Giuseppe Verdi

A Masked Ball

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SUMMARY

Prepare to be amazed by a breathtaking new production by La Fura dels Baus, the ingenious company that has staged a powerful version of Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust and György Ligeti’s spectacular fantasy Le Grand Macabre.

The innovative director Alex Ollé and designers Alfons Flores and Lluc Castells have created a visually stunning, ground-breaking tale of deception, disguise and fate in a world where the wealthy have all the power and control the populace.

While the benevolent ruler plans a grand masquerade for the pleasure of his subjects, his conspirators are plotting his end. The traitors, however, will only succeed if they can enlist an ally close to the king. With its unforgettable melodies and fine balance of romance and tragedy – and one of opera’s greatest love duets – the international collaboration is a first for Opera Australia ahead of seasons in Brussels, Oslo and Buenos Aires.

The acclaimed soprano Tamar Iveri and rising Mexican tenor Diego Torre make their role debuts as Amelia and Gustav III respectively while the outstanding José Carbó portrays Count Anckarstroem in his first Verdi opera. Ollé’s visceral production sets a new benchmark in theatrical innovation and promises to be as mindboggling and daring as it is musically lush. It is conducted by the Italian composer and conductor Andrea Molino, the artistic director of the World Venice Forum who conducted Of Mice and Men and Macbeth for Opera Australia.

A co-production with Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; La Monnaie, Brussels; Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Oslo.

Presented in association with Sydney Festival.

Want to know more? Read the synopsis (the story of the opera) or go behind the scenes with the making of the masks.

What are the critics saying?

"A visually stunning, musically first-rate and dramatically provocative production." Limelight

"A modern Orwellian setting brings new relevance and realism to a mythic Verdi masterpiece." The Sydney Morning Herald

"...visually and aurally splendiferous." Crikey