MELBOURNE SEASON 2020 PATRON-IN-CHIEF DR HARUHISA HANDA Welcome to our 2020 Season The joy of music is one of the true pleasures in life. It can transport us to another plane and to a level of enjoyment that is deeply personal, but at the same time extremely public. When that music includes some of the greatest operatic voices in the world today, it reaches a level of joy that is sublime and touches us deeply with its emotional intensity. The combination of brilliant 21st-century design and productions which are intensely powerful and moving, together with phenomenal singing, means that Richard Wagner’s goal of achieving a total work of art becomes real. While we’re committed to achieving this at every performance, it will certainly be the case when we present Lohengrin in Melbourne in this thrilling production. Anthony Pratt and Spread out the picnic blanket and gather your There will be many evenings of inspiration and extraordinary friends: you’re invited to a special night at the opera experiences in this year of opera at Opera Australia and Opera Australia present held under the stars. And thanks to the generosity it is our hope that you can celebrate many of them with us. of Anthony Pratt, it’s all for free! We look forward to your company, Enjoy exhilarating top notes and stunning harmonies as some of our most exciting singers perform the Opera for opera hits you love best at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Whether you’re a regular at the opera or keen to hear your first ‘Nessun dorma’ live in concert, this is sure to be a memorable night out. Keep up with announcements the People Complete with the 60-piece Orchestra Victoria and and special offers. See behind a secret special guest, this is the perfect evening the scenes of how your opera for Melbourne’s music lovers to enjoy together, Comm. Lyndon Terracini AM and an opportunity for you to introduce someone Artistic Director season comes together. Opera Australia Sign up for our e-newsletter to opera for the first time. at opera.org.au or join us on Facebook, Twitter, Sidney Myer Music Bowl Instagram and YouTube. Saturday 1 February at 8pm Gates open 4pm If you would like to receive a copy of the PRINCIPAL DONOR VENUE PARTNER text in this brochure printed in a larger The most famous arias, font, please phone under the stars — free! (03) 9685 3700. AT THE SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL Photo: (Joe Castro) 1 | 2 NEW PRODUCTION NEW MA DA M A BUTTERFLY PUCCINI Fluttering beauty, caught and pinned for his pleasure, bound, beautiful still. Constrained, cocooned, caught in a Conductor State Theatre, moment of desire, Butterfly is irresistible. Pier Giorgio Morandi Arts Centre Melbourne Director On tour in Japan, the American sailor Graeme Murphy Evenings at 7:30pm Pinkerton cannot wait to bed his Japanese Creative Associate May 6, 15, 19, 22, 26, 28 Janet Vernon bride. But he’s already dreaming of an Revival Director Saturday matinee American life with an American wife. When Shane Placentino at 1pm his ship departs, he condemns Butterfly Production Designer May 9 Michael Scott-Mitchell to purgatory. Costume Designer Please note: This new production is by Australia’s most Jennifer Irwin this production may Lighting Designer potentially trigger famous choreographer, Graeme Murphy. Damien Cooper seizures for people with It’s a contemporary look at Puccini’s alluring Video and photosensitive epilepsy. heroine. He captures the grace and gravity Projection Design of a tale that begins in rapturous love and Sean Nieuwenhuis Please note: this production contains ends in cruel heartbreak. Cio-Cio-San adult themes and may not Hiromi Omura be suitable for children. The production features floor-to-ceiling Suzuki If you’d like to talk more LED panels as a dynamic set. Fragments Sian Sharp about what’s on stage, of film flutter across the stage. Pinkerton please call our box office Andeka Gorrotxategi on (03) 9685 3700. Puccini’s sublime music imbues this ageless Sharpless story with beauty, from the irrepressible aria Christopher Hillier Running time: Goro approximately 2 hours ‘Un bel dì’ (‘One fine day’) to the intense finale. Virgilio Marino and 30 minutes, Hiromi Omura is the most sought-after The Bonze including one interval. Gennadi Dubinsky Butterfly in the world. She returns in the Yamadori Sung in Italian with title role along with Andeka Gorrotxategi Haotian Qi English surtitles. as Pinkerton. Kate Pinkerton Jane Ede PRODUCTION PATRON Commissioner Alexander Hargreaves Registrar Gregory Brown Opera Australia Chorus Orchestra Victoria Photo: Mariana Hong (Georges Antoni) 3 | 4 Conductor Elsa stands accused of a horrible crime. Director Olivier Py sets this battle Johannes Fritzsch She prays for a champion, and a noble between good and evil in the ruins Director Olivier Py knight appears. But his help comes with of Berlin in the aftermath of World Revival Director a condition: she must never ask his name. War II. A monumental revolving tiered Daniel Izzo Does true love demand blind