Opera Australia’s 2011 seasons in Sydney and Melbourne will offer Australian opera audiences an interesting mix of premieres, new productions and revivals of much loved perennials. Likewise, a mix of artists new to Australian stages as well as some old favourites will ensure that there is something for everyone throughout the year.
Australian Premiere – Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men
In one of two premieres, renowned stage and film director brings an adaptation of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men to the opera stage. The production opens in Sydney on 23 July 2011, with a cast that includes American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. Melbourne audiences will have their opportunity to see this new work which opens there on 26 November 2011.
Sydney Premiere – Richard Mills’ The Love of the Nightingale
Timberlake Wertenbaker’s libretto of the Greek legend of Philomene and Procne is sung by well loved sopranos, Emma Matthews and Anke Hoppner. Directed by Tama Matheson, it opens on 21 October 2011.
New Productions – La Boheme, Macbeth, Partenope and The Merry Widow
The four new productions offer a diverse smorgasbord of styles and stories. Puccini’s ever popular La Boheme is given a change of period and location, being reset by director Gale Edwards to 1930s Berlin. The production sees the return of Takesha Meshe Kisart who was such a success in the 2010 season of Tosca, and opens in Melbourne on 12 April 2011. Sydney opera goers can see it from 12 July 2011.
Verdi’s Macbeth is one of his lesser performed operas, but returns to the Melbourne stage on 20 April 2011 with Michael Lewis in the title role. This is one of a number of international co-productions, in this instance with Montreal Opera. The Sydney season opens on 10 September 2011.
A co-production between Opera Australia and the English National Opera of Handel’s Partenope brings together the cream of Australia’s baroque specialists. The production stars Emma Matthews and includes Richard Alexander, Kanen Breen, Catherine Carby, Jacqueline Dark and Christopher Field. A comedy, it plays with notions of war, love and gender and opens in Sydney on 12 March 2011.
A lavish and romantic production of Lehar’s The Merry Widow. This staging of the popular operetta is a co-production with Opera North and stars Amelia Farrugia and David Hobson. This is part of the Sydney Winter season and opens on 4 August 2011.
Revivals of Madama Butterfly, Carmen,The Barber of Seville, Don Giovanni, The Pearlfishers, Lakme, La Traviata, Capriccio and The Mikado.
Moffat Oxenbould’s exquisite Madama Butterfly will return to The Sydney Opera House as the opening production of the season on 7 January 2011. Newcomer to Opera Australia, mezzo soprano Rinat Shaham, sings the title role of Bizet’s Carmen, opening in Sydney on 15 January 2011. Those wanting to see a semi-staged version of this production can pack their picnics and head for Mazda Opera in the Domain on 29 January 2011.
Back by popular acclaim is the madcap 1920s staging of The Barber of Seville with Italian baritone Giogio Caoduro making his Australian debut as Figaro, opening on 4 February 2011 in Sydney. Sydney sopranos Emma Mathews and Dominica Matthews star in designer Mark Thompson’s Hindu-art inspired Lakme, opening on 24 August 2011. Also in Sydney, Richard Strauss’s last opera, Capriccio, with some of the luminaries of the Australian opera stage including Cheryl Barker, Michael Lewis, Kanen Breen and Conal Coad opens on 2 July 2011.
New Zealander Teddy Tahu Rhodes is Don Giovanni in the classic Goran Jarefelt production of Mozart’s darkest opera. The Don opens in Sydney 24 September 2011 and in Melbourne on 2 December 2011. Tahu Rhodes will hand over to Jose Carbo in Sydney and Shane Lowrencev in Melbourne.
Melbourne audiences can also enjoy Gilbert and Sullivan’s riotous The Mikado, which opens on 17 May 2011, with Avenue Q actor and singer Mitchell Butel as Ko Ko. The Melbourne Spring season opens on 16 November 2011 with Verdi’s tragic La Traviata, starring Russian-born Elvira Fatykhova in the title role.
Oz Opera Tours La Traviata
Oz Opera, the touring arm of Opera Australia, is on the road with a production of La Traviata directed by Rachel McDonald. This is the second of a two-year circuit, playing in 28 venues. An ensemble of 10 singers and a chamber orchestra are travelling regional centres to take opera beyond the metropolitan areas.
New Directions for Grand Opera
At the launch, Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini said, “Opera is changing. Australia is changing. Audiences want performers who can sing to the impossible standards of a studio recording, act like Oscar winners, dance like Fred Astaire and look the part, live on stage. It might be a bold claim, but we are confident that the artists we have assembled for 2011 are up to the challenge.”
The range and depth of the 2011 seasons in both Sydney and Melbourne will ensure that Terracini’s statement is backed up by solid production weight and audiences should find many options to satisfy their opera tastes. Tickets can be purchased via the Opera Australia website.
Karen Finch - Karen is a Sydney based freelance writer, artist and musician. To learn more, click on her name to read her profile.
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