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From the Director

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Five

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Five

Entering a third year with ever growing momentum, the Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme began with a bang in 2020 and was absolutely chock full of activity until COVID-19 struck in March. The focus of January and February was Melbourne Opera’s extremely...

Das Rheingold has been rescheduled

Das Rheingold has been rescheduled

After careful consideration of the current situation and due to recent announcements by State and Federal Governments restricting mass gatherings, Melbourne Opera wishes to reschedule the August 2020 performance of Das Rheingold at the Regent Theatre to February 2021....

Melbourne Opera appoints Anastasia Fai Kogan to its Board

Melbourne Opera appoints Anastasia Fai Kogan to its Board

Melbourne Opera is pleased to announce the appointment of Anastasia Fai Kogan to its Board. Mrs Kogan will serve as a Non-Executive Director. Anastasia is an experienced business leader with extensive digital and creative experience. Mrs Kogan holds an MBA from...

From the Conductor: Anthony Negus on Beethoven’s Fidelio.

From the Conductor: Anthony Negus on Beethoven’s Fidelio.

The resonance of Fidelio stems from its heroine Leonore (Beethoven’s preferred title for the opera), whose brave and dangerous path to find and rescue her husband Florestan, Beethoven follows into ever more inspiring territories. Her entrance early in the opening...

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Four

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Four

The Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme 2019 has been packed with learning and development opportunities and following the intake of new singers in June has included involvement in Melbourne Opera’s acclaimed production of Norma and a rehearsal period for the...

From the Director: Suzanne Chaundy on Norma.

Norma is a charismatic leader with a fatal flaw, she has fallen in love with the enemy, a Roman leader named Pollione. She has broken her vow of chastity and borne children from this relationship. The opera shows her struggle between her public and private life. The...

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Three

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Three

The Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme is now entering a second year of operation. We are thrilled to announce we have recently received a commitment of three years support from the Ian Potter Foundation. The programme is tremendously grateful for such...

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Two

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue Two

As the end of our first year of the program quickly approaches we thought it timely to share some of the activities and news from the Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme. Achievements Congratulations to program members: winner of the Herald Sun Aria competition...

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue One

RDEAP Newsletter – Issue One

The Richard Divall Emerging Artists Programme is up and running. We are thrilled to introduce our emerging artists (from left to right) Alison McIntosh Deszcz (soprano), Stephen Marsh (baritone), Michael Dimovksi (tenor), Darcy Carroll (bass-baritone), Michael Lampard...

From the Director: Bruce Beresford on Otello.

I went to a production of Rossini’s “Otello” at the New York City Opera (now sadly defunct) in 1982. At the time I didn’t even know that Rossini had written an “Otello”. The programme note revealed it was his 19th opera, written when he was 24 years old. It was first...

ABC Classic FM The Music Makers – Rival Queens

ABC Classic FM The Music Makers – Rival Queens

It's a rare occasion that we get to roll out the red carpet for a royal visit to the Music Makers studio. Not one, but two Queens join us this week: Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elisabeth I, the central characters in Donizetti's bel canto tragedy Maria Stuarda (Mary...

From the Director: Suzanne Chaundy on Tristan and Isolde.

Tristan and Isolde presents a particular challenge to a director. It is led by emotion and sensuality more than narrative logic. Real and theatrical time is slowed down for us to explore the inner lives of the characters. As I was making my preliminary study of the...

From the Director: Roberto Devereux

Elizabeth I has a presence in all three of Donizetti’s Tudor operas. ‘Maria Stuarda’ depicts the great conflict of Queen Elizabeth I with her half sister, Mary Stuart, culminating in a confrontation and the subsequent execution of Mary. It imagined a love rivalry...

Der Freischütz – preview The Age

Der Freischütz – preview The Age

Der Freischutz (The Marksman), a gothic horror opera long dismissed outside Germany as ludicrous, has ridden changing entertainment fashion to make a rare reappearance in Melbourne. Its supernatural themes are no longer alien in an entertainment world dominated by...

From the Director: Anna Bolena

Anna Bolena, is remarkably close to a true historical telling of the demise of the second wife of King Henry VIII. The opera begins as Boleyn’s “star begins to fade” in 1536, following her second miscarriage, a boy. She had already given birth to Princess Elizabeth...

Opera’s star soprano returns in full voice

Opera’s star soprano returns in full voice

The 10th anniversary of Melbourne Opera is both a cause for celebration and regret for star soprano Antoinette Halloran. Without Melbourne Opera she would not have had the chance to broaden her career options but also laments the hiring of so many overseas opera stars...

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