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Contents
Credits
Welcome
Synopsis

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Credits

Cast

Tsar Dodon Pavlo Hunka
Queen of Chemakha Venera Gimadieva
Astrologer Andrei Popov
Tsarevich Aphron Samuel Dundas
Tsarevich Gvidon Nicholas Jones
Polkan Mischa Schelomianski
Amelfa Alexandra Durseneva
Golden Cockerel's Voice Samantha Clarke
On-Stage Cockerel Matthew Whittet

Dancers Sam Hall, Chris Mills, Rowan Rossi, Loci Walmsley

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Arvo Volmer
Assistant Conductor Luke Dollman
Repetiteurs Michael Ierace, Andrew Georg ​

Violin

Elizabeth Layton** (Guest Concertmaster)
Cameron Hill** (Associate Concertmaster)
Shirin Lim* (Principal 1st Violin)
Alison Heike** (Principal 2nd Violin)
Lachlan Bramble ~ (Associate Principal 2nd Violin)
Janet Anderson
Ann Axelby
Louise Beaston
Minas Berberyan
Gillian Braithwaite
Julia Brittain
Hilary Bruer
Nadia Buck
Elizabeth Collins
Jane Collins
Belinda Gehlert
Danielle Jaquillard
Madeline Melrose
Alexis Milton
Michael Milton
Jennifer Newman
Julie Newman
Emma Perkins
Alexander Permezel

Viola

Justin Julian** (Acting Section Principal)
Linda Garrett~ (Guest Associate Principal)
Martin Alexander
Lesley Cockram
Anna Hansen
Natalie Maegraith
Rosi McGowran
Michael Robertson
Cecily Satchell

CELLO

Simon Cobcroft**
Timothy Nankervis~ (Guest Associate Principal)
Sarah Denbigh
Sherrilyn Handley
Gemma Phillips
David Sharp
Cameron Waters

DOUBLE BASS

David Schilling**
Jonathon Coco~
Jacky Chang
Harley Gray
Belinda Kendall-Smith

FLUTE

Geoffrey Collins**
Lisa Gill

PICCOLO

Julia Grenfell*

OBOE

Joshua Oates**
Renae Stavely~

COR ANGLAIS

Peter Duggan*

CLARINET

Dean Newcomb**
Bailey Coates

BASS CLARINET

Mitchell Berick*

BASSOON

Mark Gaydon**
Matthew Kneale

CONTRA BASSOON

Leah Stephenson* (Acting Principal)

HORN

Adrian Uren**
Timothy Skelly
Emma Gregan* (Acting Principal 3rd)
Samson Peng

TRUMPET

David Khafagi**
Martin Phillipson~
Gregory Frick

TROMBONE

Colin Prichard**
Ian Denbigh

BASS TROMBONE

Amanda Tillett* (Guest Principal)

TUBA

Karina Filipi* (Guest Principal)

TIMPANI

Andrew Penrose*

PERCUSSION

Steven Peterka**
Sami Butler~
Peter Overall
Paul Simpson-Smith

HARP

Julie Raines** (Guest Section Principal)
Carolyn Burgess

CELESTA

Katrina Reynolds* (Guest Principal)

** denotes Section Principal
~ denotes Associate Principal
* denotes Principal Player

Adelaide Festival Chorus

Chorus Master Anthony Hunt

Soprano

Eleanor Brasted
Lisa Cannizzaro
Laura Feier
Roisin Linehan
Fiona McArdle
Katrina McKenzie
Alexandra Scott
Lucy Stoddart

Alto

Cherie Bogaart
Catherine Campbell
Rosie Hosking
Roslyn Lock
Elizabeth McCall
Rachel McCall
Vanessa Shirley
Jennifer Tranter
Meran Bow

Tenor

Michael Denhom
Jiacheng Ding
Adam Goodburn
Ronan King-Rose
Callum McGing
James Nicholson
Zachary McCulloch
Brock Roberts
Sean Tanner
Andy Turner
Kim Worley
Lyndon Green
Christopher Webb

Bass

Joel Berndt
Nick Cannon
Christian Evans
Daniel Goodburn
Macintyre Howie-Reeves
Greg John
Jamie Moffatt
Alex Roose
Oliver Vickers
Tim Wilson
Alex Pokryshevsky

Production

Conductor Arvo Volmer
Director Barrie Kosky
Associate Director Denni Sayers
Assistant Director Eugene Lynch
Stage Designer Rufus Didwiszus
Costume Designer Victoria Behr
Lighting Designer Franck Evin
Choreographer Otto Pichler
Assistant Costume Designer Nathalie Pallandre
Assistant Choreographer Joseph Gebrael
Makeup & Wigs Assistant Marie Jardine
Assistant Lighting Designer Laurent Quain
Technical Director Fred Amiel
Head of Stage Mado Cogne
Language Coach Maria Timofeeva
Russian Translator Nadejda Levings

