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ra AustraliaOpera AustrlOpera Australia News announces The Melbourne Ring Cycle for 2013.

Melbourne will play host to its first ever staging of Wagner's epic, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle) when Opera Australia brings this gargantuan production the the State Theatre in 2013.
Opera Australia, in collaboration with Houston Grand Opera, the Victorian Government (through the Victorian Major Events Company) and Maureen and Tony Wheeler, is delighted to announce this long-awaited project The Melbourne Ring Cycle will be a journey through 15 hours of music across four nights of theatre. The creative team will be led by two of Australia's most celebrated talents - director Neil Armfield and conductor Richard Mills. Three complete cycles will be performed during November/December 2013, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner's birth.
The journey has been made possible through a leadership donation by Maureen and Tony Wheeler - the largest donation ever received by Opera Australia - with additional direct investment coming from Houston Grand Opera, VMEC and Opera Australia. It is hoped that this landmark production will ensure that Melbourne becomes the home of The Ring Cycle in Australia for many years to come, attracting a wide interstate and international audience on a triennial basis to the city.
Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini says "For such an important event, we believe that The Melbourne Ring Cycle should have an Australian creative team and feature major international and Australian artists. Consequnetly it will be directed by one of Australia's finest directors, Neil Armfield and it will be conducted by one of Australia's finest conductors, Richard Mills. The Ring requires exceptional talent to reveal its greatness and I'm thrilled that Neil and Richard hace accepted this greatest of all challenges."
CEO Adrian Colette says " For some time now Opera Australia has been keen to bring something to Melboune, to nurture this important part of our community and demonstrate our commitment to the city. Now with The Melbourne Ring Cycle, we have it. A wonderful opportunity to do something to this great city, harnessing the best talent together with the best of Opera Australia. And to bring the eyes of the world to Melbourne, to witness this extraordinary undertaking.
Collaborating with Opera Australia on this momentous production is the renowned Houston Grand Opera, Anthony Proud OBE, General Director and CEO of Houston Grand Opera, noted that the companies have collaborated on several important initiatives in recent seasons, including the acclaimed production of Peter Grimes which Huston presents as part of its 2010/11 season.
Presenting The Melbourne Ring Cycle will be a monumental project, and the rehearsal period will begin a year in advance, to allow all involved adequate time to prepare for this'Mount Everset' of artistiv entrprises, it will feature a tailor made orchestra to be known as The Opera Australia Ring Orchestra,which will consist of players from Orchestra Victoria, the Australian Opera and ballet Orchestra, as well as musicians from other major orchestras from around Australia. The Ring Cycle requires an orchestra of epic proportions with more tha 100 players, including 6 harps, 14 horns, Steerhorns and a thunder machine.
Production will rwuire 600 hous of rehearsal - 240 hours of this for the orchestra aklone. No less than 350 singers, dancers, designers, costume makers and backstage staff will be part of bringing The Melbourne Ring Cycle to fruition, along with up to 100 technicinas behind the scene. The spectacular set is expected to take 14 months to build.
The Melbourne Ring Cycle features 34 principal roles. Major roles that are confirmed are: Susan Bullock as Brunhilde, Juha Unsitalo as Woton, Gary Lehman as Siegfied and John Wagner as Alberich.
Tickets will go on sale in late 2013. This webmag will adise as sonn as possible.
The creative team

Director Neil Armfield - needs little introduction to Australian audiences/ As artistic director of Belvoir Street Theatre he directed award-winning shows including Cloud Street, Keatin! and Gulpilil. His production of Billy Budd won Best Opera in the 2009 Helpmann Awards, and his feature film Candy won best screenplay at teh AFI's. He has worked with Opera Australia on many occasions, most recently on the new Australian production Bliss which had highly acclained seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, and which heads to Edinburgh Festival in September.

Conductor Richard Mills:
is one of Australia's most sought after composers and conductors which has seen him working with almost all of the nation's major music organisations, including Opera Australia. He is currently Artistic Director of the western Australi Opera, a post held since 1997 He is one of the few Ausralians composers who has writen opera for main stage performances in Australia, and these have met with critical acclaim and a multitude of awards. These are Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, (1996) Bqatavia (2001) and The Love of the Nightingale (2007) - the latter will be presented by Opera Australia in Sydney during 2011.

