Our first show of the Sydney Festival was the Handel Opera Semele set on a fashion-show runway in Sydney Town Hall accompanied by lots of Vivienne Westwood frocks paraded on tall skinny models.
It was amazing. As with most opera, the story is bizarre and barely comprehensible, but the music and singing were terrific and the action was entertaining. I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the fashion show aspect, but found it fascinating. The outfits are moving works of art.
The advertising spiel said: “Händel’s baroque music is performed in a vibrant, varied and wild fashion as outstanding Berlin-based ensemble Kaleidoskop joins forces with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for a truly magical transformation of the rarely performed opera.”
It was sponsored by the Goethe Institut – there were lots of Germans around us in the hall, and they loved it. One surprise was that the choir members were scattered through the audience – different!
The evening was capped by a drink at Grandma’s Bar, one of Sydney’s newish small bars. Then there was a new al fresco experience for me as I used one of the portable public pissoirs set up just outside Town Hall (much to the amazement of some passers-by!)
With the umlaut, I suppose all those Germans would be calling him ˈhɛndəl.