Opera Australia is ready to lead you on two separate and very different musical journeys this November.
It seems there is simply no shortage of world-class culture and entertainment making its way down the M1 to our waterfront city this year, with Geelong Arts Centre being the lighthouse attracting the arts.
Geelong Arts Centre has carried a hefty program of prolific performers from international comedians to renowned theatre performances, award-winning musicians to globe-trotting productions. Before the year is out, they add the exceptional arrangements of Opera Australia to the list, with not one but two major showcases.
Opera Australia: The Magic Flute
- When: 9, 12, 14, 16 November 2024
- Where: The Play House, Geelong Arts Centre, 50 Little Malop Street Geelong
- Tickets: Range from $29 – $169. Buy here.
Opera Australia: Chorus!
- When: 13 and 15 November 2024
- Where: The Play House, Geelong Arts Centre, 50 Little Malop Street, Geelong
- Tickets: Range from $34 – $89. Buy here.
Stay up to date with what’s happening within the region’s art scene here.
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Renowned as one of the world’s most celebrated and ambitious performing arts companies, Opera Australia have shared stories through song and music across the country with a focus on developing and nurturing new generations of Australian talent. It’s a commitment that has led to over 500 performances to as many as 650,000 people, a number that will grow during their Geelong season thanks to The Magic Flute and Chorus!.
The Opera Australia season sees them touch down at the Geelong Arts Centre, taking over the impeccably redeveloped theatre The Play House for three evenings and one matinee show of The Magic Flute and two evening performances of Chorus!, overlapping dates for the two highly anticipated shows.
Opera Australia’s The Magic Flute runs on Friday 9 November, Tuesday 12 November, and Thursday 14 November for the evening performances, adding a matinee on Saturday 16 November to close out the season. Having graced the stages of Australia’s most iconic theatre, Sydney Opera House, earlier this year for a highly acclaimed season, The Magic Flute is reprised for Geelong audiences and set to transport the crowd into a colourful and dynamic world through music and visual excellence.
A visual and audio melting pot of colourful costumes, delicate and detailed hand-made animals masks, shadow puppetry and a newly translated libretto of Mozart’s most grand adventure and opera’s most famous title, The Magic Flute is a gold-star in whimsical production and majestic sound as directed and reimagined by Kate Gaul. The adventure is a classic telling of a noble hero and his loveable sidekick as they venture to rescue a princess in mortal danger. Along the way audiences are introduced to unexpected characters, both loveable and loathsome, with surprises rolling out until the crescendo!
As performed in English, the magical production is brought to life by a team of world-class cast from Opera Australia’s talent pool with the accompaniment of Orchestra Victoria and the Opera Australia Chorus behind the music, outstanding set and production designers and operators and some of the countries finest creative talent. Captivating Indian-Australian tenor Shanul Sharma returns from his flourishing international career to make his role debut as Tamino, joined by award-winning soprano Celeste Lazarenko debuting as Pamina and Melbourne-born Andrew Moran as the hilarious bird catcher Papageno.
OA Chorus Master Paul Fitzsimon will conduct this enchanting opera, including the famous Queen of the Night aria, to be sung by rising soprano Esther Song. The Opera Australia all-star cast also features Jane Ede, Sian Sharp, Angela Hogan, Ruth Strutt, Jennifer Black, David Parkin, Benjamin Rasheed, Gregory Brown and Nathan Lay.
The Magic Flute is a wholesome and inspired first taste of opera, the work of Mozart and a showcase of Opera Australia’s performative calibre, specifically designed for the whole family to enjoy.
Littered throughout The Magic Flute‘s run is complementary Opera Australia piece Chorus! with shows presenting on Wednesday 13 and Friday 15 November. Much like The Magic Flute, Chorus! is being reprised for audiences following its own Sydney Opera House showcase earlier this year. The production firmly showcases the acclaimed Opera Australia Chorus, a 44 voice strong amplification of vocal excellence in the nation.
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The Opera Australia Chorus is the nation’s only full-time opera chorus and one of the busiest and most celebrated in the world. They perform all year round in productions at the Sydney Opera House and in Melbourne, plus venues across the country and many spectacular outdoor sites. Their demanding schedule can see them performing and rehearsing in multiple productions in a single week and even two different operas on the same day. For Chorus! the Opera Australia Chorus will highlight their repertoire and range in a unique musical journey.
Chorus! takes from renowned and popular operas to create one culminative choral combustion, exploding with pieces from feature operas such as Madama Butterfly, Il Trovatore and Rigoletto. The production is a powerful piecing together of operatic and musical history, spanning five languages and three centuries of operatic masterpieces.
The celebrated Opera Australia production has been devised and directed by the distinct Matthew Barclay, and is led by Chorus Master Paul Fitzsimon. The production is further supported by Assistant Chorus Master, Michael Curtain, and repetiteur Kate Johnston, both accompanying on piano throughout the evening.
Together The Magic Flute and Chorus! combine to create a week of choral celebration, highlighting the distinctive operations of Opera Australia.
To find out more about Opera Australia, head here, or to purchase tickets to either of the upcoming productions at Geelong Arts Centre, head here.
