70th Anniversary Gala
Regent Theatre, MelbourneSun 17 May 2026, 7pm
70th Anniversary Gala
Regent Theatre, MelbourneSun 17 May 2026, 7pm
This event has finished. See what's on.
Venue
Regent Theatre
191 Collins St, Melbourne
Running Time
Approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, including one interval.
Book a multi-show package and save 15%*
Combine this production with one or more shows in the 2026 Season and become a Season Subscriber. You’ll unlock a ticket discount, priority booking, and free ticket exchanges, among other exclusive benefits.
Join us for a landmark, glittering celebration of our journey — and be part of the story that continues.
Seventy years ago, a band of idealists — butchers, pharmacists, newsagents — gave up their day jobs to celebrate the 1956 Mozart bicentenary with a season of four of his operas.
Over the next seven decades, the company they dreamt of grew into a major force in opera, attracting legends of the Australian and international arts community.
Celebrate this legacy at our 70th Anniversary Gala, a milestone concert event featuring the full forces of the Opera Australia Chorus and Orchestra Victoria alongside a starry line-up of singers.
Leading from the podium is Giampaolo Bisanti, a star at the world’s leading opera houses, known for his versatility and meticulous, passionate approach to the great operatic scores. Sydney-born Sam Weller, a recent finalist in the International Conducting Competition, will also join.
Artistic Director of Victorian Opera Stuart Maunder AM and Giampaolo Bisanti pull together a program of thrilling operatic highlights that honours our past while looking to the future.
This is an event no opera lover will want to miss.
The program
Rossini – Guillaume Tell: Overture
Mozart – Don Giovanni: Finale I Act “Ecco il birbo…”
Rossini – Italiana in Algeri: Concertato from “Dite, chi è quella femmina…
Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor: Sextet “Chi mi frena in tal momento
Verdi – Nabucco: “Va pensiero”
Verdi – Simon Boccanegra “Plebe, Patrizi, popolo”
Bizet – Carmen “Quintett”
Offenbach – The Tales of Hoffmann Trio “Tu ne chanterais plus…”
Interval
Wagner – The Ryde of the Valkyries
Richard Mills – The Love of the Nightingale
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro: Finale 4th Act “Gente gente all’armi all’armi…”
Donizetti – Lucrezia Borgia: “Gente appressa… Maffio Orsini signora son io”
Puccini – Turandot: “Nessun dorma”
Britten – Peter Grimes: “Old Joe has gone fishing”
Bizet – Carmen: Toreador
Verdi – Aida: Scena del Trionfo
Rossini – Guillaume Tell: Finale “Tout Change et grandit…”
The song list is subject to change without notice.
Cast & Creative
Host
Orchestra
Opera Australia Chorus