Past, present and future Melbourne Opera seasons

2009

Our 2009 season commenced with Verdi’s La Traviata opening 21st March in the Athenaeum, Melbourne with regional tours to Canberra, Hobart and Warrnambool. This was followed by Puccini’s Tosca starring Antoinette Halloran, Jason Wasley, Danielle Calder, Adrian McEniery, Gary Rowley and Lucas de Jong and opening 30th September at the Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne.

2008

Our Season 2008 consisted of Puccini’s La Boheme , with a season in Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre in March, followed by regional tours to Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Benalla, and Warrnambool during April-June; Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, starting with a season in Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre in June, followed by regional tours to Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, and regional Victoria during July; and finishing 2008 with Bellini’s I Puritani in October, described by John Slavin in The Age as one of the stand-out musical events of the year.

2007

Melbourne Opera’s 2007 season consisted of a return of our acclaimed Madama Butterfly , with a season in Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne and tours to Plenty Ranges, Geelong, Benalla and Theatre Royal, Hobart, a season of Bizet’s exciting Carmen , in the Atheneaum Theatre and a tour to Warrnambool, a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana & Suor Angelica , and Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers both in the Atheneaum Theatre. Our scintillating production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville  opened the Castlemaine Arts Festival and finished the year with performances at Mansfield Performing Arts Centre and Theatre Royal, Hobart.

2006

Melbourne Opera’s 2006 season included the largest tour of full-scale opera ever mounted in Victoria. Our production of Don Giovanni was presented in Ballaarat, Benalla, Frankston, Geelong, Hobart, Plenty Ranges, Sale, Warrnambool, the Theatre Royal, Hobart and Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts.  The season also included a baroque masterwork; the return of Don Giovanni to Melbourne by public demand; a scintillating city production of Rossini’s delicious and evergreen The Barber of Seville ; and a revival of Madama Butterfly played to sellout houses in Yarram and Mansfield.

2005

Our production of Madama Butterfly opened the Castlemaine State Festival, where we also presented the world premiere of Melbourne composer Dennis Vaughan’s The Tell-tale Heart , after the tale by Edgar Allan Poe. The season was rounded out by new productions of Don Giovanni at the Athenaeum and a sparkling Die Fledermaus at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

2004

Melbourne Opera’s 2004 season was nominated for ten Green Room Awards including two out of the three nominations for Best Production (Opera). The season opened with Madama Butterfly at Her Majesty’s Theatre, followed by Rigoletto at the Maj conducted by Armando Krieger, and Mozart’s delicious Cosi fan Tutte at the Athenaeum.

2003

Melbourne Opera’s inaugural season comprised La Traviata directed by Blair Edgar, a new production of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers using Bizet’s restored 1863 score, and Mozart’s The Magic Flute, whose director Caroline Stacey was nominated for a Green Room award for Best Direction (Opera).