Opera Australia’s new production of Arabella is a veritable feast for serious opera goers. Strauss’s sumptuous score is matched by bravura performances from the principals, and a glorious design compliments John Cox’s meticulous direction.

First performed in Dresden in 1933, Arabella was the final collaboration between Austrian-Jewish writer, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and composer Richard Strauss. Its plot is, at first glance, an almost saccharine sweet, sentimental love story - scratch the surface and you find a dark, Freudian influenced portrayal of the neuroses of turn of the century Viennese society and the then emerging modern family. The froth and bubble on the outside barely disguises the ugliness of parents who effectively sell off their daughter to finance their decadent lifestyles, while idealised romantic notions strive to divert from the obsessive and delusional drives of the young lovers.

This production doesn’t labour the deeper imports of the libretto, but clues to its psycho-analytical roots are to be found in the outstanding design by Robert Perdziola. Whilst the beautiful costumes are representative of a cultured 1860’s Vienna, the set has nods to Dali and Escher, and the staircase transformation in Act 3 is the stuff of dreams.

Internationally renowned Cox’s direction pays attention to the artifice and comedy of the story, and is so successful in this that many would come from the theatre accepting the story at face value only. Listen to the orchestra, though, and the relentless post-romantic orchestration, with nary a moment of repose, insistently speaks of the turbulent unconscious. In the pit Orchestra Victoria, under the baton of British maestro Lionel Friend, were enthusiastic and mostly accurate.

Arabella calls for a cast of many talented soloists. OA is to be congratulated for assembling a world class ensemble, of mostly Australian singers, to tackle the fiendishly difficult score. My only quibble is that too often the surging sounds of the orchestra were too much of a match for the singers, particularly the principal sopranos.

In the lead roles husband and wife team, Cheryl Barker (Arabella) and Peter Coleman-Wright (Mandryka) are outstanding, both bringing considerable style and intelligence to their challenging roles. As the younger sister, Zdenka, Emma Matthews’s clear tone suits the naivety of her character; and the object of her desire, the obsessive Matteo, is played to perfection by the American tenor Richard Roberts.

As the fiscally and morally bankrupt Count and Countess Walder, Conal Coad and Milijana Nikolic are equally impressive, and tenor Kanen Breen (as Count Elemer) shows a rapidly developing talent. Coloratura Lorina Gore’s lively vocal gymnastics as Flakermilli provide a welcome brilliance in the upper tessitura – succeeding, where others sometimes struggle, in cutting through the rich fabric of the orchestration.

Arabella is also challenging for the audience – sung in German (with English surtitles), the libretto is forever moving forward, and considerable concentration is required if one is to keep abreast of the subtleties of the plot. The music too, never allows for relaxation. Occasional moments of peace and consonance are soon disturbed by shifts in tonality – I for one, was exhausted, but totally satisfied by night’s end.

To get the best value from this rarely performed but extraordinary work of art, I suggest you take the time to read the program notes prior to attendance. Further good reading on the opera can be found online in the Guardian of May 21, 2004 in an article by Tim Ashley titled “Portrait of a Lady”.