LOOK & LISTEN

Women fighting duels, wearing pants and winning wars. It’s all part of Handel’s sensual and crazy scheme of desire, passion, parody and intrigue in which three suitors seek Partenope’s hand in marriage. Read more...

Women fighting duels, wearing pants and winning wars. It’s all part of Handel’s sensual and crazy scheme of desire, passion, parody and intrigue in which three suitors seek Partenope’s hand in marriage. Read more...

Graeme Murphy’s triumphant staging of Verdi’s soaringly romantic and dramatic masterpiece evokes the opera’s splendour and unsurpassed musical characterisation through vivid projected images and soaring voices. These photographs are from the 2012 production at the Sydney Opera House.

Outrageous costumes to match outrageous jokes and a Can-Can line like you've never seen before. Find out more about Orpheus in the Underworld here...

Production photos from the new production of A Masked Ball by the ingenious theatre company La Fura dels Baus. Read more...

Director Gale Edwards’ ravishing production, with marvel-making sets by designer Brian Thomson and sensual, daring costumes by Julie Lynch, transports the poet Rodolfo and the young seamstress Mimì from the Latin Quarter of 1830s Paris to Berlin in the 1930s. Find out more...

For more photos and to connect with other opera fans view our Facebook photo album here...

As the sun sets over Sydney Harbour, Opera Australia rehearses La Traviata ahead of Opening Night on 24 March.  These photos were taken by baritone Johnathan Summers, who will perform as Giorgio Germont on Opening Night.

Our Sydney summer of Mozart draws to a close with a bittersweet portrayal of young love, Così fan tutte.

This is Mozart at his most romantic, most intimate, most exquisite. This is music that gets to the heart of what it is to love.

Jim Sharman’s production showcases a new generation of theatrical wizards. Ralph Myers is set designer, Gabriela Tylesova has created the fabulous frocks and video artist Mic Gruchy takes the live action into another dimension. With a young cast and a fresh English translation, this is a playful and surprising production.

Don Alfonso bets his two young friends that their girlfriends will cheat on them, given half a chance. They are confident their lovers will stay true. But there’s no harm in playing a little game to test them out. Or is there?

2012 details and tickets: Sydney (8 -26 March)

In 2012 we celebrate Mozart’s revolutionary masterpiece, The Marriage of Figaro with a new production from one of the most exciting theatrical minds in Australia, Benedict Andrews.

After his award-winning productions of The Wars of the Roses and The Seagull, what will he make of Mozart? Come and see, when the outstanding cast, including Russian soprano Elvira Fatykhova as the Countess, takes to the stage for one of the greatest operas of all time.

It’s a special day. Susanna, the housemaid, and Figaro, the security guard, are getting married! And the boss has provided them with brand new married quarters, ideally positioned right between his and his wife’s bedrooms.

Wait a minute… ideally positioned for whom? Could the boss have his eye on the bride?

2012 details and tickets: Sydney (6 February - 24 March)

Welcome to a world where animals dance and children fly. Where princes battle dragons and hope battles despair. To a world where ideas matter, and music saves the day.

Welcome to an enchanting new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Julie Taymor, director of The Lion King, has taken Mozart’s fairy tale and turned it into a show that speaks to the child in all of us. Dazzling costumes, puppetry, English dialogue and theatrical ingenuity meet the melodies of a musical genius.  This could be the perfect introduction to opera.

2012 details and tickets: Sydney (6 Jan - 23 Mar), Melbourne (10 Apr - 11 May) and Brisbane (26 May - 8 Jun)

The mythical Princess Turandot rules her people with an iron fist and a heart of ice. Can Prince Calaf melt her heart, when so many have failed? And what price will he pay?

Director Graeme Murphy and designer Kristian Fredrikson’s bold choreography and larger-than-life sets and costumes balance Puccini’s gorgeous swathes of orchestral and choral colour to produce a spectacular night in the theatre.

This is romantic opera at its intoxicating best.

2012 details and tickets: Sydney (17 Jan - 19 Mar) and Melbourne (10 Apr - 11 May)

When audiences watch Amelia Farrugia (Hanna) glide across the stage in the arms of David Hobson (Danilo), gorgeous in her black velvet ball gown, the last thing on their minds is the origins of the gown. Yet every costume in the The Merry Widow has a history. View our photo gallery to see how the Opera Australia Wardrobe works to put the frocks together. Or read more about how the costumes were created.

