The Children’s Bach is a chamber opera that faithfully adapts the novella of the same name by Helen Garner. Lyric Opera are staging this production at Theatre Works (the original was performed in 2008) and I was fortunate to be amongst the audience on opening night.
The story is largely set in Melbourne in the early 1980s, where former university friends Dexter (Michael Honeyman) and Elizabeth (Juel Riggall) reconnect after many years. Elizabeth’s younger sister Vicki (Lucy Schneider) has just moved back in with her and is starting to feel a little in the way of her older sister’s nocturnal antics with her sometime lover Philip (Adrian Li Donni). Philip himself has a young daughter, Poppy (Chloe Taylor). Meanwhile, Dexter lives in a traditional family consisting of his wife Athena (Kate Amos) and two sons. We only meet one son in the opera, Billy (alternating Ben Touzel / Chris Touzel) who is severely disabled. As these two groups become enmeshed, themes of love, family, and the complexities of relationships emerge.
The title itself alludes to the collection of simple Bach pieces for piano that Athena occasionally plays. But also running through the story are references to music composition as a craft which Poppy helpfully explains to the audience at various points in the show as well as the metaphor of tension between order, chaos and the resolution of the two.
As with most operas I have been to, there are surtitles available if one was to struggle to make out what is being sung. These are on a screen to the side of the set which means you would need to turn your head back and forth between that and the stage if you needed to follow them. Luckily the strong operatic voices had clarity that easily filled space and meant I rarely had to do much head swivelling.
I was impressed with the stage itself having been nicely divided into multiple rooms on a couple of levels. Different rooms light up as performers play out the scenes of the show. At stage left sits the chamber orchestra consisting of six plus the conductor (Patrick Burns), who manage to incorporate Andrew Schultz’s composition into the production without overwhelming the singers. Kudos to them for doing this.
The libretto is compiled by Glen Perry and mostly captures Helen Garner’s original text (but now as opera lines). I suspect the only additions are that of Poppy in articulating some technical aspects of musical craft to the audience.
I can easily see two different groups of people loving this production. Firstly, lovers of operatic voices will get to hear excellent execution of the craft with just enough musical instrumentation for it not to be overwhelming. The second group of people for whom this should be a must see are those who were fans of the original Helen Garner’s novella. Lyric Opera has put on an impressive production and should be congratulated.
https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2024/the-children’s-bach
DATES + TIMES
Friday 30 August – 7:30pm (Preview)
Saturday 31 August – 7:30pm (Opening Night)
Tuesday 3 September – 7:30pm
Wednesday 4 September – 7:3pm
Thursday 5 September – 7:30pm
Friday 6 September – 7:30pm
Saturday 7 September – 7:30pm