THE RING CYCLE

German Composer Richard Wagner composed The Ring Cycle as a series of four operas based loosely on stories from Norse mythology. Although renowned for his many other opratic works such as Tristan and Isolde, The Flying Dutchman and Tannhauser, The Ring Cycle became his most famous work and one he developed over the course of almost 30 years culminating in 1874. The cycle is intended to be performed consequently, however as this reprsents an enormous challlenge for singers and musicians, is not often performed in its entirety. The second of the individual operas - The Valkyrie - is the most recognised of these. Performed in full, The Ring Cycle is around 15 hour in duration.

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This concert, stand alone event will take place in the grounds of Melbourne's Ripponlea House.
In keeping with the tradition of Lyric, the concert will bew an excellent way to showcase the talents of up and coming singers as well as providing the opportunity for established singers to perform outside the theatre. The program will include familiar repertoire and also works not heard on the stage, drawing from Mozart, Rossini and through the works of light opera, Operetta and Zarzuala.
Performance: Wednesday February 15, 2012.

Iphigenie en Tauride - Gluck

Set in the aftermath of the Trojan War, this is the story of an isolated woman, who throughout her life has been imprisoned and betrayed by men. Despite her situation, she displays incedible strength and resolve, defying her own blood line (that of mythology's most dysfunctional family; the Family of Agamemnon), to find a new peace. This bold new production looks at the nature of sacrifice nd how love can be n ultimate redeeming and forgiving force.
Season: April 21 - 28. 2012. Venue: Chapel off Chapel.

The Rake's Progress

Igor Stravinsky

Opening with an idyllic duet between Tom and his beloved Anne Trulove, the pleasantries quickly unravel with the introduction of the malevolent Nick Shadow - the Devil in disguise. The opera tracks Tom's downfall an his temtation for material happiness leads him into madness he cannot escape.
Season: March 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27.
Venue: The Playhouse The Victorian Arts Centre.

Midnight Son

Gordon Kerry & Louis Nowra

Set against the backdrop of suburban Melbourne, Midnight Son is a modern-day operatic tragedy.contemporary Australia composer Gordon Kerry and acclaimed plywright and librettist, Louis Nowra explore how passion and obsession can morally blind otherwise normal people, leading them to lose control of their lives with devastating consequences.
Season: May 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25.
Venue:Merlyn Theatre at the Malthouse.

The Marriage of Figaro

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

blends breathtaking arias and ensembler with irrepressable characters and chaotic humour.
This production brings to life stylish world where social position and knowing one's place are everything.Couched in a comic framework by Lorenzo da Ponte, the opera examines the complexities of marriage, relationships, infidelity, infatuation and lasting commitment.
Season: July 18 - August 3
Venue: The Playhouse Victorian Arts Centre.

2012 Season

The Magic Flute

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Welcome to the world where animals dance and children fly, where princes battle dragons and hope battles despair. To a world where ideas matter, and music saves the day.
Welcome to a magical expereience for the whole family in an enchanting new production of The Magic Flute.
Tamino is a noble prince on a quest. He discovers strange lands, inhabited by wondrous creatures - scary women, wise children and even a bird man - but that is not what he is looking for. Will Tamino finally discover the truth? And will he find true love?
A feisty young Australian cast brings this landmark production to Melbourne. Andrew Brunsdon is Tamino, Andrew Jones is Papageno and Taryn Fiebig is Pamina. Lorina Gore takes on the towering role of Queen of the Night and David Parkin and Richard Anderson share the role of Sarastro.
Season: January 6, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31. February 2, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 23, 27. March 1, 3, 13, 21, 23. Matinees February 4, 25 at 1pm.

Turandot

Giacomo Puccini

The mythical Princess Turandot rules her people with an iron fist and a heart of ice. Many have tried to melt her heart and win her hand, but all have failed. Can Prince Calaf be the one who succeeds? And what price will he pay?
Director Graeme Murphys bold choreography and designer Kristian Fredrikson's larger-than-life sets and costumes balance Puccini's gorgeous swathes of orchestral and choral colour to produce a spectacular night in the theatre.
The company announces with pleasure the welcome back of Elizabeth Connell to sing the title role. Liü. the faithful slave girl at the emotional heart of the story is played by Hyeseoung Kwon. And as Calaf, the valiant challenger torn by love and loyality is to be played by Australian tenor Rosario La Spina, with rising star Carlo Barricelli singing the final performances.
Season: January 17, 24, 30. February 4, 8, 14, 22, 25, 29. March 7, 12, 16, 18, 19. Matinees January 21. February 11, 18. March 3, 10. at 1pm.

