OPERA SYNOPSIS
Cast list
Synopsis
The "Voss" crew in rehearsal, Sydney, February 1986. From left to right:
Stuart Challender, conductor,
Chrissie Koltai, choreographer,
Jim Sharman, director,
Brian Thomson, designer,
Luciana Arrighi, costume designer,
David Malouf, librettist
Music by Richard Meale, Libretto by David Malouf from the novel by Patrick White
Cast includes:
Johann Ulrich Voss: Geoffrey Chard, baritone
Frank le Mesurier: Robert Gard, tenor
Palfreyman: John Pringle, baritone
Harry Robarts: Gregory Tomlinson, tenor
Judd: Robert Eddie, baritone
Mr Bonner: Clifford Grant, bass
Mrs Bonner: Heather Begg, mezzo-soprano
Belle Bonner: Anne-Maree McDonald, soprano
Laura Trevelyan: Marilyn Richardson, soprano
Rose Portion: Lesley Stender, mezzo-soprano
Lt Tom Radclyffe: Paul Ferris, tenor
Mr Topp: Christopher Dawes, tenor
Mercy: Leonie Cambage, soprano
A reporter: David Lemke, baritone
Mrs Judd: Rosemary Gunn, mezzo-soprano
Australian Opera Chorus
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Stuart Challender, conductor
Philips 420928-2
Synopsis
ACT I:
VOSS, Act 1. The dinner at the Bonners, Point Piper, Sydney, ca 1854
ACT 1:
VOSS Act 1. The expedition
prepares to take off
At a party at the Bonners Voss proclaims his intention of following his vision and crossing the continent. The guests laugh but Bonner expresses his support. Voss tells Bonner he can cross the country without maps, needing only his dream. Laura Trevelyan is drawn to Voss and says she'll be with him in spirit on his journey.
Voss gathers his expedition team including the boy Harry Robarts, Frank LeMesurier and Palfreyman, a religious ornithologist. Voss and his party discuss their intention to across the country.
ACT II:
VOSS Act 2: Judd, the foreman of the expedition (Robert Eddie, baritone)
Voss seeks out Judd, an ex-convict, who has been recommended as a useful member of the expedition. Judd arrives with the blacks Dugald and Jacky. He assures Voss that he knows the country. Because of their knowledge of the land Judd has the blacks come as well, but explains they may not stay with the expedition.
The servant Rose can't understand Voss but Laura tells her she understands him in her heart. Voss thinks of Laura. Rose is lulled to sleep by Laura.
VOSS Act 1: Laura Trevelyan
(Marilyn Richardson, soprano) and
Voss (Geoffrey Chard, baritone) in
'The Garden Scene'
Voss cries out in his sleep and he and Laura express their difficult love for one another. Voss writes to her and entrusts the letter to Dugald who casts off the white clothes he has been given, tears up the letter and scatters the pieces. Voss and Laura commune in spirit.
On Christmas Day Palfreyman reads the lesson to the party. Voss sits apart. Judd, who has cooked a sheep, offers some to Voss, who rejects it. Laura, nursing Rose's child, tells Voss that Rose is dead. She has adopted the baby girl and offers it to him. He rejects her offer.
Judd and Harry watch as Voss, walking in his sleep, slashes a bag of flour. Harry warns that it will be dangerous to wake him, but Judd is worried.
Judd nurses the raving Voss. Judd tells him that he has decided to go back. Frank LeMesurier has gone mad. Harry refuses Judd's invitation to go back with him and when Judd tells him he is trying to save him, Harry answers that they will all die. Voss calls out Laura's name.
VOSS Act 2: The delusional Voss (Geoffrey Chard) rails against his pending fate in the desert
VOSS Act 2. The death of Voss
When Palfreyman approaches the gathered Aborigines, he is speared and dies. LeMesurier cuts his throat. Judd leaves and Voss lies down with Harry at his feet.
Laura is in a high fever. Laura and Voss seem to communicate in their states of delirium. Jacky, who had run away and joined the other Aborigines, creeps into the tent and cuts off Voss's head.
Epilogue: Years later, Belle Bonner and Tom Radclyffe are giving a party. Laura appears with the child. A reporter tries to interview her about Voss. He introduces her to Judd, who tells her that Voss left his mark on the country. Judd claims to have been present at the death, and to have seen Voss with a spear in his side. Laura has a vision of the people inheriting the country and making it theirs, and of Voss becoming a legend.
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