Opera Review: The Magic Flute/ Opera Australia

 The Magic Flute  –  W. A. Mozart Opera Australia, 7 January 2016 Joan Sutherland Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Julie Taymor’s 2005 New York Metropolitan Opera production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute was first adapted for Sydney in 2012 and is now having its fourth series of performances in Opera Australia’s summer season.  It is…

Opera review: Madama Butterfly/Opera Australia

Opera review: Madama Butterfly/Opera Australia

Madama Butterfly  –  Giacomo Puccini Opera Australia,  Sydney Opera House 27 January 2015  Each year, Opera Australia has followed its Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour production with indoor performances of the same opera during the following year.  Presumably this is intended to entice patrons who enjoyed a performance under the stars to try ‘real’ opera…

Bizet’s ‘Carmen’:Outstanding soloists in unflinching Andalusian style

Bizet’s ‘Carmen’:Outstanding soloists in unflinching Andalusian style

 Carmen G Bizet, libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy after Prosper Mérimée’s novel (1845). Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, February 3rd, 2014. According to operabase.com Bizet’s Carmen ( 1873 – 4) was the second most frequently performed opera, during the worldwide 2013-14 season, with 477 performances, coming second to La traviata (577 performances). Opera…