Starting out as The Elizabethan Theatre Trust, whose first performance was The Marriage of Figaro in Adelaide in 1956, Opera Australia has endured countless highs and lows to become one of the nation’s oldest arts companies. Undoubtedly it’s the largest, so a mighty force of musicians and singers is marshalled for a one-off 70th anniversary concert.

Hosted with relaxed poise by ABC Classic presenter Mairi Nicolson, and directed by Stuart Maunder (currently Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director, but formerly an Opera Australia Executive Producer and director), this gala is not the flashy, aria-driven affair one might expect.

Opera Australia’s 70th Anniversary Gala. Photo © Opera Australia

At first glance the program seems to be another greatest hits concert, like Opera Australia’s Verdi and Puccini galas of recent years. Those two composers are represented, of course, alongside other greats including Mozart, Wagner and Bizet.

Refreshingly, many of their chosen pieces are not instantly recognisable ones that would almost guarantee the concert’s success. A couple of modern composers make the cut too.

The program emphasises ensemble singing, which reflects Opera Australia’s long tradition of providing opportunities for local performers and give the gala a sense of celebratory camaraderie with 19 principals in evening finery.

They are joined on occasion by the Opera Australia Chorus, but otherwise the stage of the company’s temporary Melbourne home, the Regent Theatre, is almost bare – just a chandelier and a parade of archival projections, faux curtains and backdrops, including one painted by Sidney Nolan for a production of Il trovatore.

Opera Australia’s 70th Anniversary Gala. Photo © Opera Australia

The concert opens with Orchestra Victoria and conductor Giampaolo Bisanti in full flight with Rossini’s mini symphony, the William Tell Overture. Here, as in the second act’s Triumphal Scene from Aida, the showcased brass are majestic. Indeed the entire orchestra is in fine form throughout, its rich, beautifully balanced sound aided by not being confined to a pit.

While there is no official star of the show, the stand-out performer is soon apparent. Fresh from her memorable Violetta in Opera Australia’s La traviata, Stacey Alleaume shows off her remarkably powerful, agile soprano in several ensemble pieces – especially with the bel canto fireworks of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Lucrezia Borgia.

Emma Matthews, who frequently thrilled Opera Australia audiences early this century, is also among the concert’s six sopranos. Her bell-like clarity and control are on display in a Tales of Hoffman trio and the gorgeous, wordless, bird-inspired aria from The Love of the Nightingale, by the program’s only living composer, Australian Richard Mills.

Opera Australia’s 70th Anniversary Gala (Emma Matthews). Photo © Opera Australia

Tenor Diego Torre delivers the night’s one big aria in the grand opera tradition, Nessun dorma. There are a couple of little wobbles early on, and the final, massive note is cut cautiously short, but otherwise Torre makes those few minutes his own with soaring expressiveness.

Andrii Kymach’s warm, supple baritone is notable even before he takes centre stage in Carmen’s Toreador Song, and eight sopranos and mezzos pop up all over the theatre for a Ride of the Valkyries that is a scintillating concert highlight.

From a cameo by recent Rotterdam International Conducting Competition winner Sam Weller, who takes the podium for a rollicking Old Joe has gone fishing from Britten’s Peter Grimes, to the chorus’s measured Va pensiero (better known as the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves), this is a feast for opera lovers.

The thoughtful programming, simple staging and absence of surtitles suggests the gala is aimed at devotees more than dilettantes – at people who have been attending Opera Australia performances for years, even decades.

As such, it is a satisfying affair, that is already well past its anticipated two hours (plus interval) when the inevitable encore of La traviata’s Brindisi begins.

Happy 70th birthday, Opera Australia, and many happy returns.

For more information about Opera Australia in 2026, visit opera.org.au