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y separately published work icon Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White single work   musical theatre   opera   - Two acts
Adaptation of Voss : A Novel Patrick White , 1957 single work novel
Note: Libretto by David Malouf, music by Richard Meale.
Issue Details: First known date: 1980-1989... 1980-1989 Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Voss was adapted into an opera by author David Malouf and composer Richard Meale. It was first performed by the Australian Opera in Adelaide, March 1986.

Exhibitions

6681414
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Production Details

  • First performed by the Australian Opera at the Adelaide Festival Centre, 1 March 1986.

    Director: Jim Sharman.

    Designer: Brian Thomson.

    Cast: Geoffrey Chard (Voss), Robert Eddie (Judd), Robert Gard (Le Mesurier), Anne-Maree McDonald (Belle), John Pringle (Palfreyman), Marilyn Richardson (Laura Trevelyan), and Gregory Tomlinson (Harry Robards).

    Performed with the same cast and crew at the Opera Theatre, Sydney, between 5 June and 28 June 1986.

    Performed with the same cast and crew at the State Theatre, Melbourne, between 14 March and 2 April 1987.

    Restaged with the same crew at the Opera Theatre, Sydney, between 8 October and 26 October 1990.

    Scheduled for production by Victorian Opera on 4 August 2021 (single-night performance) at Palais Theatre, St Kilda.

    Director: Stuart Maunder.

    Conductor: Richard Mills.

    Cast: Samuel Dundas (Voss) and Emma Pearson (Laura).

    Production cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Scheduled for production by State Opera South Australia in September 2021.

    Director: Stuart Maunder.

    Conductor: Richard Mills.

    Cast: Samuel Dundas (Voss) and Emma Pearson (Laura).

    Production postponed, but not initially cancelled, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scheduled for performance in 2022.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Grosvenor Place, Sydney City, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Australian Music Centre , 1980-1989 .
      Extent: 1 score; 2v.; 1-175, 176-442p.p.
      Note/s:
      • 'This score is a facsimile of the composer's score held at Sounds Australian (the Australian Music Centre).' (t.p. verso)
    • Grosvenor Place, Sydney City, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Australian Music Centre , 1986 .
      Alternative title: Voss : An Opera in Two Acts after the Novel by Patrick White
      Extent: 29p.
      Note/s:
      • Libretto only.
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Works about this Work

Where Is the Great Australian Opera? Michael Halliwell , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 17 August 2018;

'In 1986, the Adelaide Festival staged an operatic adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning writer Patrick White’s 1957 novel Voss, a pivotal work in the Australian literary canon. The opera, with music by a leading figure of the classical music avant-garde, Richard Meale, and libretto by acclaimed novelist and poet, David Malouf, was conceived in the period leading up to the Bicentennial celebrations in 1988. It certainly tapped into the zeitgeist.' (Introduction)
Fly Away Peter : When Australian Literature Goes to the Opera Michael Halliwell , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 1 May 2015;
Voss David Malouf , 2015 single work essay
— Appears in: Being There : An Australian Literary Anthology 2015;
Two Libretti : Voss and Mer de Glace David Malouf , 2015 single work essay
— Appears in: Being There : An Australian Literary Anthology 2015;
Towards an Australian Art-Music Canon Joel Crotty , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 55 no. 10 2011; (p. 91-97)

"is there an Australian art-music canon? Does Australian music feature in any lists of 1001 works to be listened to before you die?' Joel Crotty.
[Review] Voss : Opera in Two Acts R. Aldritch , 1986 single work review
— Appears in: Campaign Australia , no. 127 1986; (p. 38-39)
— Review of Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White David Malouf , 1980-1989 single work musical theatre
[Review] Voss : Opera in Two Acts J. Carmody , 1986 single work review
— Appears in: National Times , 13-19 June 1986; (p. 31)
— Review of Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White David Malouf , 1980-1989 single work musical theatre
[Review] Voss : Opera in Two Acts J. Carmody , 1986 single work review
— Appears in: National Times , 7-13 March 1986; (p. 32)
— Review of Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White David Malouf , 1980-1989 single work musical theatre
[Review] Voss : Opera in Two Acts Maria Prerauer , 1986 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 9 June 1986; (p. 10)
— Review of Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White David Malouf , 1980-1989 single work musical theatre
[Review] Voss : Opera in Two Acts J. Sykes , 1986 single work review
— Appears in: 24 Hours , vol. 11 no. 2 1986; (p. 12-14)
— Review of Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White David Malouf , 1980-1989 single work musical theatre
'A Comfortable Society' : The 1950s and Opera in Australia Michael Halliwell , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 45 2004; (p. 10-29)
'The Space Between' : Postcolonial Opera? - The Meale/Malouf Adaptation of 'Voss' Michael Halliwell , 1996 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , April no. 28 1996; (p. 87-98)
Interview : David Malouf Jim Davidson (interviewer), 1980 single work interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 39 no. 3 1980; (p. 323-334) Sideways from the Page : The Meanjin Interviews 1983; (p. 263-279) David Malouf : Johnno, Short Stories, Poems, Essays and Interview 1990; (p. 285-298)
Words to That Effect Anna McAlister , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Limelight , August 2007; (p. 34-36) Three pairs of Australian composers and librettists discuss the enormous collaboration involved in creating an opera.
The Long Quest for Voss's Artistic Soul Janet Wilson , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 2 May 2009; (p. 4-5)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (35)
Last amended 10 Nov 2021 13:01:40
Subjects:
Settings:
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
  • Australian Outback, Central Australia,
  • 1840s
  • 1850s
  • 1860s
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