Johanna Doderer: Fatima Or The Brave Children – Wiener Staatsoper

   in Opera Now (Mar, 2019)
Fatima is by Austrian composer Johanna Doderer, and was filmed at its world premiere at the Vienna Staatsoper in 2015. It’s the short and neat story of the eponymous heroine, who resolves the mess made by her brother in attempting to outwit and overcome the Lord of the Castle, who delights in stealing children’s dreams. So an inherently theatrical premise, with a dash of whimsy and some delightfully ‘yuck’ moments that will please most infants. Doderer’s writing is confident and fluent, generally traditional, and she keeps the story moving along. The opera does perhaps miss that one specific hit number that the audience could leave humming. Henry Mason’s stage direction is …