Photos by Bridget Elliot

Photos from the 2007 Melbourrne Spring season of Don Giovannia featuring Tedddy Tahu Rhodes.  Photos by Jeff Busby

Photos from the 2011 Melbourne Autumn season of The Mikado. Photos by Jeff Busby

Photographs taken from the 2011 Melbourne Autumn season of La boheme, photos by Jeff Busby. 

Feathers and fripperies, feminine gowns, hats, handbags and intimate apparel - Julie Lynch’s costume designs for La bohème capture the decadent underbelly of the late Weimar Republic.  Here are a few to whet your appetite...

Opera Australia's production of La bohème will be a highlight of the 2011 season.  Designer Brian Thomson has set Act II in an old theatre, and this photo essay tracks progress in our Workshop as our as scenery technicians, props makers and scenic artists create the gilded balcony stalls and plush velvet chairs of the Café Momus.  Photos by Bridget Elliot.

Partenope is a rare and crazy jewel from George Frideric Handel’s treasure trove of operas. Hear it for the first time in Australia in a production created for Opera Australia and the English National Opera, and starring the incomparable Emma Matthews in the title role.

"This is a brilliantly stylish reimagining of a noble score." The Sydney Morning Herald

"One of Handel's lightest and frothiest pieces, this forgotten gem sparkles under the direction of Christopher Alden" The Daily Telegraph.

"As Partenope, soprano Emma Matthews delivered another triumphant performance. Her opening aria was a stunning coloratura showpiece, displaying breathtaking agility and clarity of articulation. Matthews was secure, flexible and controlled across her tessitura, conveying her character's curious mix of teasing superficiality and emotional honesty." The Australian

Opera Australia's Oz Opera is currently captivating audiences across Australia with its stunning new touring production of Verdi's La traviata

The dramatic, richly-coloured costumes, gracious choreography and spare elegance of Moffatt Oxenbould's legendary production complement the lush, romantic sound of Puccini's score for Madama Butterfly. Patricia Racette as Cio-Cio-San, Rosario La Spina as Pinkerton, Jacqueline Dark as Suzuki and Barry Ryan as Sharpless. Images Branco Gaica. This production is part of Opera Australia's 2011 Sydney Summer season at the Sydney Opera House. Find out more...

Michael Yeargan’s set and Peter J Hall’s lavish period costumes are the perfect backdrop to Verdi’s lush sweeping La traviata. This production returns to the Arts Centre in 2011.

In 2010 we presented the world premiere of our new Australian opera Bliss by Brett Dean and Amanda Holden, based on the novel by Peter Carey and directed by Neil Armfield. Bliss journeyed to the 2010 Edinburgh Festival where it took out a Herald Angel Award.

A new production of Bellini's La sonnambula was part of Opera Australia's 2010 Melbourne Autumn and Sydney Winter seasons.

Elijah Moshinsky’s classic version of Rigoletto inspired by Fellini’s ‘La Dolce Vita’ was part of Opera Opera Australia's 2010 Sydney Winter and Melbourne Spring seasons.

Massenet’s Manon was part of Opera Australia's 2010 Sydney Summer season.

A new production of Puccini's Tosca directed by Christopher Alden was part of Opera Australia's 2010 Sydney Summer and Melbourne Autumn seasons.

Der Rosenkavalier was part of Opera Australia's 2010 Sydney Winter season.

Photos from the Yarrabah Indigenous Community of Far North Queensland, who have joined with Opera Australia in creating YARRABAH! The Musical, directed by Rhoda Roberts and featuring many of the young people and elders of the Yarrabah community alongside artists Casey Donovan, Troy Brady and Nick Backstrom.

More than 400 singers from Western Sydney will come together at the Sydney Opera House in a free concert that celebrates the power of the voice.

