The second, expanded Handa Opera at Millthorpe ends as it began, with world-class singers blowing the decorative tin ceiling off historic Millthorpe Hall.

Spanning the Easter long weekend with a Wagner gala on Thursday night, Noëmi Nadelmann’s exploration of song from Kern and Weill to Sondheim, and a rare performance by Glenn Amer of Landon and Simpson’s Cycle of Life written for Nellie Melba, the festival concludes with a concert performance of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (The Masked Ball) – the first full-length opera presented at the annual event.

Natalie Aroyan, Diego Torre and Andrew Williams in Un ballo in maschera at Handa Opera at Millthorpe 2026. Photo © JJ Antmann

It has always been a challenging work, with modern-day directors often resorting to the worst excesses of Regietheater when grappling with it. Calixto Bieito’s staging in Barcelona even opened with the conspirators sitting on the toilet!

However, Verdi also struggled to get it on the stage, his original plan to base it on the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden scuppered by the censors. With portrayals of regicide banned in Naples and Rome, where the opera finally premiered, he first...