FRINGE IN DISGUISE: A Musical Masquerade - 8 out of 10
Friday Productions
TICKETS: FRINGE IN DISGUISE: A Musical Masquerade | Adelaide Fringe
Friday Productions has brought their masquerade concert series to the Adelaide Fringe. Usually presenting their concerts in more typical classical music settings like the Meeting Hall behind the Adelaide Town Hall or Flinders Street Baptist Church, Friday Productions have relocated the concert to the National Wine Centre. A venue that certainly has a lot going for it with its selection of food and drink. Collecting a masquerade mask as you enter, the audience is encouraged to put it on and embrace the theatricality of what they’re about to witness.
Friday Productions has assembled some of the best instrumental talent South Australia has to offer outside of the ASO in the form of the Adelaide Concert Orchestra chamber players. These are instrumentalists at the top of their game whose day jobs often fall in very different fields who are very capably led by Caroline Lam on violin. The chamber players, as well as accompanying our opera singers for the evening, had their own moments to shine as they performed pieces by the likes of well-known Fauré and Vivaldi, to contemporary composer Karl Jenkins. The chamber players consisted of 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, a double bass; however, a special mention to oboist Hannah Kovilpillai for Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe (The Mission).
Our two-act evening of opera was a program covering music from the Baroque through to the modern (but leaning heavily on Puccini and Verdi) all associated to some degree with love – be that love for a fiancé, for a lost mother, or just for a really nice coat.
All of our vocalists for the evening are consummate performers and opera singers having had many professional roles with the State Opera of South Australia Chorus. To avoid ranking such distinct talents, I will discuss them in order of their first appearance.
Baritone Jamie Moffatt cuts an imposing figure, possessing a voice that commands the room with effortless gravitas. A standout moment was their rendition of Vecchia zimarra, senti from Puccini’s La Bohème. In this 'coat song,' Moffatt balanced tenderness with a resonant sorrow, capturing the quiet dignity of Colline’s sacrifice for the dying Mimi. The mood shifted entirely with the Toreador aria from Bizet’s Carmen; here, Moffatt’s voice filled the Wine Centre’s atrium with a boisterous, unamplified power that served as a thrilling reminder of the sheer physical force of a trained operatic instrument.
Soprano Alexandra Woolston offered a refreshing take on the ubiquitous O mio babbino caro from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. While it is an aria often heard on the concert stage, Woolston stripped away the cliché to reveal its desperate heart. She infused the melody with a lilting wistfulness and a hint of youthful urgency, perfectly capturing the high-stakes ultimatum of a daughter in love. Her voice didn't just soar; it told a story, reminding the audience that beneath the beautiful melody lies a plea so profound it borders on the tragic.
Contralto Meran Bow delivered a visceral performance of Verdi’s Stride la vampa (Il Trovatore). She channelled the searing rage and trauma of Azucena with a dark, rich timbre that felt like a physical blow, perfectly capturing the horror of the character's memory. Yet, Bow demonstrated remarkable range with the ethereal stillness of Mozart’s Soave sia il vento (Così fan tutte). In this trio with Woolston and Moffatt, her voice provided a grounded, velvet foundation, allowing the harmonies to drift across the atrium with sublime, tranquil precision.
If the evening had a true showstopper, it was tenor Andrew Turner’s rendition of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma (Turandot). While the aria carries the weight of immense expectation, Turner navigated its anthemic heights with both technical precision and a captivating sense of showmanship. He took just enough artistic liberty to keep the interpretation fresh, building toward a final, ringing climax that clearly left the audience in a state of collective, breath-held awe—solidifying its place as the undisputed highlight of the night.
However, the National Wine Centre’s cavernous atrium proved to be a double-edged sword. While visually stunning, the space presented significant acoustic hurdles during the more intimate passages; the soprano and tenor voices occasionally struggled for sonic clarity against the resonance of the room. At lower volumes, the crispness of their diction tended to blur into the instrumental texture of the chamber players—a predictable trade-off when exchanging a traditional concert hall for the architectural drama of a non-traditional venue.
Friday Productions are to be commended for breathing life into the classical music scene. Being able to tap into the immense talent that calls Adelaide home gives them a leg up that will see them continuing to produce a high-quality evening out.
–Scott
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