Melbourne Opera’s 2017 season is a study in contrasts
British satire, German Romanticism, and high Italian drama make up this year’s offering from the company.
British satire, German Romanticism, and high Italian drama make up this year’s offering from the company.
Lyric tenor Kang Wang joins 19 finalists in the popular international opera competition.
Limelight wants you to tell us who you think deserves to be crowned king or queen of the operatic stage.
Students can purchase $50 tickets to attend the final dress rehearsal of Barrie Kosky’s sold out opera production. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Greta Bradman shines in her first outing for Opera Australia, in Edwards' Weimar Bohème.
The Australian mezzo soprano has been dropped from OA’s Parsifal for reasons that at present remain a mystery. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Mozart started work on his incomplete opera Zaide in 1779 at the age of 23, finishing just 15 numbers before setting it aside to write Idomeneo. Its two acts – there would have been three – are however filled with some wonderful music including two melodramas and the most famous number, Zaïde’s Ruhe sanft. Act One finds Gomatz (Allan Clayton) among the slaves of Sultan Soliman (Stuart Jackson). He sleeps to forget his plight and, as he does, Soliman’s favourite odalisque Zaide (Sophie Bevan), sings Rest gently by his side. Soon enough, Gomatz, Zaide and sympathetic guard Allazim (Jacques Imbrailo) plan their escape. Act Two sees the hapless lovers recaptured and condemned to die. This is yet another superlative addition to Ian Page’s period ensemble Classical Opera’s critically acclaimed complete cycle of Mozart operas. The brilliance of the orchestral playing is established from the beginning with a highly dramatic reading of an overture lifted from Mozart’s incidental music to Thamos, König in Ägypten. Those following British soprano Sophie Bevan’s stellar career will find nothing to disappoint, while arias such as Gomatz’s Rase, Schicksal, wüte immer (Fury, destiny, keep on raging) allow Clayton to demonstrate his own mastery of early Classical…
Here is a true labour of love: a history of Australian singers on record from the Nellie Melba generation to that of Sutherland and beyond. Music historian Roger Neill and recording expert Tony Locantro have spent 13 long years bringing this project to fruition, and the results – presented by Decca Eloquence on a four disc set – are fascinating. “Why has there been such an extraordinary procession of world-class Australian singers over such an extended period of time?” ask the producers. While providing no exact answers, this comprehensive survey includes some 80 wonderful singers in a wide range of musical genres, from opera to music hall and from art song to popular. Lovingly restored and remastered from original sources, many of these recordings are rare to downright obscure, and many names will be rediscoveries for even those who thought they knew the history of Aussie singers on record. The set begins with the eight Australians who are known to have been pupils of the great European singing teacher Madame Mathilde Marchesi. Ada Crossley, Amy Castles and Evelyn Scotney stand out, but the finest has to be Frances Alda who duets here with Caruso and whose In quelle… Continue reading…
Szymanowski’s magnum opus was seen by many as a box office risk, but ended up exceeding its budget. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The renowned Australian stage director’s love of music and opera goes back to school days at Homebush Boys High. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The composer and his wife Marta have been awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award on his 91st birthday and their 70th anniversary.
With stunning sets and deftly built tension, Bell’s Tosca has earned its place in OA’s rep.
The Heldentenor criticised OA for repetitive choices and employing “second rate” international singers. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in