I left the Sydney Opera House last night feeling vaguely dissatisfied, and yet a bit puzzled at my dissatisfaction. La Traviata is chock-full of Verdi’s most glorious music, and well though I know the score, I wasn’t feeling in the least jaded to begin with.
2013Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2013-11-07UTC16:48:35+00:002013-08-12David Larkin reviews Opera Australia's La Traviata, production by Elijah Moshinsky with Emma Matthews, Arnold Rutkowski and Jose CarboVisually splendid La Traviata from Opera Australia fails to moveen_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-sydney-opera-australia-traviata-moshinskyBachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngDavid Larkinhttps://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/944https://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/944https://bachtrack.com/files/135-dl_photo.jpgDavid is a lecturer at the University of Sydney, specialising in nineteenth-century music. Educated at Dublin and Cambridge, he has published on Richard Strauss, Liszt and Wagner. He gives pre-concert talks for the Sydney Symphony, and sings with a number of chamber choirs.https://bachtrack.com/files/2917-la_traviata_sw13_91.jpg400400Emma Matthews as Violetta ValéryBranco Gaica2013-Aug-09, Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre: La Traviatahttps://bachtrack.com/listing-sydney-opera-australia-traviata-moshinsky2013-08-092013-08-09Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland TheatreSydneyNew South WalesAustralia1225-33.858362151.2148763
In his director’s note, Jonathan Biggins writes, ‘All I can hope for is that you go out of the theatre feeling a bit more cheerful than when you came in’. If that was the opera’s aim, then few could claim that it was not successful in achieving it.
2013Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2013-11-07UTC16:39:57+00:002013-03-04Oliver Brett reviews Opera Australia's Orpheus in the Underworld at Sydney Opera House.Opera Australia serve up a comically modern Orpheus in the Underworld in Sydneyen_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-orpheus-in-the-underworld-opera-australiaBachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngOliver Bretthttps://bachtrack.com/files/2324-orpheus_ss13_1.jpg400400Rachelle Durkin and Andrew Brunsdon, Lisa Tomasetti.2013-Feb-28, Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre: Orpheus in the Underworldhttps://bachtrack.com/listing-orpheus-in-the-underworld-opera-australia2013-02-282013-02-28Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland TheatreSydneyNew South WalesAustralia1225-33.858362151.2148763
For many opera fans, especially here in Australia, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor is indelibly connected with the late, much lamented Joan Sutherland. She made her breakthrough as Lucia in a Covent Garden production of 1959, and continued to sing the part for over three decades, thankfully leaving several celebrated recordings.
2012Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2013-11-07UTC16:32:00+00:002012-10-03David Larkin reviews an Opera Australia production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at the Sydney Opera House, starring Emma MatthewsEmma Matthews delivers in Opera Australia's Lucia di Lammermooren_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-opera-australia-sydney-lucia-di-lammermoor-emma-matthewsBachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngDavid Larkinhttps://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/944https://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/944https://bachtrack.com/files/135-dl_photo.jpgDavid is a lecturer at the University of Sydney, specialising in nineteenth-century music. Educated at Dublin and Cambridge, he has published on Richard Strauss, Liszt and Wagner. He gives pre-concert talks for the Sydney Symphony, and sings with a number of chamber choirs.https://bachtrack.com/files/1740-opera_australias_lucia_di_lammermoor_sw12_emma_matthews_as_lucia_and_giorgio_caoduro_as_enrico.__branco_gaica_26.9.2012_.jpg400400Opera Australia's Lucia di Lammermoor: Emma Matthews as Lucia and Giorgio Caoduro as Enrico Branco Gaica 20122012-Sep-28, Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre: Lucia di Lammermoorhttps://bachtrack.com/listing-opera-australia-sydney-lucia-di-lammermoor-emma-matthews2012-09-282012-11-02Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland TheatreSydneyNew South WalesAustralia1225-33.858362151.2148763
Another Mozart opera and another intriguing modern production from Opera Australia. The whole opera was presented as entertainment for a wedding reception, with a bride and bridegroom sitting at two corners of the stage, their sole purpose for the production to observe the unfolding comedy on stage.
2012Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2013-11-07UTC16:24:36+00:002012-03-23Oliver Brett reviews Così fan tutte with Opera Australia, directed by Jim Sharman, at Sydney Opera House.Così fan tutte at Sydney Opera Houseen_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-opera-australia-sharman-cosiBachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngOliver Bretthttps://bachtrack.com/files/1149-samuel_dundas_and_sian_pendry_in_opera_australias_cosi_fan_tutte_photo_by_branco_gaica_6.3.2012.jpg400400Samuel Dundas and Sian Pendry in Opera Australia's Cosi Fan Tutte Branco Gaica2012-Mar-08, Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre: Così fan tuttehttps://bachtrack.com/listing-opera-australia-sharman-cosi2012-03-082012-03-26Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland TheatreSydneyNew South WalesAustralia1225-33.858362151.2148764
The older I get, the more convinced I become that the heart of Mozart’s genius is to be found in his operas. This is no truer than in Don Giovanni, especially when performed by such a talented cast as it was last night in Sydney Opera House, three hours of the most sublime music. I have always believed that great music does not need any gimmicks and should be able to stand on its own.
2011Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2013-11-07UTC16:21:00+00:002011-10-31Don Giovanni sung by a superlative cast at Sydney Opera Houseen_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-don-giovanni-opera-australiaBachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngOliver Bretthttps://bachtrack.com/files/791-don_g2.jpg400400Branco Gaica2011-Oct-25, Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre: Don Giovannihttps://bachtrack.com/listing-don-giovanni-opera-australia2011-10-252011-11-05Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland TheatreSydneyNew South WalesAustralia1225-33.858362151.2148765
As the curtain rises at the beginning of Act I, we are greeted with violent flashes of light, rocks strewn across the stage and the witches almost slithering among the rocks, as they make their prophecies to Macbeth that he will eventually become King, prompting him and Lady Macbeth in their murderous, Machiavellian pursuit of power.
2012Bachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.png2013-11-07UTC16:20:24+00:002012-01-11Oliver Brett reviews Opera Australia's production of Verdi's Macbeth at Sydney Opera HouseVerdi's early Shakespearian dramaen_GBtruehttps://bachtrack.com/review-macbeth-opera-australiaBachtrack Ltdhttps://bachtrack.com/themes/bachtrack2013/mastheadlogo.pngOliver Bretthttps://bachtrack.com/files/738-peter_coleman_wright_as_macbeth_and_elizabeth_whitehouse_as_lady_macbeth_in_opera_australias_macbeth_sw11_cbranco_gaica_.jpg400400Peter Coleman-Wright and Elizabeth Whitehouse Branco Gaica2011-Sep-20, Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland Theatre: Macbethhttps://bachtrack.com/listing-macbeth-opera-australia2011-09-202011-09-20Sydney Opera House: Joan Sutherland TheatreSydneyNew South WalesAustralia1225-33.858362151.2148764