Superstar tenor’s Lehár brings down the house as well as the underwear at the famous Last Night. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Even without an orchestra, the People’s Diva came, sang and conquered.
The superstar tenor criticises his former label for deceptively undermining his new Puccini album on Sony. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The late director’s Cio-Cio San of choice remembers a remarkable collaboration. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
There are two Opera Australia DVDs of Madama Butterfly and, apart from the music and some of the performers, you could be watching two different operas. For Moffatt Oxenbould’s production – still going strong after 18 years – designers Peter England and Russell Cohen used Kabuki theatre as their inspiration with ninja-clad servants handing out props; sliding screens and a surrounding moat to represent the divide between Japanese and American culture. Cio-Cio-San, also sung by Japanese soprano Hiromi Omura, was dressed in a kimono, looking the true geisha. For the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour production, newly released on DVD, director Àlex Ollé from the groundbreaking Spanish theatre group La Fura Dels Baus takes an edgier and more political approach to this tragic love story set amid a clash of cultures. Here we are in the present day and the passionate, unscrupulous Pinkerton is a shiny-suited salesman intent on building a housing development in Nagasaki. Butterfly sports a full body tattoo, denim shorts and a Stars and Stripes T-shirt. For the first act the clever set is a grove of bamboo atop a grassy knoll. For the second act everything is different. No more nature – it’s all building sites,…
Gale Edwards’ savvy Bohème shows young love failing to survive Hitler’s springtime. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Legendary dramatic soprano who sang publicly for more than 70 years passes at 104. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Soprano embraced by Toscanini and Sondheim takes her final curtain call at 105. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The great Verdi tenor passes on two weeks after his 90th birthday. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Talented locals steal the limelight as OperaQ's La Bohème tours regional Queensland.
This model of a modern Butterfly soars as art and spectacle combine on Sydney Harbour.
Let’s hope that the news of Handa Opera’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Handa Opera unveils La Fura dels Baus’ spectacular visual plans for Puccini’s classic. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
