Cupcakes, balloons and arias will herald Victorian Opera’s 2015 season, as it celebrates ten successful years. It’s not just birthday cake on the menu though, names like Petra Lang, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Jessica Pratt and Meow Meow (!) also pepper the program. The party is set to last all year long, with the company unveiling its most ambitious program yet.

“2015 is a landmark year, and with this in mind the season embodies our unique spirit as a company, while extending the boundaries of the art form,” said Richard Mills, Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director. “Next year will be a year of new productions, collaborations and significant regional development, which we hope will inspire and delight all who love singing and the magic of theatre.”

Headlining the season is a new production of Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman to be staged at St Kilda’s historic Palais Theatre. In what is a major coup for the company, internationally renowned Wagner singers Vitalij Kowaljow and Petra Lang will join the cast in the two lead roles. Kowaljow has just had a successful run in Munich’s La Forza del Destino in a production starring Jonas Kaufmann. Lang, one of those singers who can switch from...