A BLUR OF COLOUR, GOOD MUSIC AND BAD ART HISTORY
Ever since John Adams gave us Nixon in China in 1987, the possibilities for opera have been limitless. Unlike the Greek tragedians who were obliged to set every play in a mythical age of Gods and heroes, contemporary composers have drawn subjects from the news cycle, and from the tawdry lives of latter-day celebrities.
Elena Kats-Chernin’s Whiteley was never going to be Greek tragedy. The closest parallel might be Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Anna Nicole (2011), about a celebrity stripper who was never out of the tabloids. Brett Whiteley (1939–92), despite his reputation as an important Australian artist, was another tabloid favourite.
The classic operas are often simple melodramas with a clear, unmistakable storyline. Madam Butterfly’s fate is spelled out in the first Act, as Pinkerton reveals his frivolous attitude to
