CIRCUS
Luzia ★★★★
Cirque du Soleil, Flemington Racecourse, until May 26

The last time I saw Cirque du Soleil in Melbourne, it felt like the end of the world. Kurios opened in late March 2020, days out from COVID lockdown, and on entering the big top, we all filed past hand sanitiser stations for the first time. The show in front of us was transporting, and worry bowed to wonder as we watched elite acrobats fly like clockwork through a steampunk universe.

Cirque du Soleil is reliable like that and for them, the new normal is the old one. The juggernaut of international circus continues to produce what has become its signature: jaw-dropping feats from the cream of international circus artists, framed by colourful fantasias that immerse viewers in a wonderland of elaborate scenography and costume and world music.

Billed as a “waking dream of Mexico”, Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia trades steampunk for maracas and mariachis.

It begins, as Cirque du Soleil shows often do, with a clown on the cusp of adventure – in this case, jumping from a plane without a parachute – and soon unlocks a dreamscape drenched in the cultures and customs and natural beauty of Mexico.

It isn’t above a bit of Mexican cheese – random sombrero drops, some pretty adorable cactus costumes – but most of Luzia is more elegant and otherworldly.

A particularly eye-catching sequence imagines an aerialist on trapeze and two acrobats on Cyr wheels as nature spirits whizzing through and under a waterfall. (It’s a sight to behold: stage rain is one thing, only a colossus like Cirque du Soleil has the production values for an entire waterfall.)

Gravity-defying display is a highlight. The strenuous acrobalance of a muscled lifeguard nailing one-handed handstands high in the air. A straps routine performed glistening wet. A striking aerial finale launching acrobats like missiles across a revolving stage.

The ground-based tumbling and ensemble acrobatics are terrific, too, and other acts of extreme physical prowess take a turn in the spotlight.

A dazzling sequence inspired by street football involves a performer break-dancing while holding a soccer ball aloft with one heel. There’s no less dexterous baton-juggling, and the show’s main contortionist drew audible gasps with an eerie, almost serpentine display of hyperflexion.

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Cirque du Soleil isn’t the biggest innovator in contemporary circus these days, but that’s largely because the world-class spectacle it makes has become so successful. And if Luzia isn’t groundbreaking, it does deliver an acrobatic fiesta, wrapped in the kind of magical variety spectacular that has made the company such a global phenomenon.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

MUSIC
Baroque Festival: St John Passion ★★★★
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall, April 6

Almost 300 years to the day since its premiere, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presented an engaging account of Bach’s monumental St John Passion under the direction of renowned English choral specialist Stephen Layton.

Among the chief glories of this performance was the extraordinary communicative power of tenor Ruairi Bowen, who sang the demanding part of the Evangelist from memory, drawing the audience into the heart-rending story with the masterly and often subtle deployment of an instrument that had a uniformly impressive range, as well as uniquely expressive potential.

Christopher Richardson accentuated the vulnerability of the role of Christ, while fellow bass David Greco pondered the moral dilemmas of Pontius Pilate with insightful skill and resonant technique. Soprano Sara Macliver brought a moving depth of emotion to her final aria supported by a strong sense of line and deep engagement with the text – qualities that alto Ashlyn Tymms has yet to develop to quite the same extent.

Numbering close to 120 singers, the MSO Chorus responded well to Layton’s colourful shading of the score, preserving enough energy to endure this vocal marathon, presented in one two-hour block without interval. Pitting such a large chorus against a relatively small orchestra had its challenges, but also reaped dividends, particularly in the turbulent opening chorus. Some unaccompanied chorale verses also added welcome variety.

Ever attentive to issues of ensemble and balance, the orchestra played with quiet, consummate skill; the sure-footed continuo group enabled the story to unfold smoothly, while Bach’s judicious use of wind instruments to underline key dramatic moments was vividly realised. Layton’s sense of musical architecture ensured poignant musical storytelling.

In a weekend of important musical anniversaries (other forces commemorating the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis), this was a most fitting tribute to one of the most stirring of all musical creations.
Reviewed by Tony Way

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