opera australia Archives – J-Wire

Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata in best production ever

Victor Grynberg — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 04:43:20 +0000

An Opera review by Victor Grynberg Critics are meant to be unbiased, but this critic will happily admit that Giuseppe Verdi is his favourite (amongst quite a few) opera composer, and of all the Verdi masterpieces, La Traviata is indeed his first choice. For a generation, I always thought the classic production originally directed and […]

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The Tales of Hoffmann

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 08:08:46 +0000

An opera review by Murray Dahm Jacques Offenbach’s 1881 opéra fantastique The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes d’Hoffmann in French) is a fascinating work for a whole number of reasons. Offenbach actually died (in October 1889) four months before the work premiered and so never got to see it succeed. It was also, originally an Opéra-Comique – with […]

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Madama Butterfly: An opera review by Murray Dahm

Murray Dahm — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 03:03:36 +0000

This Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (HOSH) production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was first seen in 2014 and here makes its triumphant return ‘home.’ Uniquely among HOSH productions, this one has been produced in Rome since its first production and it is easy to see why. The set (a deceptively simple green hill with a […]

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Murray Dahm speaks with Carmen’s bullfighter

Murray Dahm — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 05:18:06 +0000

I last spoke with Daniel Sumegi before the Melbourne performances of Wagner’s Lohengrin earlier this year. Now he returns to Australia in Carmen on Cockatoo Island as Escamillo, the bull-fighter and lover of the gypsy Carmen after she has tired of ex-corporal Don Jose. “It is definitely a change” to be singing outdoors on Cockatoo Island […]

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Phantom of the Opera: Murray Dahm talks with Naomi Johns

Murray Dahm — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 00:42:24 +0000

Naomi Johns was very excited to be involved in her first-ever Opera Australia publicity when I spoke with her ahead of the opening night of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour’s Phantom of the Opera production which opens tonight. This production represents a whole series of firsts. It is the first outdoor production of the Sir […]

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Faust: McVicar’s devilish take on classic opera…an opera review by Victor Grynberg

Victor Grynberg — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 05:26:21 +0000

One of France’s greatest ever composers, Charles Gounod had an immediate hit on his hands when his opera FAUST finally premiered in Paris in 1859.

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Singers shine in Lucia di Lammermoor: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

Victor Grynberg — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 04:11:03 +0000

Exquisite singing was the memorable takeout of the re-staging of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Sydney Opera House.

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Madama Butterfly: an opera review by Victor Grynberg

Victor Grynberg — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 00:47:53 +0000

Last July Victoria’s Minister for Creative Arts, (in)famously accused Opera Australia of being happy to have an audience that will “die in their seats”.

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