faith? set depicts a decaying theatre, where Set & Costume Designer emblems of German Romanticism Pierre-André Weitz Lohengrin is a fantastical romance. It’s gather dust. NEW PRODUCTION NEW Lighting Designer filled with shimmering string passages Bertrand Killy and angelic choruses, including the The result is a “thoughtful and audacious Lohengrin famous Bridal March. Wagner described piece of theatre.” — Opera Traveller David Butt Philip his music as “streams of gold, ravishing Elsa the senses of the beholder.” Jennifer Davis Ortrud Johannes Fritzsch conducts a stunning Elena Gabouri cast. Jennifer Davis is Elsa, while Elena Telramund Alexander Krasnov Gabouri sings the conniving Ortrud. Heinrich Alexander Krasnov performs as Telramund, Daniel Sumegi and David Butt Philip makes his Australian Herald Warwick Fyfe debut as the noble Lohengrin. Opera Australia Chorus Orchestra Victoria State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne Evenings at 6pm May 16, 20, 29 Saturday matinee at 1pm May 23 Running time: approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes, including two intervals. Sung in German with English surtitles. Co-production by Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie and Lohengrin Opera Australia. WAGNER PRODUCTION PARTNER PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY Can a heart love without doubt? Can you trust the happiness that comes through faith alone? Photo: (Georges Antoni) 5 | 6 Conductor State Theatre, The King of the Huns No one can stand before Attila and This co-production with La Scala was Renato Palumbo Arts Centre Melbourne his hordes, until a warrior woman turns a tremendous success at its Milan Director Davide Livermore Evenings at 7:30pm meets his match. his head. As he opens his heart to his premiere. It’s a “blockbuster spectacle” Revival Director May 25, 27 prisoner Odabella, the barbarian king (Financial Times), with four vivid Andy Morton reveals his weakness. characters, two real horses and plenty Set Designer Saturday matinee of crowd scenes. Giò Forma at 1pm So the scene is set for one of the great NEW PRODUCTION NEW Costume Designer May 30 revenge operas of the 19th century: In the prelude, a mournful cello draws Gianluca Falaschi Lighting Designer Running time: an early Verdi in the vein of Aida. you down into the gravity and turmoil of war. Verdi’s score is full of darkness, Antonio Castro approximately 2 hours Director Davide Livermore fuses video Video Designer and 30 minutes, rhythm and life, displaying the projections with colossal set pieces to D-Wok including one interval. composer’s gift for creating emotion. create an awe-inspiring world for Attila. Attila Sung in Italian with Renato Palumbo, a Verdi specialist, is Taras Berezhansky English surtitles. the ideal conductor to showcase all the Odabella Anna Pirozzi Co-production by colours of this work. Taras Berezhansky Foresto Teatro alla Scala and is Attila opposite Anna Pirozzi as Odabella. Giuseppe Gipali Opera Australia. Ezio Vladimir Stoyanov Uldino Virgilio Marino Pope Leo I Gennadi Dubinsky Opera Australia Chorus Orchestra Victoria Photo:ATTILA Natalie Aroyan (Georges Antoni) VERDI 7 | 8 NEW PRODUCTION NEW Opera Australia and John Frost in association with Hal Luftig and Jana Robbins present the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s production of A Fidler afn Dakh (Fiddler on the Roof). Based on Sholem The Comedy Theatre, Aleichem’s stories 240 Exhibition Street, by special permission Melbourne of Arnold Perl. Nov 15–Dec 20 Book by Joseph Stein Tuesday evenings at 7pm Music by Wednesday–Saturday Jerry Bock evenings at 7:30pm The language of love. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick Wednesday matinees The sound of tradition. Yiddish Translation by at 1pm Shraga Friedman Saturday matinees Originally Produced on at 2pm the New York Stage by Sunday matinees Experience Fiddler on the Roof (A Fidler afn Dakh) in a new way — Harold Prince at 3pm performed in Yiddish, the language of Tevye and his family! Original New York Stage Production Please note: Following sold-out seasons in New York, and Drama Desk and Outer Directed & the performance schedule Critics Circle awards for Best Musical Revival, we’re delighted to present Choreographed by may differ on certain dates. Australian audiences with this unique, authentic language version of Jerome Robbins See the calendar on page 20 for details. a much-loved musical theatre classic. Director With direction by Oscar and Tony Award winner Joel Grey, A Fidler afn Joel Grey Running time: Musical Staging & approximately 3 hours, Dakh “strikes a deep emotional chord” and “offers a kind of authenticity New Choreography including one interval. no other American Fiddler ever has” (New York Times). PERFORMED IN YIDDISH WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES Stas´ Kmiec´ Musical Supervisor Performed in Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof has captured the hearts and imaginations of audiences Zalmen Mlotek with English surtitles.