. Anthony and Stephen Wood, the second year repetiteur, shared the work of conducting and playing for the scenes, which was a great pleasure; particularly as Anthony got to conduct the Flowermaidens scene from Parsifal - something particularly satisfying about 12 amazing women singing such brilliant music! Ingeneously staged by John Ramster, the drama teacher at the RAM, we had the girls being rudely interrupted by Parsifal, arriving in confusion on stage in bathrobes and towels on their heads, before they all whipped offstage for a magical transformation into slinky black dresses!

Jessica’s role during the scenes, aside from as one of the Flowermaiden’s (2nd group, 1st maiden for you Wagner-ites!) was as Le Feu (the Fire) in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortileges. This is in anyones book a very demanding sing, and even more demanding when dressed up as a Kylie Minogue showgirl, running about the stage! Unfortunately, Jessica was taken by a nasty chest infection, very unusual for Jess, and was unable to perform on the first night. Despite the continuing illness, she did have a little more voice for the second night, and so soldiered on to perform the L’enfant scene, disguising as much of her illness as her voice would allow!

We were very glad to be able to return to Adelaide for Christmas, not just for the festive season, but also to make sure we were present at Jessica’s Grandfather’s 90th birthday celebrations. This was a particularly special day for everyone, and we were so glad to have been able to come back for it, and have a sing-a-long around the piano with the relatives.

We were able to get as much sun as possible, and Anthony was able to make a few circumspect appearances around town, playing organ for the Adelaide Chamber Singers, and at St Peter’s Cathedral - he had an absolute ball playing for midnight mass, and very good to catch up with friends there.

Here we are at Brighton beach (the one in Adelaide, not England!! - obviously!)

The major event for the first term was, of course, The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, and directed by John Copley. This was a mammoth undertaking for everyone involved, but Jessica was thrilled to be given the role of Barbarina, which, if you don’t know Figaro, is a lovely small role for a young soprano with a beautiful aria at the opening of Act Four.

Many of the principal roles had already been rehearsing since the end of the previous year, so it was pretty much straight into Figaro rehearsals from day one. Anthony was involved particularly with preparing the covers for a seperate mini-performance, and is also now, amongst other things, an experienced surtitle operator! Figaro was such a pleasure to work on, it is of course one of the greatest operas ever written, and John Copley’s insight into the libretto was extraordinary.

I think Figaro is one of those pieces that will come up time and time again for anyone involved with opera. It is well loved by audiences and performers alike for very good reasons; the apparent charm and simplicity of the music very carefully drives the action, and the witty humour throughout make all the characters loveable, and particularly believable. And, of course I’m sure it is universally acknowledged that the fast and furious Finale to Act 2 is one of the greatest scenes ever written for the stage.

Below: Jessica as Barbarina with, Lucie Spickova (Cherubino), Lisa Crosato (Countess) and Dong Jun Wang (Count.)