Sydney Chamber Opera, in association with The Song Company, gave the Australian premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone at the 2019 Sydney Festival.
Conductor: Jack Symonds / Director: Imara Savage / Set & Costume Design: Elizabeth Gadsby / Lighting Design: Alexander Berlage / Assistant Director: Clemence Williams / Video Artist: Mike Daly
Solo Soprano: Jane Sheldon
Some review samples:
“Bold, uncompromising, and musically spectacular… even though we can’t see her face as she sings (although we get a decent sense of the character’s trauma from her onscreen expressions) [Jane Sheldon’s] body and voice convey the necessary depth of emotion and suffering, particularly as Weil reaches the end of her life. It's an extraordinary vocal performance, in terms of both storytelling and technique – she has a bright and full-bodied upper register that she uses generously over the course of the piece.” – Timeout
“Singing with crystalline accuracy, impressive agility and full-voiced power, Sheldon essayed the challenging solo part while watching a video of herself under a shower of rice grains. Her increasingly jerky onstage gestures mimicked her intensifying onscreen pain as she bowed under the weight of her burden… The impact was compelling and disturbing.” – The Australian
“Soprano Jane Sheldon delivered the solo vocal line with a fluid sound of glowing pristine beauty and transcendent iridescence.” – Sydney Morning Herald
“Her singing… radiates memorably throughout the evening. Her understanding of this extensive monodrama is exemplary, both in the technical and musical sense.” – The Conversation