Opera Australia Announces First Brisbane Season in 20 Years

The 2012 Brisbane season by Opera Australia has been announced, with tickets going on sale to the public from Monday 21 November, through QPAC. In May and June 2012 Australia’s national opera company will present The Magic Flute and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre for the first time. The casts include Queensland-based singers, Conal Coad, Andrew Collis and Milica Ilic as well as some of Opera Australia’s most renowned stars such as Taryn Fiebig, Lorina Gore and Jacqueline Dark.

Lyndon Terracini, Artistic Director of Opera Australia and former director of the Brisbane Festival and Queensland Music Festivals, said: “From the moment I joined Opera Australia I knew I had to bring the Company to Brisbane. The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) is a magnificent space for opera, and I’m delighted we can present two such magnificent productions.

“The Magic Flute is like nothing you have ever seen. Giant puppets, sculptural costumes and dance convey the fantastic world of Mozart’s final opera. This is a night in the theatre for the whole family.

“Baz Luhrmann’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream breaks all the rules – Shakespeare’s masterpiece is transported to India, the orchestra is on the stage, and Puck is a blue-faced Hindu god! We’ve assembled a dream cast and one of the world’s greatest authorities on Benjamin Britten, Paul Kildea, is conducting. It will be, in a word, magical.”

Bringing Opera Australia to Brisbane is no small undertaking. The sets and costumes for the two operas will travel from Opera Australia’s workshop in Surry Hills, Sydney, to Brisbane on large semi-trailers. The sets and costumes for The Magic Flute, have been rebuilt specifically for the Australian production, from the original model of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Director Julie Edwardson, who has worked on many revivals of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will restage Baz Luhrmann’s legendary production for the Lyric Theatre.

“At Opera Australia we take our role as Australia’s national opera company very seriously,” said Opera Australia Chief Executive, Adrian Collette. “Given the complexity of fully-staged opera and the vastness of our country, it is not always easy, but we are passionate about making opera available to the widest possible audience. So it is with great pleasure that in 2012 we expand our range of presentations to include this inaugural Brisbane Season at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre

In addition, we will bring our new travelling production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni directed by Michael Gow to regional Queensland as part of Oz Opera, the touring arm of Opera Australia.”

QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said that the Opera Australia productions were one of the highlights of the Centre’s 2012 program which featured a diverse mix of live performance experiences that would resonate deeply with the Queensland community.

“It has been over two decades since there has been a season by the national opera company in Brisbane. Opera Australia’s season in 2012 in QPAC’s Lyric Theatre will be definitely worth the wait and will complement the already rich program of opera on offer in Brisbane.”

“Brisbane will be the only city in Australia where audiences can experience Opera Australia’s performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2012.”

www.opera-australia.org.au

Image: Rachelle Durkin (Tytania) & Tobias Cole (Oberon) in the Sydney season of Opera Australia's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photographer:Branco Gaica

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