More than an opera
Presented by: Adelaide Festival in association with State Opera of South Australia.
A co-commission and co-production Of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, San Francisco Opera, Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden London, Finnish National Opera and Ballet Helsinki.
In Partnership with the Metropolitan Opera.
Reviewed: 2 March, 2025
Sometimes a work of great artistic merit leaves you in the position of not knowing what to say about a work of art that is so immersive you feel like it is part of your life. Innocence is an extraordinary piece of contemporary opera that will find a home among the giants of opera history as more of the world is exposed to the art of Kaija Saariaho.
This is Saariaho’s last opera, after a stellar career as musician composer Saariaho died in 2023 leaving an indelible mark on 20th and 21st century composing.
This work is genius, this production is genius, this director is genius – I’d better stop now or this review will only be about genius!
This unique, passionate, chilling, story is told in all its unflinching glory by a cast of talented and honest performers. How do you single out a performance from an ensemble that at no time deserts or deviates from the journey of the story of Innocence. Great tragedies have great consequences, that is, without doubt, why we keep going back to the great myths that have travelled through time to enhance our theatrical experience and our warnings to our children! The Greek and Roman myths were the basis for the bedtime stories of generations of children as their parents tried to warn them of the dangers awaiting them in the outside world. Innocence is a parable of our time that deals with loss, pain, mourning and our own journey through time that allows us to see, process and eventually forgive everyone including ourselves for being complicit in our journey through life. It quite frankly makes Medea look like a family picnic.
The performances in this chance to see world class opera at its best are outstanding. Jenny Carlstedt gives an outstanding performance as The Waitress (Tereza). Her authenticity and raw emotion charge the work with an intensity that opens up the floor for other performers to extend and challenge our emotional and intellectual understanding of grief and its long term consequences. The Mother-in-Law, Claire de Sevigne, sanguine and stark in her rendition of a mother riddled with pain and grief – and a voice to die for. Tuomas Pursio as the Father-in-Law, a flawless rendition of a man overcome by grief at his own inability to see things in his children. Faustine de Mones as Stela, The Bride. What a range of emotional and vocal skills that opened up worlds of joy to worlds of despair. The Bridegroom (Tuomas) saw Sean Panikkar release a range of emotional and vocal ability that was Par excellence. Teddy Tahu Rhodes Pries was excellent; the timbre and range of his beautiful bass baritone sounding glorious.
Special mention for The Teacher (Cecilia) played by Lucy Shelton. A role demanding a huge range of playing styles made to look easy in the hands of this extraordinary performer. So at home across the board from acting, gliding seamlessly into singing, moving with energy and deliberation through the gamut of emotions required to tie some of the storytelling together coherently.
The students: Student one (Marketa) played by Erika Hammerberg; the freedom and sensitivity of this woman’s voice was exquisite. It formed and told such an integral part of the story that not once lost its way. Student two (Lily) played by Christina AF Klinteberg Herresthal, a chilling and challenging performance perfectly pitched. Student three Iris played by Julie Hega. Restrained and calculated, making a surprise confession a moment of impact that had a physical response. Student four, Rowan Kievits visceral physicality was difficult to watch and impossible to look away from – wonderful work. Student Five, Camilo’s (Delgado Diaz) withdrawn and almost constantly vanishing portrayal of the character gave him room to deliver one of the quiet moments of hope that make the end of the piece work. Marina Dumont as student six seemed to make the need to escape visible and recognised. Her presence again beautifully integrated into the work to increase the level of intensity and fear this work provokes in the audience.
Simon Stone has assembled a cast and crew that deliver this work without apology. Chloe Lamford’s set design is a wonderful world captured in a closed environment which is at once claustrophobic but still maintains the ability to look at a cosmos that exists within a confined space. Each room has its own dynamic and as the set revolves we move from world to world without warning and we find ourselves clinging to an image of what we have just experienced as we are forced into the next step of the story, the previous scene dissolves and a new world and story evolves. All of the worlds inextricably joined together by fate. Mel Page’s costumes pitch perfect. From Students to wedding attire to school teachers, all fitting seamlessly into their environment.
James Farncombe’s lighting design – what other superlatives can I muster? When the lighting happens and it is so carefully, and brilliantly, designed you don’t notice how good it is until it’s gone, well that speaks for itself. Arco Renz choreography blended into the action with panache. And the signature use of electronic sound perfectly blended with the luscious sound of the ASO by Timo Kurkikangas, along with a sound plot that gave the actors the opportunity to use great vocal and personal flexibility.
Christie Anderson led the State Opera Chorus and Adelaide Chamber Singers and blended their voices beautifully into the orchestration through the performance. There were times when the chorus was working at such a sensitive pianissimo level that you were only aware of it on a visceral level and other times the glorious bed of sound gave the principal performers a bed to rest some of their more sensitive or confronting moments on.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, as always a superb pit of local musicians led by the incomparable Clement Mao Takacs whose ability to bring the best out of an orchestra and at the same time support a cast of international singer/actors onstage is impeccable. We are blessed to have such talent in Adelaide.
Finally back to Simon Stone. Simon has carved out an international career for himself in opera direction. One only has to look at this piece of work to know why. It is a story that he has directed to pick you up, lift you out of the normal humdrum world and using Kaija Saariaho’s beautifully constructed opera not let you come back to earth until you have experienced every emotion known to the human race in a world that you share with the performers for an hour and a half and you feel you are part of. My experience left me feeling healed after an hour and a half of being challenged by a moment in time that changed the lives of a closely knit community that took ten years to heal. Bravo. I’ve kinda run out of steam – this wonderful work has changed me.
As a footnote, the contribution of the technical crew from all departments and the smooth running of such a technically driven production cannot go without mention. Bravo!
Reviewed by Adrian Barnes
Photo credit: Andrew Beveridge
Venue: Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: Feb 28th March 2nd, 4th & 5th
Duration: 1hr 45mins no interval
Tickets: from $89.00 to $369.00
Bookings: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/innocence/
Performed in multiple languages with English surtitles (there will be a large LED screen above the stage to allow for viewing from Stalls, Dress Circle and Grand Circle). Two additional smaller surtitle screens will be positioned at the rear of the stalls.
Recommended for ages 16+
Contains stylised depictions of violence, blood, references to gun violence and the use of e-cigarettes.
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