A Journeyman’s Blog – Summer Summary

What’s maestro Jonathan Darlington been up to all summer? Due to the dacapo relaunch, here’s a summary of Jonathan’s summer, pardon, winter Down Under, conducting Beethoven’s Fidelio in Sydney.

In August, after a month of rehearsals, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and Jonathan Darlington delivered an excellent premiere of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio.

“In spite of some difficulties with a flu-ridden cast, this was definitely one of the most enjoyable productions I’ve ever done,” Jonathan Darlington mused upon returning to Europe. “I met some of the funniest people… and Fidelio is not the kind of piece you think you would laugh a lot.”

The production, directed by Michael Hampe, was much anticipated, not least because critics were eager to see how Nicole Youle, who jumped in on very short notice, and the whole cast would cope with the challenge.

Peter Mc Callum from the Sydney Morning Herald (August 3, 2009) writes about an “Arresting Night with Beethoven’s Prisoners”, stressing “conductor Jonathan Darlington’s carefully paced orchestral leadership”:

“Darlington’s approach throughout had recognised the importance of phrase and tempo, and I understand considerable thought went into orchestral positioning. The result was a well-balanced texture in which the woodwind sound was remote but cohesive and the blend with the voices, particularly with the male chorus of prisoners, was carefully calibrated. The wind chords of the second act introduction were focused and well-balanced, and raw and unvarnished in terms of tone.”

And Sarah Noble writes in The Opera Critic (July 30, 2009):

“Conductor Jonathan Darlington’s inspired leadership draws out some of the most refined, coherent and simply beautiful playing the AOBO has offered this season, giving appropriate weight to the complexity of Beethoven’s orchestral writing without disregarding the singers. Dadd and Darlington are indeed partners in crime, or rather in triumph. As a pair of unifying forces, they draw together all the individually excellent strands of this Fidelio to form a brilliant whole which, however unexpectedly, is one of the company’s finest achievements this season.”

In between performances, Jonathan Darlington did not miss the chance to explore the Australian Outback, a landscape offering some of the most ancient cultural sites: “I was deeply moved by the 25.000 year-old Quinkan rock art North of Cairns.”

Jonathan Darlington’s next international appearance will be on October 17th in Toronto where he will conduct Opera Canada’s production of Stravinsky’s The Nightingale & other short fables, directed by Robert Lepage. Rehearsals have already begun!

• Canadian Opera
• Fidelio
• GMD
• Jonathan Darlington
• music director
• Opera Australia