Ingenious presentation

The Toi Toi Opera company is to be congratulated for its outstanding inaugural presentation in the Great Hall at the Arts Centre.

The ingenuity of setting Puccini’s tragic little opera Suor Angelica during WWI is to be highly recommended, which was achieved by incorporating figures from the large dramatic stained-glass window.

The excellent chorus of nuns dressed as the nurse depicted in the window, and the narrator with his crutches, along with the powerful readings and arias by uniformed soldiers, plus the beautiful elegies, with the music by Britten, Vaughan Williams, and Butterworth made for a truly spectacular production.

Also, the excellent performances of the soloists and orchestra combined to present a glorious emotive evening.

We await their next production with eager anticipation.

Lindy Drury, Akaroa