A gallery of photographs from past productions of Verdi's Il trovatore featuring Donald Smith as Manrico and Rosemary Gordon as Leonora in 1966; Kenneth Collins as Manrico, Anthea Moller as Azucena and Joan Carden as Leonora in 1990; Michael Lewis as Count di Luna, Lisa Gasteen and Deborah Riedel as Leonora and Richard Margison as Manrico in 1996; Elizabeth Campbell as Azucena, Antonio Nagore as Manrico and Maria Pollicina as Leonora in 1999; Bernadette Cullen as Azucena and Dennis O'Neill as Manrico in 2001, 2004 and 2007, joined by Margaret Medlyn as Leonora in 2004, and Nicole Youl as Leonora and Michael Lewis as Count Di Luna in 2007; and Arnold Rawls as Manrico, Daria Masiero as Leonora, Michael Honeyman as Count di Luna and Milijana Nikolic as Azucena in the current production (2013).

Opera Australia was deeply saddened at the news of the passing of Dame Joan Sutherland OM AC DBE in October 2010. In our Dame Joan Sutherland gallery we celebrate Dame Joan’s many wonderful performances with our company.

The 'Company We Keep' is an illustrated celebration of Opera Australia compiled by writer Annarosa Berman and photographer Bridget Elliot in our 50th Anniversary year exploring everything that goes into bringing an opera production to the stage, from preliminary concept to the final rehearsal. As extract from this publication, these black and white photographs provide a snap shot of our busy company at work.

In 2006 we celebrated 50 years of our Company by opening the doors of our home, the Opera Centre in Surry Hills, Sydney. You too can see behind the scenes on one of our Opera Centre tours.

This new project between the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (AOBO) and the NSW Regional Conservatoriums was a unique opportunity to introduce regional students to opera orchestral playing and repertoire, work with the AOBO and to come to Sydney for a three day immersion experience. 

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Students from Eagle Vale High School participate in Opera Australia's WotOpera program in Sydney, 2011.

Photos by Bridget Elliot

Students from Holroyd High School participate in Opera Australia's WotOpera program in Sydney, 2011.

Photos by Bridget Elliot

Students from Mount St Benedict College participate in Opera Australia's WotOpera program in Sydney, 2011.

Students from Robert Townson High School participate in Opera Australia's WotOpera program in Sydney, 2011.

Photos by Bridget Elliot

The Magic Flute is a mysterious and wonderful tale, following four young people’s journeys as they discover their own strengths and weaknesses and pass the tests of true love.

Returning to NSW schools in 2013 by popular demand, this fully–staged 50-minute version of Mozart’s opera was devised especially for Oz Opera’s Schools Company by Tim Sexton and Christine Anketell, and is supported by curriculum-based Teachers Resource Material.

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Secret letters, cunning disguises and all sorts of confusions will delight young audiences! The Barber of Seville, one of the most popular operas ever written, returns to VIC schools in 2013.

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Opera Australia’s Oz Opera and Deaf Children Australia have formed a unique relationship to develop the new technique of presenting opera performances with Auslan Shadow Interpreters.

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In 2013, a fully-staged, touring production of Mozart's Don Giovanni travels to metropolitan, remote and regional locations across Australia. Directed by Michael Gow. Photo credit: Albert Comper.

In 2013, a fully-staged, touring production of Mozart's Don Giovanni travels to metropolitan, remote and regional locations across Australia. Directed by Michael Gow. Photo credit: Ray Messner.

Opera where you least expect it...

Opera Australia’s annual Dinner on the Stage in Melbourne offers guests the unforgettable experience of dining on the stage of The Arts Centre. Read more. 

Dinner on the Stage is Opera Australia's annual gala event in Melbourne, offering guests the exclusive experience of dining on the State Theatre Stage at The Arts Centre. Opera Australia stars Taryn Fiebig, Samuel Dundas and Martin Buckingham dazzled guests as they enjoyed one of Australia's most unique dining experiences.

The Opera Gala  is Opera Australia's biggest and most glamorous fundraising event in Sydney. Guests delved deep into the heart of the Sydney Opera House and dined on the Opera Theatre Stage for an unforgettable and exclusive behind-the-scenes experience. The event featured gourmet food from Matt Moran and performances by Opera Australia star's Peter Coleman-Wright, Antoinette Halloran and Jacqueline Dark.

For one night only, the Paint Dock at Opera Australia's headquarters in Surry Hills was is transformed into the picturesque countryside of France for Opera Australia's Wine and gourmet event, Dinner on the Dock. Guests were welcomed to 'A Night In Provence', enjoying gourmet food from chef Guillaume Brahimi, premium wines, stunning performances from Sharon Prero, Michael Honeyman and Shane Lowrencev as well as the excitement of auctions and wine games.