Elijah at UWA Winthrop Hall triumphs after Lachlann Lawton steps into WA Opera star James Clayton’s shoes

Cast amid a pandemic, nurtured through a lockdown and deprived at the last gasp of its advertised star, Elijah at Winthrop Hall triumphed over adversity just like its 3000-year-old inspiration.

Young baritone Lachlann Lawton had from 9.30am on Friday to step into West Australian Opera principal James Clayton’s formidable shoes.

Book in hand, he resolutely held centre stage in WAO’s joint production with UWA students; a colourful, dramatic and inventive take on Mendelssohn’s Romantic-era epic under Chris van Tuinen’s baton.

A red haze hung over the hall at the outset, as if fire had blotted the Sun; wild strains of an orchestral warm-up conjuring the pagan hordes Elijah opposes in the name of the one true God of the Hebrew Bible.

Van Tuinen paused the drama to announce the change of cast, then Lawton entered, stark and barefoot, to curse the land with drought for its misdeeds, summoning an energetic overture and bustling chorus whose youth belied the ancient origin of the plot.

Mendelssohn, lyrical last week with the Violin Concerto at the Concert Hall, was this week portentous as the chorus rose to cry “Help Lord”; first in parts then in fugue, recombining seamlessly.

The casual, seemingly irregular dress of the cast held more than a hint of West Side Story, as if Sharks and Jets had become Baals and Jews; or modern day Palestinians and Israelis.

Their mobility had shades of Brecht, among many inspired touches in this multi-layered presentation.

Yet the vocal quality was always oratorio before opera, with respect to the story.

Julius Schubring’s libretto is a complex tapestry of Hebrew texts over which Patrick Nolan and Margrete Helgeby-Chaney used every inch of Winthrop’s massive architecture to dazzling effect, with kaleidoscopic lighting by Mark Howett, evoking an apocalyptic landscape.

Lawton’s authority amid the melodrama was the pivot of the show, dramatic and reflective by turns.

Fellow principals soprano Lisa Harper-Brown and mezzo Chelsea Kluga likewise stamped their presence on the runway-style stage, their opening duet powerfully addressing the audience ranked in shallow tiers either side of the action.

WAO promised an immersive experience and delivered in spades; tenor Paul O’Neill emerging with piercing precision through the red mist to intone: “Ye people, rend your hearts.”

The use of English, as at Mendelssohn’s premiere in Birmingham in 1846, made the narrative instantly accessible, and surtitles multiplied the effect, while the setting brought every element close to hand.

But as ever it was the human dimension, from Lawton and fellow soloists, to every last chorister and musician, who supplied the drama.

Lawton and O’Neill were closely matched in timbre, and no strangers on stage after their duet at Opera in the Park just months ago.

Harper-Brown and Kluga were more dramatically contrasted, and versatile through many roles.

UWA tenor Wilson Kang cut several cameos as King Ahab, matching Lawton in their confrontations; and treble Abigail Radford was ethereal as the youth who spies the gathering storm that relieves the parched land.

With orchestra at one end and chorus in the gallery opposite, the anthem “Thanks be to God” summoned the ebb and flow of Fingal’s Cave to close the first half; light through the great rose window imposing a cathedral-like ambience.

After the break, Harper-Brown’s invocation of Jewish belief, “Hear ye, Israel”, launched a second, inner drama of Elijah’s doubt and faith. Martial in crisp white tunic, she soared in operatic mode then subsided on the ancient breeze.

Kluga from the gallery called down wrath upon Elijah, almost like a social media troll; all power without responsibility.

O’Neill as Obadiah sent Elijah to exile in the wilderness, where Lawton’s aria “It is enough” waxed tender and fatalistic; almost a dialogue with the audience.

A trio of angelic trios sonorously serenaded the sleeping prophet, while the choir in the gods looked down like cherubs in a medieval painting.

Kluga intoned perhaps the best-known aria, “O rest in the Lord”, before fire and brimstone erupted in chorus and orchestra, followed by the “still small voice” of conviction – Radford rising above the many to personify inspiration.

At the climax, O’Neill summoned a vision of earthly paradise which the chorus embodied in mobility and power, morphing from one end of the hall to another in moments.

Finally, after whoops, cheers and much applause, Lawton’s solo curtain call was crowned with a gesture of thanks to the heavens.

Elijah continues at UWA Winthrop Hall tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm. Tickets at www.waopera.asn.au.