With nine new productions, three contemporary Aussie works, a Ring Cycle and Dame Julie – what’s not to like?

Opera Australia has unveiled a 2016 season that counters a fair few of the criticisms of recent years by including a remarkable nine new productions as well as producing three contemporary Australian works – two brand new and one, that rara avis, a revival of an opera by a living Australian composer. Add to that a restaging of the Melbourne Ring and the coup announced last week that Dame Julie Andrews will direct My Fair Lady in Sydney, and what’s on offer in the company’s 60th year looks like an eclectic mix of the old, the new and the positively intriguing. And in a special birthday event on the steps of the Opera House, Lydnon Terracini was joined by Australian operatic legend Joan Carden and 60 opera singers in full costume for a round of champagne, pink cup cakes and a rousing lungfull of “Happy Birthday to You”.

^{The Rabbits}

The new...