“We’re a lean but hard-working company,” says Dane Lam, Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia. “Our priority is to present as much opera as we possibly can.”

Dane Lam, Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia. Photo © Matt Turner

He is talking to Limelight ahead of the launch of the company’s 50th-anniversary season, which begins with Rossini’s Cinderella, directed by Neil Armfield. Opening in May next year, it features mezzo-soprano Anna Dowsley in the title role alongside soprano Helena Dix as Clorinda.

Dix then stars in a concert performance of Bellini’s Norma, a role she has sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with Dowsley as Adalgisa. Baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes joins them in what Lam calls “luxury casting”.

Next up, Michael Gow’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Opera Australia premieres at Barossa Arts Centre ahead of a national tour.

Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Sondheim’s Into the Woods are both being staged on the same set by director Constantine Costi. “There’s an obvious thematic connection of fairy tales and fantasy worlds,” Lam says, “and the pairing also represents an exploration of musical forms.” Drawing a parallel between Sondheim’s compositional style and operatic tradition, he notes the sophisticated structure and through-composed nature of Into the Woods. “It reminds me of Janáček in how it’s constructed.”

Hansel and Gretel stars countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim and soprano Sofia Troncoso with mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby as the witch. “Kim is an absolute chameleon,” Lam says. “He tackles coveted mezzo-soprano roles and made history as the first male Cherubino at Covent Garden under John Eliot Gardiner.”

Into the Woods features Hugh Sheridan as the Baker, with Johanna Allen as his wife and Rosie Hosking as the Witch.

Director Laura Hansford’s production of Bizet’s Carmen builds on her previous work using a reutilised set for Lucia di Lammermoor in 2024. “Our industry can be very wasteful,” Lam explains. “We have several older productions in storage, so this one is being made from recycled materials – a statement of both financial and environmental sustainability.” It features Charlotte Kelso as Carmen, Gerard Schneider as Don José, Samuel Dale Johnson as Escamillo and Desiree Frahn as Micaëla, with Cathy-Di Zhang, Fiona McArdle, John Longmuir and Nicholas Lester rounding out a stellar cast.

The Golden Jubilee culminates in Golden Voices at St Peter’s Cathedral, a celebration of the State Opera Chorus. Conducted from the organ by the company’s Head of Music, Anthony Hunt, it includes music by Bernstein, Bizet, Puccini and Wagner.

Reflecting on the season, Lam says, “We produce an outsized amount of work with the smallest operating budget of any professional opera company in Australia.”

With a legacy that includes the first modern-day staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Australia and the national premieres of John Adams’ Nixon in China and Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, he believes the company still punches well above its weight.

“We are custodians of the operatic art form,” he says, pointing to new projects like Nardi Simpson’s Piccolini-Gu, the first babies’ opera outside Europe; the schools touring opera A Score Through Time about a scientist who introduces students to various musical periods via a time machine; and The Little Prince, a collaboration with Elder Conservatorium that demonstrates State Opera South Australia’s commitment to nurturing new talent.

“We’re not just preserving opera, we’re reimagining it for a new generation.”

For more information about State Opera South Australia’s Golden Jubilee season visit stateopera.com.au.