OPERA EVOLVES IN STATE OPERA SA’S MULTI-VENUE 2016 SEASON
Chief Executive and Artistic Director Timothy Sexton this week released State Opera SA’s program for 2016 and with the fitting theme OPERA. EVOLVE it is clear audiences can expect a hectic and thrilling 40th year celebration. Lesley Reed reports.
State Opera SA’S diverse and exciting 2016 season begins in February with a true classic when Mozart’s The Magic Flute is presented in the intimate setting of the Freemason’s Great Hall on North Terrace, Adelaide. Proudly sponsored by The Friends of State Opera SA and featuring a who’s who of established and emerging South Australian operatic favourites, including Joanna McWaters as The Queen of the Night and Robert England as Sarastro, The Magic Flute will transport audiences to a fantasy time in the 1950’s.
The season evolves rapidly and spectacularly from Mozart’s classic to a ground-breaking interpretation of contemporary work Cloudstreet!, to be staged in May in association with Adelaide Festival Centre. A musical theatre adaptation of Tim Winton’s iconic novel about two Western Australian families and the extraordinary events which bind them together, this world premiere is told through evocative harmonies and achingly beautiful music composed by George Palmer. It is also blessed with the deft touch of internationally-renowned director Gale Edwards.
Starring a cast of local and national artists, with Timothy Sexton leading the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, this quintessentially Australian story may well be the talking point of 2016 amongst opera buffs.
The genius of Giacomo Puccini is celebrated with Puccini Spectacular, a wonderful concert staged in the Adelaide Town Hall. Featuring immortal melodies from all-time favourites including La Bohème, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi, La Rondine, Madama Butterfly, Turandot and Suor Angelica, with performers including Gisele Blanchard, Joanna McWaters, Deborah Caddy, Samantha Rubenhold, Teresa La Rocca, Rosario La Spina and Bernard Hull, this long-awaited concert features some of the greatest music ever written.
Few of Puccini’s operas surpass Tosca for grandeur, beauty and drama and the long-awaited return of State Opera SA’s memorable co-production with Welsh National Opera will not disappoint. Soprano Kate Ladner returns to the Festival Theatre stage as the actress Floria Tosca. Her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi, will be sung by tenor Rosario La Spina and baritone Mario Bellanova will play his arch nemesis Baron Scarpia.
Forty years of operation will be a cause for celebration for The Friends of State Opera SA too, with a program of four concerts across the year, as well as the very popular introductory evenings prior to each production.
State Opera SA’s The Opera Studio program continues in 2016 with a mixture of opera rarities and new works including, as part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts’ 2016 program, cryptic thriller The Country.
In July, the Winter Showcase commemorates World War I with the premiere of a specially-developed, fully-staged touring production featuring music from the period, both popular and operatic.
In October, in a landmark collaboration, State Opera SA and the Elder Conservatorium will present an inaugural fully-staged opera production involving State Opera SA’s young and emerging artists and all of the vocal students from the Conservatorium, in a program which will become an annual fixture at this time each year. The Opera Studioprogram concludes in December with Summer Showcase– a fine finale to a year of great music making.
State Opera SA will continue to support the small-to-medium arts sector in 2016, with the experimentation and creation of new works including Ngurunderi Inspirations, a work looking at the mythology of the lower River Murray by composer Tim Fatchen.
In collaboration with SINGular Productions and with the support of Arts SA, State Opera SA is also investing in the development of a new opera, Innocence, based on the novel Time’s Long Ruin by SA author Stephen Orr.
State Opera SA is also working with Victorian Opera and Circus Oz to devise a mix of circus and singing with Laughter and Tears, which includes a performance of I Pagliacci.
Audience development programs will be continued, as will add-on offerings for opera newbies and the more experienced devotees alike, through the En Gardeand Avant Gardeprograms.
“In bringing opera to as many people as possible, next year we are expanding the number of venues we use to make the experience even more interesting and enjoyable,” said Chief Executive and Artistic Director Timothy Sexton, “and, for the first time, offering flexible subscription packages.”
For more information on State Opera of SA’s 2016 Season visit www.saopera.sa.gov.auor call 8226 4790 for a brochure. Subscriptions are on sale from October 15 and single tickets from November 18, 2015.
Expect evolutionary, if not revolutionary experiences with State Opera SA’S terrific 40th anniversary year.
Click here to read about more 2016 Seasons.
Images: Tosca, Cloudstreet and The Magic Flute. Lightly Salted Photography.
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