Opening the doors to opera
‘‘Opera can be intimidating for a number of reasons,’’ Haydn Rawstron said looking out over his garden at Lansdown Homestead in Tai Tapu, west of Christchurch.
Rawstron and his wife, German soprano Dorothee Jansen, have run the Lansdown Festival since 2014. Their series of operatic performances are designed to cut through the lofty etiquette synonymous with the art form.
‘‘Some people find it hard to understand, but also socially it intimidates. Most people think you have to dress up to the nines, have a black tie and know what to say and how to say it,’’ he said.
Rawstron said their narrated opera gives audiences an explanation of the performance, before Jansen and himself take the stage, together with violinist Jan van den Berg. Six performances kicked off on February 25.
‘‘We were very conscious of the fact that most people don’t understand the story because it’s in a foreign language, and they don’t really do their homework beforehand. Most of them don’t even find the time to read the synopsis, and when they do it is written in such a way that it is very unclear anyway,’’ he said.
The festival started after an experiment by the pair following the February 2011 earthquakes.
‘‘There were few theatres and concert halls still open in the centre of Christchurch, and here we had this glorious garden and room, and the people of Christchurch were still in a state of shock that the city centre was a complete mess,’’ he said.
Rawstron bought Lansdown Homestead in 1995 and gifted it to the John Robert Godley Memorial Trust.
His family had owned land in the Tai Tapu area for decades and he grew up nearby.
‘‘The property is really a great heritage property in Canterbury, this whole area of land really,’’ he said.
Heritage trees surround the renovated basalt stone house, rebuilt in the 1960s by then-owner Jack Harris.
Included in the natural collection were a huge cedar on the lawn, several silver birch and copper beech trees and what is considered to be the largest Japanese pine in New Zealand and Australia – about 23 metres high.
‘‘Arborists know about this tree. The Japanese grow them as bonsai, so it’s rare for them to grow this big,’’ Rawstron said.
He renovated the interior, creating an Italian-inspired Georgian ‘‘golden’’ room where at least 100 seated guests enjoy the festival’s performances.
‘‘We also open up the gardens to the public 90 minutes beforehand and encourage them to bring a picnic. After the picnic is finished, they can pack it up, put it back in their cars and come into the house for a performance.’’
The festival’s performances run on on alternate Saturdays and Sundays from February 25. The next performance will be at 8pm on March 3. Bookings can be made through the Court Theatre.
"Some people find it hard to understand, but also socially it intimidates." Lansdownk Festival co-organiser Haydn Rawstron