''Voss'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

by Australian composer

Richard Meale Richard Graham Meale, AM, MBE (24 August 193223 November 2009) was an Australian composer of instrumental works and operas. Biography Meale was born in Sydney. At the time the Meale family lived in Marrickville, an inner suburb of Sydney. Meale ...

with

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

David Malouf David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Quee ...

. It is an adaptation of

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

's novel of the same name. The opera was commissioned by The Australian Opera, and premiered at the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

in 1986. It was reprised in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in 2022, in a co-production by

State Opera South Australia State Opera South Australia (SOSA) is a professional opera company in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1976. History State Opera South Australia was established in 1976 as a statutory corporation under the ''State Opera of South Aust ...

and

Victorian Opera Victorian Opera is an opera company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company was founded in 2005 by the Victorian Government as a replacement for the Victoria State Opera. It commenced operations in January 2006 with Richard Gill as ...

Commission

In 1977,

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

and administrator Peter Hemmings, general manager of the Australian Opera (as

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...

was then known), commissioned Meale to write an opera based on ''Voss'', Patrick White's 1957 novel.

Work in progress

White's novel was predominantly set in Queensland, and appropriately, Meale's librettist for the opera was Queensland writer, poet and playwright David Malouf. Malouf completed the libretto in 1978, but ''Voss'' would not be performed until 1986.

Performances

Twelve minutes of ''Voss'' – the "Garden Scene" – was a feature of the 1982

The Australian Opera conducted by

Stuart Challender Stuart David Challender (19 February 194713 December 1991) was an Australian conductor, known particularly for his work with Opera Australia, The Australian Opera, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra and the Sydn ...

premiered ''Voss'', directed by

Jim Sharman James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, and is b ...

on 1 March 1986 at the

Adelaide Festival Theatre Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...

. The production was given a second run in 1990 with Geoffrey Chard, who reprised the titular role. It was conducted by Dobbs Franks. ''Voss'' also enjoyed a successful run at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

in 2008. The Australian Opera production was directed by

, with Stuart Challender conducting, and starring

Marilyn Richardson Marilyn Richardson (born 10 June 1936) is an Australian operatic soprano. She sang Laura in the first performances of Richard Meale's opera, ''Voss''. Career Born in Sydney on 10 June 1936, Richardson studied singing and piano at the New Sou ...

and

Geoffrey Chard Geoffrey William Chard AM (born 9 August 1930 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian opera singer. He was a foundation member of the National Opera of New South Wales."''The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia — Oper ...

. The opera was revived in 2022 in a joint production by

and

. Samuel Dundas played Voss, while

Trevor Jamieson Trevor Jamieson (born 7 March 1975) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actor, playwright, dancer, singer and didgeridoo player. Early life Trevor Jamieson was born on 7 March 1975 in Subiaco, Western Australia (WA). He grew up in t ...

played Dugald. Originally scheduled to be performed in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in August 2021, owing to a fifth

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the season was cancelled and rescheduled to a single performance in Adelaide. The option of viewing a performance

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

ed from the

on 7 May 2022 and viewable for six months was made available. The production was well-reviewed, with two critics giving it four out of five stars.

Recording

The Australian Opera's production was recorded by the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1986 and released internationally on the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

label in 1987. The recording received the

ARIA Award for Best Classical Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Classical Album, is an award presented within the Fine Arts Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", and have been given ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. In 2011, ''Voss'' was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

(NFSA) of Australia's

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...

registry.

Roles

The roles on the recording were as follows:

''The Voss Journey'' (2009)

''The Voss Journey'' was a four-day event which included seminars, concerts, films, and exhibitions inspired by the novel, hosted by the NFSA in collaboration with

Canberra International Music Festival The Canberra International Music Festival is a music festival based in Canberra, Australia. It was founded by Ursula Callus (1939–2001), former President of Pro Musica Incorporated. The first Festival was originally called the Canberra Inter ...

and many other institutions. It included presentations by many of the artists involved in the staging of the opera.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voss (Opera) English-language operas 1986 operas Operas Operas by Richard Meale Operas set in Australia Operas based on novels Opera world premieres at the Adelaide Festival Theatre