Opera Australia has announced its return to Melbourne, with the Melbourne autumn season featuring productions of Verdi’s Aida and Ernani. The opening night of Aida on 6 May will be the company’s first production in Melbourne since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down performances last year.

“It’s fantastic to be in a position to announce a Melbourne season, we are so proud to be part of the vibrant cultural fabric of the city as it re-awakens from the pandemic shutdown,” said Artistic Director Lyndon Teraccini. “We are bringing grand opera to the State Theatre and we know opera fans are keenly anticipating our return to the stage, I know they’re going to love these two big Verdi masterpieces.”

Davide Livermoore’s production of Aida at the Sydney Opera House. Photograph © Prudence Upton

Davide Livermoore’s production of Aida is the first of Opera Australia’s ‘digital productions’, using moving screens, to come to Melbourne, after performances in Sydney and Brisbane. “The production uses 10 large LED screens which can move and rotate around the stage,” Jo Litson said in her review in 2018. “Onto these are screened a range of dynamic,...