Review: Norma (Melbourne Opera)
Bel canto specialist Helena Dix leads Norma’s long awaited return to Melbourne.
Bel canto specialist Helena Dix leads Norma’s long awaited return to Melbourne.
Philippe Jaroussky was one of the first countertenors to meet with international stardom. He tells Mélissa Lesnie about his new album, conducting his first opera, and passing on what he’s learned.
New songs by Brenda Gifford, a performance piece inspired by the life of experimental pianist Margaret Leng Tan and six new Australian operas are among the projects funded.
Excellent vocal and dramatic performances in an updated production that preserves Offenbach’s deliciously frothy music and biting satire.
Opera Australia brings Strindberg's strange, purgatorial world to the Scenery Workshop.
Pinchgut Opera triumphs in Monteverdi’s late masterpiece.
Mercadante measures up to Rossini despite ghastly staging.
Granados’s opera is a case of nice music, shame about the plot.
Frothy piece of silliness given most stylish treatment.
Bel canto blitz – an outstanding debut from the next big tenor.
Kiandra Howarth has won the Bel Canto Award, while Finnish soprano Hannakaisa Nyrönen has taken home the Elizabeth Connell Prize.
Soon to unveil her Norma for Melbourne Opera, the Australian soprano talks about the challenges of accompanied recitative, the tension between words and music, and putting her own stamp on bel canto's Mt Everest.
Singers from Australia, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong will compete for a place in the Cup’s semi-final this October.