2004 Season | Melbourne Opera

2004 Season

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Cosi Fan Tutte

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Following the sell-out of our centenary production of Madama Butterfly, and the stunning production of Rigoletto, the third opera in Melbourne Opera’s 2004 season was Mozart’s brilliant comedy Cosi fan Tutte.

One of Mozart’s greatest operas Cosi fan Tutte (The School for Lovers) matches some of his most sublime music to Lorenzo da Ponte’s masterful and hilarious story about a foolish fidelity test by a pair of Latin lovers.

Sell-out audiences were hugely entertained by this witty and elegant new production staged by one of Australia’s leading directors, Hugh Halliday, with beautiful designs by Sonia Cammarata.

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Rigoletto

by Giuseppe Verdi

This stunning new production was directed by Melbourne’s Greg Carroll and designed by Peter Corrigan, who created a spartan, hard-edged set for Her Majesty’s Theatre, to fit with the dark themes of this dramatic opera.

From the play Le Roi s’Amuse by Victor Hugo with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi’s Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas ever written. Featuring such well known arias as La Donna e Mobile and Caro Nome, it tells the tragic story of a father’s thwarted revenge on the man who abducted his daughter.

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Madama Butterfly

by Giacomo Puccini

Madama Butterfly was a runaway success at Her Majesty’s in March 2004!

Butterfly reminded Melbourne that Her Majesty’s is a remarkable place to watch opera. It had been 35 years since the last opera had been performed at the Maj and the critics raved about the venue as well as Melbourne Opera’s stunning production.

From the play by David Belasco and the story by John Luther Long, Madama Butterfly was presented in a traditional Japanese period production, using the original 1904 (Milan) score and sung in English.

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