As part of the 2016 national tour, Riverside Theatres will present Opera Australia’s brand new production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro this August. We caught up with Director and recent Helpmann nominee Michael Gow ahead of the tour to chat about Mozart’s classic comedy, stunning sets and opera in English! Can you tell us a little bit…
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A king desperate to find a way to make his melancholic hypochondriac of a son, the crown prince, laugh; a clown who employs the help of tumblers and strange colourful creatures to put on a performance to get that laugh; a wizard, a sorcerer, a quest; princesses who come out of oranges and a cross-dressing…
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“Love is a bird that nobody can tame” sing Carmen. Nobody but director John Bell it seems, in the latest dramatic and colourful retelling of the popular opera. Right from the opening notes the music is familiar. The set is like that of a film, lending beautifully to the very film-like opera and bringing everything to…
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“Turandot!” cue gong in the form of a giant flame-throwing dragon. “Principessa!” cue Turandot’s dazzling appearance at the top of the tall metal tower to descend towards the stage. “Vincero!” cue the dramatic note of Nessun Dorma proceeded with fireworks in the night sky above Sydney Harbour. Handa Opera really knows how to put on…
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The Barber of Seville is a fun, fast-paced opera, with much laughter and giggles and many breathless moments of vocal talent. Two such vocal talents are brother sister duo Jane Ede and David Parkin, who play Berta and Don Basilio respectively. We chatted to the siblings about their joint casting and found out who can hold the longest…
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There is no doubt that Nicole Car is one of the most outstanding young singers to emerge from Australia in recent years. She has sung all over the world, and last year made her debut at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Now the native Victorian is back in Australia singing the anguished lead in Luisa Miller….
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Luisa Miller is a lesser known earlier opera of Verdi, it’s name perhaps less extravagant then his La Traviata, Don Carlos or Aida, but in its musical telling are far more applicable characters and a genuinely beautiful yet tragic tale of love. This production by Opera Australia is a co-production with Opera de Lausanne of…
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Some fun facts about The Barber of Seville that I didn’t know going in is that it is based on a novel and is actually the prequel for The Marriage of Figaro, despite Seville being the work of Rossini and Figaro of Mozart. Having of course seen Opera Australia’s The Marriage of Figaro last year…
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The Rabbits, written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan, is an extraordinary piece of work. It takes important historical events and recreates its message in a haunting picture book- reaching children and adults alike. It does not shy away from what it needs to say. The adaption of this work into this opera…
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I have wanted to see Mozart’s The Magic Flute for so long. The “happy” opera, full of playfulness, colour and magic, a welcome change from my more recent (brilliant) but tragic La Bohemes and Don Carlos’. And boy was everyone correct! The Magic Flute is absolutely the happy opera. The first thing I noticed about…
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When a story is told and retold and adapted in so many different ways you know there’s something special about it. This is of course the case with Puccini’s La Bohème, which has been adapted into popular modern musical RENT and used as inspiration for Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge just to name a few. In…
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