It won’t come as any surprise to regular opera and theatre audiences that in the past five years, fewer than 5 per cent of the works presented by funded opera companies in Melbourne were written by women.
Independent chamber opera company Lyric is determined to redress the gender inequity with its recent presentation of Iphis, created by acclaimed Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, with libretto by Richard Toop.
Lyric’s production of Iphis marked the first time this opera has been staged in 15 years.
Directed by Katy Maudlin and conducted by Lyric’s new Artistic Director, Patrick Burns, Iphis starred soprano Morgan Carter in the title role, tenor Douglas Kelly, soprano Nicole Wallace and emerging artists tenor Timothy Daly and baritone Troy Castle, with soprano Breanna Stuart making her professional opera debut.
Written for six singers and a chamber orchestra, it was based on the ancient Roman poet Ovid’s famous Metamorphosis.
Artistic director Burns is determined that the voices of women as composers must be heard by Melbourne audiences.
“One of the curiosities of the opera world is that despite the fact that the majority of our audiences are women, very few operas written by women ever make it to our stages,” he explained.
“I stumbled across Iphis while researching another project I was creating around art song by Australian female composers,” Burns said.
“I was captivated by Kats-Chernin’s colourful vocal writing, mixed with Toop’s very ‘Australian’ libretto, which combined to create characters that seemed to be lifted straight out of the iconic film Muriel’s Wedding.”
Lyric’s production of Iphis, was staged successfully at St Kilda’s Theatreworks, which has seen the birth of many new productions that have gone on to have further seasons.
To keep in touch and find out about Lyric Opera’s next productions, visit their website lyricopera.com.au
Julie Houghton