Following the news in February that Opera Australia’s production of Szymanowski’s King Roger exceeded its box office targets, the Company has announced that their 2017 Sydney Summer Season has been the highest selling in the Company’s history, with ticket sales of over $14 million for the period between New Year’s Eve and April 1.

According to the Company, more than 100,000 people attended performances across the Summer Season, which included the Australian premieres of new productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci and King Roger – co-productions with London’s Royal Opera House – as well as tried and true productions, Elijah Moshinsky’s La Traviata (which in this run featured Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho, Lorina Gore and Emma Matthews) and Gale Edwards’ perennial La Bohème (which featured the OA debut of Greta Bradman). King Roger was also the first opera to be sung in Polish in Australia. These numbers don’t include the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour production of Carmen, which will run until April 23.

^{Opera Australia’s King Roger. Photo © Keith Saunders}

“The reaction to this season has been quite phenomenal....