Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is given the Pinchgut treatment, with an abstract staging complementing historically informed music-making under Erin Helyard.
The real triumph of Michael Fabiano's role debut as Werther lay in controlling the bold intensity of his voice in favour of a sweet and lower-key level of passion – a match for Massenet's frequent choice of the cello.
Having offered a strong feminist reading of Wagner's Ring, could Kasper Holten do the same again for Die Meistersinger? Opera Australia's co-production had moments of excellence, but ultimately left the viewer with more questions than answers
Would Britain enjoy 'The Rabbits'? For that's how the new Australian family opera allegorises the colonial Poms who came to this Terra Nullius Downunder, denying the existence of the native Aborigines - appearing as Marsupials in this opera.
