The reason opera is a “heritage” artform is that its audiences don’t want to see new operas. Time to abandon the fiction that it deserves more public funding than anything else.
Opera Australia
Macbeth — State Theatre, Melbourne
Opera Australia’s new production of Shakespeare’s murderous morality tale of political and personal betrayal is an opera so unrelentingly dark you have to squint to make it out, writes Jason Whittaker.
theatre reviews La Boheme: a commercial and artistic success
Opera companies live and die by the classics — La Bohème is in the top few most performed operas in the world — and new productions come at considerable financial and artistic risk. Luckily the Opera Australia latest is a great one.
theatre reviews Partenope — Opera Theatre, Sydney
Handel’s Partenope hardly rates as one of the most famous operas of all time, but it’s definitely one of the most fun. And Opera Australia has given it a whole new lease of life, says Lloyd Bradford Syke.
Daily Proposition: See opera up close, for less
You lose something watching opera in a cinema. But for a fraction of the cost you can watch the world’s best opera performances — while eating popcorn.
2010 on stage: the best (and worst) from Melbourne
From Shakespeare to Mamet; centuries-old operas to brand-new local works. And in a year that saw independent producers and smaller shows shine, a brassy all-American musical was probably the best of the best. Jason Whittaker names his top picks from the Melbourne stage in 2010.
Opera float: national company looks for new harbour-side fans
It will be opera watered down, quite literally. Imagine 3000-odd people watching a Verdi masterpiece floating on the most photographed harbour in the world.
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Where does Australia’s arts funding go?
Last year Opera Australia received more funding than all the 781 other arts boards and projects combined. Marcus Westbury breaks down the Australia Council arts funding fiasco.
Daily Proposition: See a cowboy opera, or some traditional Mozart
There’s something a little bit old and something a little bit new in Opera Australia’s latest suite of winter wonders in Sydney (and later this year in Melbourne). A little something for everyone, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.
Theatre review: A Little Night Music — a little bliss
Isn’t it rich? Isn’t it bliss? Artistically, aesthetically, musically, dramatically, lyrically, sonically, visually and otherwise, it’s a resounding ‘yes!’ Lloyd Bradford Syke reviews Opera Australia’s A Little Night Music.
Population planning: how opera producers will cash in
You don’t expect questions of immigration and population growth to be discussed in rarefied opera circles. At Opera Australia it’s all part of a delicate balancing act in reimagining an archaic art form for an ever-changing audience.
Daily Proposition: Frock up for the gloriously gothic opera of Tosca
Kings Cross has nothing on this sinister, sordid Roman vestry. On stage in Melbourne, Tosca offers more sex, more sadism, more brutal police corruption than anything served up in Underbelly.
The show must go on: Opera Australia’s last minute saviour
It’s a dramatic story, fit for the stage. On closing night of Opera Australia’s Fidelio, the lead is ill and the understudy interstate. Luckily, an opera diva steps in, saving the performance and possibly the boss’s job.
Are the lunatics in charge of the Opera House?
Opera Australia’s latest attempt to divert attention from its losses, its antediluvian board, its abysmal standards and cavalier attitude towards artists is to announce nation-wide auditions for singers, writes Ned Keene.
Settling scores after the death of Richard Hickox
The death of Opera Australia musical director Richard Hickox produced a range of responses, writes Ned Keene.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: PETA applauds Rudd’s vegetarian stance
Mr Rudd may have spit the dummy on a RAAF flight at the prospect of having his diet derailed by a fatty meat meal, but who wouldn’t? writes PETA’s Alistair Cornell.
Opera Australia in shifty AGM lock-down
Our national opera company continues to behave like a naughty adolescent instead of a mature adult of 50.
Opera Australia: new panel is “cosmetic”
Singer Fiona Janes addresses Opera Australia issues in a letter to Chairman Ziggy Zwitkowski.
Letter to Opera Australia
Mrs Hickox’s fame as a singer would appear to be closely linked to her husband while her recording high-point is quoted as a Gilbert and Sullivan role rather than an operatic one, writes a concerned Opera Australia subscriber.
Opera Australia does its bit for the SMH arts pages
If you think the Brits’ inferiority complex in sport was bad, you should see what’s going on in the world of opera, writes Nicholas Pickard.
Tips and rumours
A mate is a Flight Officer with Air New Zealand, he was operating their service HKG-LHR the same day as the British Airways crash and was just a bit behind BAW37, he says it was the coldest he’s seen up high with the OAT at -57. Their fuel temp got to -43, well below the […]
