L’Oracolo

Mala Vita

The Guardian
’Cordelia Chisholm’s revolving tenament set is the real star. Its doorways, windows and shop fronts double as Chinatown and the Neapolitan slums, and – as in Hitchcock’s Rear Window – there is always plenty going on behind the curtains.’

**** Bachtrack
’Bloody and sensational’
’Cordelia Chisholm's sets were thoroughly opulent and magnificent, an equal feat of engineering and artistry.’

**** The Times
’Both operas, were punchily staged by Rodula Gaitanou and skilfully designed by Cordelia Chisholm.’

**** The Stage

Opera Canada
’all it took was a top-flight staging to bring this duo to whopping veristic life. Director Rodula Gaitanou infused Cordelia Chisholm’s updated Chinatown/Little Italy (the same rotating, four-sided set did versatile double duty) with a vibrant atmosphere to match the music’s, which, illuminated by the stage action, yielded many an unexpected pleasure.’

Opera Today
’Director Rodula Gaitanou and designer Cordelia Chisholm leave us in no doubt of the squalor and sadism of life in the ghetto. Dimly lit by Paul Hackenmueller, Chisholm’s set is dominated by a towering, three-story brick edifice which revolves to reveal the business premises of Dr Uin-Scî, a Chinese herbalist, the imposing entrance to the domestic quarters of Hu-Tsin, and the red-lit steps which descend into the bowels of Cim-Fen’s opium den. We are swirled along with the chattering Chinese inhabitants through the network of grimy alleyways. A corner street-light illuminates the coarseness and brutality of the gamblers, drug-takers and drinkers departing Cim-Fen’s den: knives flash in the lamp-light gloom, fists lash out, grievances are born and nurtured. Even the festive spectacle of a Chinese New Year Dragon Procession doesn’t alleviate the shabby sleaziness: the festooning red balloons can’t hide the shabbiness of the parading wagons, and the arching Dragon dips and dives menacingly, glaring with a mean, sharp-toothed stare.

After the interval, Chisholm’s set was deftly transformed - out with the herbalist and in with Valentino’s cobbler’s shop, the Bella Napoli café replacing the opium den, and laden washing-lines adding to the authenticity of the milieu in the second Act - in order to transfer us from Chinatown at the turn of the century to Little Italy in the 1950s.’