”Madeline Lee is an opera about the tyranny of memory and the manipulation of identity.
First performed by Opera Australia in October 2004.
Music by JOHN HADDOCK
Text by JOHN HADDOCK with MICHAEL CAMPBELL
First performed by Opera Australia in October 2004, Madeline Lee is an opera about the tyranny of memory and the manipulation of identity. It explores how men construct their reality through the stories they tell, both to themselves and to others. It examines how men deal with their emotions and how they cope with the concepts of guilt, denial and shame.
The world of the opera is an odd landscape of loss anger and grief, of both physical and spiritual isolation played out in a complex interplay of the past and present, both real and imagined.
Ultimately, it is an opera of dreams, longing and transformation.
Madeline Lee is based, in part, on a real incident. In the early 1960’s a flying fortress was found crashed far out in the Libyan desert with no sign of the crew or any indication of what had become of them. It had been there since 1943.
The collaboration between John Haddock and Michael Campbell began at Opera Australia. After working together on a number of mainstream operas they turned their attention to the scenario for Madeline Lee which John had begun to outline 1990-91. With Michael’s experience and inspiration, the scenario was deconstructed and the collaborators then re-wrote the script together. The music for the new script was composed by the end of 1998.
In 1999 Madeline Lee was awarded an Australia Council Development Grant which, in conjunction with support from the Department of Performance Studies at the University of Sydney and some private sponsorship, enabled the opera to be workshopped in the Rex Cramphorn Studio at the University in October of that year. It was directed by Michael Campbell and conducted by Patrick Thomas assisted by Louise Welsh. The participating singers were Michael Lewis, Michael Martin, Graeme MacFarlane, David Brennan, Greg Scott, Martin Lane, Goran Jordan and David Berkelouw.
The workshop enabled the collaborators to assess the overall dramatic impact of the work, pinpoint structural problems and to identify sections which needed re-writing. The workshop ended with a semi-staged run through for an invited audience of representatives from major arts organisations, who were encouraged to give feedback. This process was invaluable in the composition of the final re-write.
In September 2001, Opera Australia included scene four from Madeline Lee in a semi-staged concert of excerpts from various works for a Centenary of Federation concert at the Sydney Opera House. Directed by Michael Campbell, scene four was conducted by Richard Mills with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. It was sung by Michael Lewis, Michael Martin, Graeme MacFarlane, Richard Alexander & Greg Scott.
Of this concert performance Roger Covell, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, highlighted the composers ‘marked ability to build climaxes and hold moods’, “sustained musical dramatic interest” of Michael Campbell’s directing, and Michael Lewis’ “tense portrayal of the remorseful commander of the B-17 flying fortress.”
The opera was finally performed in full by Opera Australia in it’s 2004 Winter Season of Opera, at the Sydney Opera House. It was conducted by Tom Woods, directed by Michael Campbell, and starred Michael Lewis, Doug McNicol and Christopher Lincoln.
