Opera

Verdi rarity Luisa Miller headlines Opera Australia's Melbourne autumn season

Michael Shmith Opera Australia's Melbourne autumn season features three operas.

Jessica Pratt returns to Lucia di Lammermoor in Victorian Opera debut

John Bailey Despite starring in more than 20 productions of the opera, Jessica Pratt has yet to perform the role in Australia, so her local debut in Victorian Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor is much anticipated.

Meet the Megadeth, battleaxe-loving star of Turandot on Sydney Harbour

ELISSA BLAKE From being an axe-wielding extra in Gangs of New York to singing one of opera's most famous arias, Nessum Dorma, on Sydney Harbour, tenor Riccardo Massi takes it all in his very long stride.

Singer Greta Bradman will perform in Canberra on her My Hero tour

RON CERABONA Greta Bradman will perform in Canberra as part of her 'My Hero' concert tour.

Opera Australia battles cockatoos, wind and rain to get Turandot on stage

ELISSA BLAKE This time last year, Sydney's cockatoos were already making a meal of the colossal head of Nefertiti, the scenic centerpiece of the Handa Opera on the Harbour production of Verdi's Aida.

Voyage to the Moon at Llewellyn Hall had balance problems

Jennifer Gall Some balance and staging issues marred an impressive production of this fusion of material from eight Baroque composers.

Green Room Awards: Melbourne Theatre Company leads nominations

DEBBIE CUTHBERTSON Melbourne's independent performing arts scene is in rude good health, if the nominations for the Green Room Awards recognising excellence on the city's stages is anything to go by.

Tragedy mirrors the domestic

Luisa Miller review: Nicole Car stars as psychology elevates a troubled drama

Peter McCallum A lesser known Verdi opera is given a dark but engaging setting to showcase a star on the rise.

Comments

Berg's Lulu: Glorious snapshots of William Kentridge's Met Opera show, but not the big picture

Michael Shmith The Met is always keen to say there is no substitute for live opera, and there is no better example than this Lulu.

Death of composer Alan Curtis cast shadow over Victorian Opera season opener Voyage to the Moon

BARNEY ZWARTZ The biggest hurdle was emotional for Victorian Opera's cast and crew when composer Alan Curtis died before completing Victorian Opera's season opener just months before its premiere.

Nicole Car: the Australian opera diva you've never heard of but soon will

Louise Schwartzkoff A young opera singer from Victoria has risen rapidly through the ranks to international acclaim.

Sister and brother share stage in Opera Australia's The Barber of Seville

ELISSA BLAKE Sibling opera singers Jane Ede and David Parkin are happily hamming it up in a barbershop on Cleveland Street, Surry Hills. Ede has a razor blade in her hand and Parkin is ready to throttle her. "We're not normally at each other's throats!" laughs Parkin. "We actually get along very well."

Melbourne Opera turns Mozart's 1870s opera The Abduction from the Seraglio into a 1970s glamfest

MICHAEL DWYER Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II may have heard "too many notes" but Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio has just the right amount of glamour and intrigue for Melbourne Opera.

Opera in the Domain: Soprano Lorina Gore on the hazards of singing outdoors

ANDREW TAYLOR Opera's leading ladies often come to a sticky end at the hands of cowards, cads or consumption. But Lorina Gore's debut at Opera in the Domain was almost derailed by a small winged creature.

The high cost of free Sydney Festival concerts

ANDREW TAYLOR Questions remain over the cost and suitability of The Domain as a large-scale music venue.

Opera Australia soprano Stacey Alleaume on Pearlfishers, singing in French and earplugs

LOUISE RUGENDYKE A soprano with Opera Australia, Stacey Alleaume has sung all over the world and is preparing for a role as Leila in Bizet's Pearlfishers.

Sydney Opera House defaced, damaged and hit by lightning

Natalie O'Brien and Andrew Taylor Employees suffered a string of injuries including cuts, burns, strains and sprains and even a case of dermatitis.

Opera year in review: Opera Australia's Don Carlos unbeatable and small companies shone

Peter McCallum A revival of Verdi's Don Carlos, the SSO's resurrection of Tristan und Isolde and the rise of smaller companies, capped a year on Sydney's opera stages.

Opera year in review: The Rabbits lead the pack as brave choices are rewarded in season of risky delights

Michael Shmith Small companies tackle some of the year's most rewarding works but it was an opera about Indigenous dispossession that stole the show.

Opera Review: The Elixir of Love

Reviewed by Michael Shmith Matthew Barclay's revival of Simon Phillips' 2001 production of Donizetti's comedy updates the action from the bucolic Italy of the 1830s to rural Australia; this back-of-Bourke L'elisir d'amore is The Thorn Birds.