Opera Australia

Stroll down to the Sydney Opera House and join the stars of Opera Australia for a concert of the greatest hits of opera.

Massenet

In the ultimate Romantic opera, Massenet’s rich score magnifies the drama and emotion of the story. Werther falls hopelessly in love with Charlotte in lyrical, melodious phrases. As Charlotte chooses duty over heart, Werther’s turmoil is palpable in restless music that bursts out of an enormous orchestra. The French composer’s ability to evoke mood and moment in music is on brilliant display. Young star, Michael Fabiano, is renowned for his intense, character-driven performances. Hear his role debut as the troubled poet, with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova as Charlotte and Carlo Montanaro as conductor.

Puccini

Turandot is a fantasy opera of poetry and myth, set in an exotic world where fear and love go hand in hand and death is always just around the corner. ‘Nessun dorma’ is just one of its magnificent moments. Renowned conductor Christian Badea returns to conduct a thrilling cast: Amber Wagner as the ice princess with Andeka Gorrotxategi as the man determined to win her heart. Later in the season, Dragana Radakovic and Yonghoon Lee are Turandot and Calàf. Mariana Hong reprises her touching turn as Liù.

Strauss

Strauss’ taboo-breaking opera strips back Oscar Wilde’s play to its core: a gripping journey to the outer edges of human behaviour. Lise Lindstrom is riveting as Salome, finding fragility and nuance in a role that demands a powerhouse voice and gifted actress.

Puccini

The way first love grabs hold and floods you with something you’ve never felt before. The fire that burns the first time jealousy flares. The growing up you do in the instant that you realise love can’t last forever. Puccini takes these achingly human feelings and sets them to music — music that soars with the ecstasy of love, crackles with the pain of jealousy and cries with the agony of loss. Gale Edwards’ glittering production is set among the fishnets and fairy lights of 1930s bohemian Berlin.

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour

In 2019, West Side Story takes the iconic stage at Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. Encounter the wildness of youth and ecstasy of love as this modern day Romeo and Juliet unfolds under the starlit city skyline.

‘Somewhere’ in ‘America’, ‘Something’s Coming’, and it might be ‘Tonight’. The Jets and Sharks are rival gangs and the city is their playground. They keep things ‘Cool’, but when love crosses enemy lines and ‘A Boy Like That’ falls for ‘Maria’, the stage is set for a rumble.

Concert Performance

Pinchgut Opera presents a stellar line-up to perform Bach's Easter Oratorio as a masterly celebration of Eastertide joy. Alongside Bach's jewel, we present Telemann's Thunder Ode, a masterpiece never before performed in Australia.

Monteverdi

Pinchgut Opera presents Monteverdi's late masterpiece based on the final chapters of Homer's timeless poem, the Odyssey. Fernando Guimarãres stars as Ulysses in a role he has sung to international acclaim and is joined by Australian mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby as Penelope.

Puccini

Graeme Murphy’s arresting new production of Madama Butterfly is a contemporary look at Puccini’s alluring heroine.

Puccini’s sublime music imbues this ageless story with impossible beauty, from the irrepressible, famous aria ‘One fine day’ to the intense finale.

Two exceptional casts perform throughout the season. Karah Son returns to Sydney, sharing the role of Cio-Cio-San with Mariana Hong.

Donizetti

Donizetti’s opera rips the best bits from a bloody time in history to create a thrilling ride through the last days of Anne Boleyn’s marriage to King Henry VIII. Jealous courtiers and scheming royals have the queen caught fast in a tightening trap. And her lady-in-waiting is waiting indeed, consumed with guilt, to take her place on the throne.

Kats-Chernin & Fleming

He burst onto the international art scene, all golden curls and bravado. He was dynamic, damaged, a big idea and a bold brush. With the vivacious Wendy on his arm, Brett Whiteley was magnetic. In 2019, this Australian icon meets two of Australia’s greatest artists in a brand new work for the Australian stage: Whiteley, by Elena Kats-Chernin and Justin Fleming.

Andrew McKinnon in association with Opera Australia presents

Nicole Car partners with her husband, internationally acclaimed baritone, Etienne Dupuis, and brilliant pianist, Jayson Gillham, to perform a recital of romantic French song.

Giordano

Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann returns to Australia in one of his most celebrated roles. A concert performance of Andrea Chénier offers the perfect showcase for his “dark, liquid tone, which soars through the music with refined ease and intensity” (The Guardian).

Opera Australia & GWB Entertainment present the BB Group production of

Hailed as the greatest Broadway musical of all time, the genius of West Side Story  is unquestioned. Bernstein’s world-famous score features unforgettable songs including ‘Maria’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Somewhere’, ‘America’ and ‘I Feel Pretty’, that have been universally adored for generations; proving this iconic dance musical remains one of the most poignant stage works of the twentieth century.

Concert Performance

An evening of Vivaldi, Hasse, Porpora and more with ECHO Classic Award winner Valer Sabadus. Pinchgut is proud to be bringing one of the world's top countertenors to Australia for the first time.

Join us at The Opera Centre for this series of intimate recitals curated by Jun Yi Ma, Concertmaster and Director of the Opera Australia Orchestra, and pianist, Siro Battaglin.

Monday 26 August at 7pm — Under an Azure Sky
Slip into a Mediterranean dream with a sublime program of poignant pieces and dreamy ensemble works, including Ravel's ethereal Introduction and Allegro, and Turnia's Las musas de Andalucía.

Monday 16 September at 7pm — Salon Diversions: Exquisite and Eccentric
Hear William Walton and Edith Sitwell's Façade — an Entertainment, a piece that scandalised the 1920s literary set, alongside Zemlinksy's Piano Trio Op.3 and Poulenc's Sextet for Piano and Winds.

Reimann

Aribert Reimann’s 1984 opera is a haunting and evocative chamber work, exploring Strindberg’s moody text with complex rhythms and other-worldly tones. Director Greg Eldridge creates a chilling picture of Strindberg’s Stockholm in this new staging in the Opera Australia Scenery Workshop.

Mozart

Mozart’s classic comedy has been entertaining crowds for centuries, and between the witty, fast-moving libretto and the melodic, charming writing, it’s not hard to understand why.

Rossini

If Rossini made a showreel of his best work, it would sound like Il Viaggio a Reims (The Journey to Reims). In Damiano Michieletto’s playful take, the eccentric cast of characters find themselves in a gallery filled with the master works of art history. It’s a surreal world, where artworks step out of the frame and come to life the moment the lights go out.

Opera Australia presents

When Bryn Terfel sings, everyone stops to listen. The superstar Welshman performs some of his favourite songs across many genres, with the backing of a magnificent orchestra. Once you’ve heard his interpretations, they’ll be your favourites too.

Vivaldi

Farnace is a passionate drama of political and dynastic intrigue and the ideal candidate to receive the unique Pinchgut touch. A rarely performed gem, it was one of Vivaldi's most meticulously prepared operas, with orchestral colour and dramatic characterisation. Pinchgut Opera has assembled some of the world's finest voices to bring these characters to life and showcase Vivaldi's thrilling tunes.