For Adelaide Festival
Producer Tess Appleby (until Dec 2021)
Producer Janelle McKenzie (from Jan 2022)
Program Assistant Amanda Ashley
Production Manager David McLean
Stage Manager Jess Nash
Assistant Stage Managers Emily Barraclough, Jess Wolfendale
AC Arts Secondment Dylan McBurney
Head of Wardrobe Kathleen Szabo
Fittings, Alterations and Maintenance Ashleigh Thomas
Costume Cutters / Maintenance Enken Hagge, Martine Micklem
Dressers Nadejda Levings, Sally-Jayne Chapman, Anna Perry, Nick de-Rohan, Kent Green, David Adams, Wendy Todd, Chris Rektsinis

Head of Wigs and Make Up Jana DeBiasi
Wigs and Make Up Matthew Ping, Teresa Scriva, Beverly Freeman, Dina Giaccio, Natasha Stone, Danielle Veltmyer, Charlotte Wilson, Kat-Arena Lean, Natasha Keneally, Jennifer Rossiter, Megan O’Mahoney, Sam Dawe, Marie-lyn Morant, Sharon Hage, Dominique Keeley
Head of Props Ashley Ng
Surtitles Catriona Herriott

​Adelaide Festival would like to give special thanks to:
Theatre Safe Australia
State Theatre Company South Australia

 

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Welcome

Welcome, at last, to the operatic centrepiece of the Adelaide Festival 2022.

It is coming to you later than we had planned, but the difficulties of bringing Barrie’s glorious production of The Golden Cockerel from Aix to Adelaide only make it all the more special now that it is here!

This opera, a classic of the world’s repertoire, written by Rimsky-Korsakov 113 years ago and never before performed in this country, can now be enjoyed in all its hallucinogenic glory in a production that utterly meets the multiple challenges that the composer has set.

Of course, the notion of an ageing Russian ruler capriciously waging a war on a neighbouring country as a way of shoring up his own popularity at home may strike you as too preposterous to accept, but it is of course the role of art to delve into the realms of the absurd as a way of revealing the truths of our world.

We wish to thank all of our colleagues at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Barrie Kosky’s creative team (especially associate director Denni Sayers who has rehearsed the production for Adelaide), all of the brilliant artists you see on stage, and those who support them backstage, Maestro Arvo Volmer and ASO and all of the donors who have helped to bring this miracle to the stage.

Settle back and live for a while in the fantastical world these artists have created for us.

Rachel Healy and Neil Armfield AO 
Artistic Directors

 

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Synopsis

Prologue

The Astrologer, acting as narrator, announces that the following tale will be rife with many lessons. ​

Act one

Tsar Dodon, once an indefatigable warrior, now struggles against the incessant invasions by a neighbouring sovereign. He can no longer sleep, nor enjoy the delights of his absolute monarchy. He summons a special meeting for counsel; but the bumbling court of boyars applaud the ineptitude of the tsareviches Gvidon and Aphron, jeer General Polkan’s good sense, and quarrel about the art of divination. The Astrologer appears and offers the Tsar a Golden Cockerel that possesses a special gift: it can warn of imminent danger and identify where it is coming from. Dodon promises to grant the Astrologer’s deepest wish as a way of thanking him. Reassured, the Tsar lets himself be distracted and pampered by his housekeeper, Amelfa, and then falls asleep, along with the rest of the capital. Sensing a threat, the Cockerel sounds the alarm. Dodon sends his sons to defend the empire and then, in a dream, meets a mysterious princess from the East. When the Cockerel’s song rings out once more, Dodon resolves to go off to war, even though he can no longer fit into his rusty armour. ​

act two

The Tsar’s troupes discover a bloody battleground. Dodon realises, with pain, that his two sons and their armies have killed each other. He wishes to avenge their deaths, but what he takes to be his enemy’s camp is in fact the holiday tent of the Queen of Chemakha. She appears before Dodon and Polkan in all her splendour. She launches into a hymn to the Sun, pines for her native Orient, and confides that she has dreamt of an unknown companion who shared her bed. The Queen dismisses Polkan and seduces Dodon, while openly mocking his clumsiness and age. She makes him sing and dance, and humiliates him in front of his army. Dodon succumbs to her charm: he renounces his own sons, who had fought over her, and offers her his empire if she agrees to marry him. She accepts his proposal, but continues her sarcasm. Dodon takes her back to his palace while the slaves from the Orient mock him. ​

act three

​Back in the capital, the crowd is concerned about an approaching storm and worried about rumours of military defeat. Amelfa scolds them harshly and announces the imperial wedding. A strange procession, made up of the Tsar’s warriors mixed with the Queen’s colourful entourage, enters the city, to the astonished cheers of the people. The Astrologer appears and asks Dodon to honour his promise. Surprisingly, he asks for the Queen’s hand. The Tsar refuses and kills him to end his protestation. To ward off bad luck, he asks his fiancée for a kiss, but she vehemently rejects him. The Golden Cockerel takes flight and shatters the Tsar’s skull as a punishment for his deceit, and then disappears with the Queen. The people mourn the loss of their formidable sovereign, who loved to govern idly from his bed.

Epilogue

The Astrologer declares that no characters from this fable are real, except for the Queen and himself.

 

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