'''OPERA IN THE PARK
The Pearlfishers
WA Opera
Supreme Court Gardens

REVIEW: WILLIAM YEOMAN'''

In these "enlightened" times, watching a performance of a 19th century Orientialist opera can be more than a little embarrassing.

But heighten the sense of fantasy while emphasising the universal human drama and the excellence of the music in a work such as Bizet's The Pearlfishers, the story of two men in love with the same woman in some re-imagined ancient Ceylon, comes up smelling less of racism than of roses.

That was certainly the case on Saturday night, with WA Opera's 21st free Opera in the Park easily one of the most enjoyable to date. The weather was perfect, with just a hint of a breeze. Stuart Maunder's direction favoured the naturalistic over the theatrical, while costumes, set design (minimal, since this was a semi-staged performance) and lighting elegantly amplified rather than argued with the emotional climate of the music and the drama.

The WA Opera chorus, apart from a shaky opening chorus, was solid throughout; by contrast, the athletic dancing of five exotics, presumably from the WA Ballet, was fluent and engaging. The sound engineering was, apart from occasional feedback issues, of a remarkable quality, allowing one to savour fully the fervent, sympathetic playing of the WA Symphony Orchestra under Brian Castles-Onion.

Oh yes - and the singing wasn't too bad either.

Just kidding. It was bloody marvellous.

Tenor Henry Choo and baritone Sitiveni Talei as friends Nadir and Zurga not only offered up a subtle, deeply felt Au fond du temple saint, as well-acted as it was sung; Choo's relatively light, lyric tenor voice, intelligently deployed, ensured an exquisite Je crois entendre encore while Talei's Act Three L'orage est calme was a model of restrained passion.

Soprano Katja Webb as veiled priestess and love interest Leila was equally impressive, if not more so. Had the circa 15,000-strong audience been sitting in a theatre, her Act 2 cavatina Comme autrefois dans la nuit sombre would have brought the house down. Baritone James Clayton as the priest Nourabad gave the darker regions of his voice and his psyche a good workout but really his considerable talents are underused in a role such as this.

As if to underline the excellence of this performance, which was also simulcast to Bunbury, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie, the usual mass exodus before the final chord has even died away did not occur, with just about everybody staying put to applaud the artists. Rightly so.