A Tête à Tête and English
National Opera Studio production
Bridewell Theatre
20 February - 9 March 2002

A daring venture by Artistic Director Bill Bankes-Jones, Six Pack is a collection of six short operas by six different composers. Not only are the composers from such varied backgrounds as the Teletubbies (Davey Moore) and West End Musicals (Richard Taylor, "Whistle Down the Wind"), but the performers were given license to interpret things as they saw fit.
    Bankes-Jones left the operatic mainstream to rejuvenate opera and make it more accessible to contemporary audiences. He does this by working with the traditional rules while adding a modern edge, exemplified in these pieces and their basic musical accompaniment of accordion, clarinet, double bass and percussion under the direction of Stuart Stratford, giving a jazzy dimension to the traditional structure.
    The first piece, a meeting of two people from a dating agency, sets the standard for the Bankes-Jones' gamble. It is amusing and thought-provoking, and it is genuinely operatic; the music adds and amplifies. The following pieces each have a highly individual character, and explore modern dilemmas from the problems of the paparazzi and privacy laws, to the life of a postman and the consequences of him getting to close to his customers. Natalie Raybould (soprano) and D'Arcy Bleiker (Bass-Baritone) are excellent, the former singing with brilliant clarity, the latter giving each scene great dramatic depth.
    Gaps between scenes are bridged by voice recordings relevant to the subject of the next piece, and the audience watch costumes being changed behind a translucent screen.
    The evening's offerings show how wonderfully diverse opera can be, and how wide its bounds can be stretched. The pieces have real beauty, and are dramatically engaging; they are something more special than experimental fringe.
Elizabeth Shenton