Melbourne Opera

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Australian opera company

title: "Melbourne Opera" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-opera-companies", "musical-groups-established-in-2002", "2002-establishments-in-australia", "performing-arts-in-melbourne", "music-in-melbourne"] description: "Australian opera company" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Opera" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian opera company ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Melbourne_Opera_Logo.png" caption="Melbourne Opera logo"] ::

Melbourne Opera was founded in 2002 as a charitable not-for-profit company dedicated to producing opera and associated art forms in Melbourne, Australia. With philanthropic assistance it has also toured to outer-suburban and regional Victorian theatres, as well as to Canberra and Hobart interstate. Despite receiving no government funding since its foundation, the company mounts between three and five main stage productions each year. Its principal rehearsal and performance home is the Athenaeum Theatre.

Melbourne Opera is the business and trading name of South East Regional Touring Opera Ltd. The corporate name was changed on 1 June 2007 to reflect the company's much expanded geographical scope.

History

Melbourne Opera's inaugural season consisted of 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, directed by Caroline Stacey. A proposed merger with Melbourne City Opera in 2005 did not proceed. In 2006 the company's first large scale tour commenced with a production of Don Giovanni travelling to Ballarat, Benalla, Frankston, Geelong, Hobart, Plenty Ranges, Sale, Warrnambool, and the Theatre Royal, Hobart. From 2010 to 2018 the company partnered with Monash University to bring performances to its Clayton Campus. In 2017 Melbourne Opera established the Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme.

Bendigo ''Ring''

In 2020 the company announced that it was embarking on a four-year project to perform Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, commencing with Das Rheingold. This production was postponed due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 and was premiered in early 2021. Die Walküre, the second in the four Ring operas was premiered in 2022. Both Das Rheingold and Die Walküre were performed in Melbourne and in Bendigo, the regional Victorian city where the full Ring Cycle would eventually be performed. The third Ring opera, Siegfried, was first given a concert performance in Melbourne in 2022. The company presented three full Ring Cycles in Bendigo at the Ulumbarra Theatre in 2023, with Siegfried receiving its staged premiere, followed by the company's premiere of Götterdämmerung. It was the first independent production of Der Ring des Nibelungen to be staged in Australia in over 100 years, critically acclaimed and attracting audiences from Melbourne, interstate and from overseas. The cast included: Warwick Fyfe as Wotan, Sarah Sweeting and Dimity Shepherd as Fricka, Antoinette Halloran and Zara Barrett as Brünnhilde, Simon Meadows as Alberich, James Egglestone as Loge and Siegmund, Lee Abrahmsen as Freia, Steven Gallop as Fafner, Robert Macfarlane (tenor) as Mime, and Deborah Humble as Erda.

Productions

Productions of Melbourne Opera have included:

Governance

Melbourne Opera is charitable company governed by a board; the current chair is David Pitt.

Patrons

Orchestra

The Melbourne Opera Orchestra was founded in 2003 and has developed into an ensemble in its own right. In December 2015/January 2016, and December 2016/January 2017 the orchestra undertook a concert tour of China.

Conductors

Greg Hocking AM is Melbourne Opera's conductor-in-residence and Raymond Lawrence is Head of Music. Guest conductors include John Dingle, Richard Divall, Patrick Burns, Ben Hudson, David Kram AM, Armando Krieger, Anthony Negus, Aldo Salvagno, Warwick Stengards and Matthew Toogood.

Stage directors

Directors who have worked with the company include: Bruce Beresford, Greg Carroll, Suzanne Chaundy, Blair Edgar, Hugh Halliday, Plamen Kartaloff, Robert Ray, and Caroline Stacey.

Richard Divall Program

The Richard Divall Emerging Artists Program was created to honour the memory of Richard Divall AO OBE, supported by a bequest made by Melbourne-born soprano, Sylvia Fisher. Upon her death, Fisher made this bequest to ensure the continuing support of the development new artists of operatic excellence in her hometown, Melbourne. Divall was closely involved in the planning and creation of this program before his death in 2017. The first intake of performers was in 2018.

References

References

  1. "Henkell Family Fund – Support".
  2. (25 September 2004). "The opera wars". [[The Age]].
  3. (12 November 2017). "OperaChaser: From Melbourne Opera, intellectual and visceral strength greet the long overdue Australian premiere of Donizetti's ''Roberto Devereux''".
  4. Quinn, Emily. (3 August 2005). "New Melbourne Opera Company Will Reap Benefits of Australian Government Funding".
  5. (6 May 2021). "South East Regional Touring Opera Company Limited".
  6. Quinn, Emily. (16 May 2005). "Merger of Melbourne Opera Companies Called Off". [[Playbill]].
  7. [https://melbourneopera.com/rdeap/ "Richard Divall Program"]. {{retrieved
  8. "Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' | Regent Theatre".
  9. "''Das Rheingold'' Melbourne Opera".
  10. (November 2024). "''Das Rheingold'' (2021)".
  11. [https://melbourneopera.com/project/bendigo-ring-cycle/ Bendigo Ring] (2023)
  12. [https://www.melbourneopera.com/past-productions/ "Past productions"], Melbourne Opera
  13. "''La traviata'' – Melbourne Opera".
  14. Gérard Schneider. (2009-10-13). "''Tosca'': Melbourne Opera". visual.artshub.com.au.
  15. (7 September 2010). "Music to the ears". The Sydney Morning Herald - 8 September 2010.
  16. "opera-offers-a-merry-opening". [[Herald Sun]].
  17. "faust-is-short-on-vocal-stature". [[Herald Sun]].
  18. "''Carmen'' – Melbourne Opera".
  19. "''La bohéme'' – Melbourne Opera".
  20. Shmith, Michael. (9 December 2013). "Melbourne Opera's performs ''Rienzi'', a lumpish curiosity piece not one of Wagner's best". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  21. "''Der Freischütz'' – Melbourne Opera".
  22. Holdsworth, Rob. (29 June 2015). "''The Barber of Seville'' (Melbourne Opera)".
  23. Holdsworth, Rob. (4 September 2015). "''Mary Stuart'' (Melbourne Opera)".
  24. (4 February 2016). "Opera review: ''The Abduction from the Seraglio'', Melbourne Opera". [[Herald Sun]].
  25. Shmith, Michael. (15 August 2016). "''Tannhäuser'' review: Grand, romantic new production a great leap forward for Melbourne Opera". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  26. "Melbourne Opera's ''HMS Pinafore'' is a handsome, spit and polished production". [[Herald Sun]].
  27. "''Lohengrin'' (Melbourne Opera)". [[Limelight (magazine).
  28. Zwartz, Barney. (2017-11-12). "Melbourne Opera – ''Roberto Devereux'': Helena Dix imbues work with real credibility". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  29. "''Tristan and Isolde'' (Melbourne Opera)". [[Limelight (magazine).
  30. Davies, Bridget. (13 August 2018). "Opera gets a Donald Trump makeover". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  31. "''Otello'' (Melbourne Opera)". [[Limelight (magazine).
  32. "''The Flying Dutchman'' review – Theatre in Melbourne". [[Time Out Melbourne]].
  33. "''Norma'' review". [[Time Out Melbourne]].
  34. Davies, Bridget. (6 February 2020). "Melbourne Opera in superb voice for Beethoven's magnificent ''Fidelio''". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  35. "Macbeth Melbourne Opera".
  36. World premiere concert performance
  37. Australian premiere
  38. "Melbourne Opera Orchestra". [[National Centre for the Performing Arts (China)]].
  39. (8 July 2017). "About".
  40. "Singers selected for Melbourne Opera's Richard Divall Emerging Artists Program".

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