Albert Herring – Benjamin Britten Opera Australia, 16 August 2013 Amid the flurry of celebrations for this year’s Verdi and Wagner bicentenaries the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten has been overshadowed. Opera Australia is commemorating it with a revival of John Cox’s 1976 production of Albert Herring – probably the earliest production to…
Don Pasquale – Gaetano Donizetti Opera Australia , 18 July 2013 When Donizetti wrote Don Pasquale for Paris in 1841, it was an immediate success. Within six months it had been produced in Milan, Vienna, Brussels and London and it has remained one of the most popular comic operas ever since. So it is surprising…
Christian Badea chuckles as he confesses that he has known Tosca all his life. The Romanian born US based conductor is in Sydney again for Opera Australia, rehearsing John Bell’s production of the Puccini opera which opens here in early July. Just last year, the graduate of the Juilliard School, Grammy Award winning conductor and past- director…