The Marriage of Figaro

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

It's a special day in the Almaviva household. susanna, the housemaid, and Figaro, the security guard, are getting married! And the boss has, with great magnamity, provided them with brand new married quarters, ideally positioned right between his and his wife's bedrooms.
Wait a minute...Ideally positione for who? could Almaviva have his eye on the bride?
Season: February 6, 10, 16, 18, 24, 28. March 2, 6, 9, 14, 24. Matinee: March 17 at 1pm.

Così fan tutte

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Welcome to the school for lovers. There are many lessons to be learned.
Can women be trusted? Can men? And would you rather win a bet, or win someone's heart?
These are the questions when Ferrander and Guglielmo take Don Alfonso's challenge to trry and seduce each other's partner. But willl they like what they learn?
Season: March 8, 10, 15, 17, 20, 22, 26. Matinee: March 24 at 1pm.

Die tote Stadt

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Photographs, paintings, a lock of hair. Paul clings to the memory of his dead wife, caught between an happy past and an uncertain future, Can Marietta, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his dead wife, help him leave the shadowlands? Or is it a journey he must make all by himself?
Season: June 30. July 3, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18.

The Pearl Fishers

Georges Bizet

Join Zurga and Nadir on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Hear their solemn vow. See their friendship tested by an uncontrollable passion. Revel in the music, the drama, the glorious trappings o this beautiful tale.
Season: July 4, 9, 11, 14, 19, 21, 23, 25, 30. August 4. Matinees: July 7, 28 at 1pm.

Aida

Giuseppe Verdi

Aida is the stuff of operatic legend. Gold-clad warriors and lithe dances traverse the stage, pyramids emblazened with mysterious hieroglyphs loom from the shadows, while Verdi's moving arias tell the epic story of two peopples at war.

A tale of star-crossed lovers, Radames is the general of the Egyptian army, Aida is an Ethiopian princess and the two are on opposite sides if a bitter war. Aida is captured in battle and given to the Egyptian princess Amneris as a slave. Radames falls for Aida. Amneris falls for Radames and Aida is left to choose between her love for Radames, and love for her country.
Season: July 17, 24, 28, 31. August 6. September 14, 19, 22, 29. October 2, 5, 10. Matinees: July 21. August 4. October 13 at 1pm.

South Pacific

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Nellie is a nurse on a US Naval Base on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific.
Emile is the local plantation owmer. They fall in love almost instantly, but as Emile's colourful past emerges Nellie loses her nerve. It may be paradise, but their world is still full of prejudic, racism and the harsh realities of war.
The role of Emile was originally written for an operatic voice so it is fitting that Teddy Tahu rhodes hads the all-star company.
Season: August 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31. September 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Matinees at 1pm. August 15, 18, 22, 25, 29.
Matinees at 3pm. August 12, 19, 26. September 2, 9.

Madama Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini

You know they will fall in love. You know they will part. You know Butterfly will wait, faithfully, until the one fine day he returns. You know these things.
But even if you have experienced the rich colours, the glorious choreography and the poetic elegance of this production even if you have already lived the heart-breaking storyPuccini's desperately romantic music will still move you, will still make you fall in love with opera all over again.
Season: September 20, 25. October 1, 13 17, 22, 23, 27, 30. November 1.
Matinees: September 29. October 6, 20. at 1pm

Lucia di Lammermoor

Gaetano Donizetti

Late one night under a storm-clad sky two lovers meet in secret. Stalked by fate, haunted by tragedy and kept apart by the heartless machinations of two leading families their vows of devotion seem doomed.
Season: September 28. October 3, 6, 9, 11, 18, 20, 24. November 2.
Matinee: October 27 art 1pm.

Salome

Richard Strauss

Salome is sexy. She is subversive. She is a femme fatale. Like an earthy spirit of decadence, her song blows the civilised sensibilities of the world apart.
Season: October 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 29, 31.
Matinee November 3 at 1pm.

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