Culture
Opera
From her Paris retreat, star Aussie soprano sings out for others
Australian diva Nicole Car is following in the steps of Dame Nellie Melba in setting up a charity to help performers in dire straits.
- by Bridget Davies
Latest
Coronavirus pandemic
Opera Australia offers lifeline to stood-down staff
Opera Australia has temporarily underwritten the wages of hundreds of its staff laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- by Linda Morris
Arts
Women composers' imaginations take flight
If Australia’s elusive Night Parrot seems an unlikely subject for contemporary opera, Bree van Reyk’s The Imaginary Bird itself is part of something even more rarely seen.
- by Steve Meacham
Arts
Attila packs a dramatic punch
It is unusual for a revival of a neglected opera to achieve the dramatic impact and clarity of message that this new co-production between Opera Australia and Teatro all Scala creates.
- by Peter McCallum
Sex & relationships
La Traviata's Rame Lahaj: 'I never thought I’d become a singer, the focus was on surviving war'
The opera singer discusses the late start to his career, balancing relationships and the great influence of his family on his life.
- by Robyn Doreian
Performing arts
Rossini for the bambini: opera for tots arrives in Melbourne
Could a five-month-old baby enjoy opera? Inspired by similar programs overseas, Victorian Opera has set up a new program to find out.
- by Nick Miller
Stage shows
Red alert for opera fans who've always wanted to channel Julia Roberts
It’s no accident La Traviata is the opera to which Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts in the classic 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman.
- by Nick Galvin
Arts
Australian opera star director Kosky wins coveted arts prize
Barrie Kosky, dubbed "the most interesting opera director of the past decade", has been given this year's Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award.
- by Nick Miller
MeToo movement
LA Opera finds harassment reports against Placido Domingo 'credible'
Investigators have deemed credible allegations by 10 women who accused the star of inappropriate conduct from 1986 to 2019. But found no evidence of a cover up.
Arts
Killing women for art? Opera's 2020 death toll might surprise
Opera is not kind to its leading women: bashed, stabbed, terminally ill; generally dead by the final curtain. So what's Melbourne's 2020 opera body count?
- by Barney Zwartz
MeToo movement
Placido Domingo apologises for 'hurt that I caused' as investigation finds misconduct
Fallen opera star Placido Domingo released a statement late Monday night apologising for the behaviour that led to a series of sexual harassment allegations
- by Jessica Gelt