Opera Australia
Australia’s principal opera - and largest performing arts - company has had a central and illustrious role in the story of the House it calls home.
Opera, Sydney-style (2014) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
David Hobson as Rodolfo and Cheryl Barker as Mimi in La bohème (1990) by Philip Le MasurierSydney Opera House
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House, accompanied by the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, runs for about eight months a year, with the remainder of the Opera’s year spent in the Arts Centre Melbourne, where it is accompanied by Orchestra Victoria.
Like most opera companies, Opera Australia is funded by a combination of government support, corporate sponsorship, private philanthropy, and ticket sales.
The company is perhaps best known internationally for its association with soprano Dame Joan Sutherland (1926-2010), and for film director Baz Luhrmann's ground-breaking production of Puccini's La bohème (left) in the early 1990s. Hailed as the new Sutherland, the internationally acclaimed young Australian soprano Nicole Car, who recently starred at the House in Opera Australia’s production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller, continues an illustrious tradition.
A scene from Gounod’s Faust, 2015 by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Dominica Matthews as Flora in La traviata by Branco GaicaSydney Opera House
Michael Fabiano (Faust) and Dancers in Faust, 2015 (2015) by Lisa TomasettiSydney Opera House
Roxane Hislop and Anthony Warlow in Patience (1995) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Dalibor Jenis, Nicole Car and Diego Torre in Luisa Miller (2015) by Prudence UptonSydney Opera House
Edward Downes, formerly associated with London's Royal Opera House, became Opera Australia’s musical director in 1972. His second production was Prokofiev's War and Peace, given as the opening night performance of the new Sydney Opera House, a short time before the building’s official opening in 1973.
Daniel Sumegi and the Opera Australia Chorus in Luisa Miller (2015) by Prudence UptonSydney Opera House
Nicole Car, who has been hailed as the new Joan Sutherland, as Luisa and Diego Torre as Rodolfo in Luisa Miller (2015) by Prudence UptonSydney Opera House
John Pringle and Nelly Miricioiu in La traviata (1984) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Kenneth Collins and Marilyn Zschau in La fanciulla del West (1989) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Cheryl Barker in Don Giovanni (2000) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Deborah Riedel, Andrew Brunsdon, Amelia Farrugia and Cheryl Barker in Don Giovanni (2007) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Stephen Bennett and Donald Shanks in Don Giovanni (2007) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Greg Scott and Bernadette Cullen in Aida (1995) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Cheryl Barker backstage, 2015 (2015) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Stage control (2010) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
La bohème set box (1993) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
La bohème set box (1993) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
La bohème set box (1993) by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Méphistophélès in Faust (2015) by Lisa TomasettiSydney Opera House
A scene from Gounod’s Faust, 2015 by Opera AustraliaSydney Opera House
Created by Sam Doust and the
Sydney Opera House GCI Team
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Contributors:
Opera Australia
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