Opera Australia

Puccini's tale of love and honour is brought to life by the world-renowned Opera Australia on a magnificent water stage, suspended over Sydney Harbour.

Ralph Rackstraw, a poor seaman, is in love with the captain's daughter, Josephine. But how can he ask her to marry him when she is of a higher social class?

After marrying their sweethearts Gianetta and Tessa, gondoliers Marco and Giuseppe learn that one of them is really the King of Barataria. But it's a mystery as to which one is which. The couples begin to fantasize about wealth and royalty, which brings about a delightful concoction of confusion, jealousy and true love. THE GONDOLIERS was the last successful collaborative work of Gilbert and Sullivan. This production was recorded at the Sydney Opera House.

Opera Australia's 1976 production of Lakmé, an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes, with a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Set in India during the British Raj, the story focuses on Lakmé, the daughter of a Hindu priest. Lakmé's life is troubled by her infatuation with a British officer.

Performed by Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House in 1987.

TRIAL BY JURY is Gilbert and Sullivan's one-act operetta about a pompous judge who practices casual prejudice in the courtroom. This Opera Australia performance was recorded in 2005.

Opera Australia's 2011 rendition of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera about a small Japanese town, where Ko-Ko is appointed to the unenviable position of executioner. Knowing he must successfully perform before the appearance of the Mikado in a month's time, Ko-Ko finds a suitable victim in Nanki-Poo, who is distraught over his unrequited love for the maiden Yum-Yum. Nanki-Poo agrees to sacrifice his life if he is allowed to spend his remaining days with Yum-Yum, who is betrothed to Ko-Ko.

‘In reality, this Lohengrin is an entirely new phenomenon for the modern consciousness!’ Richard Wagner himself understood the innovative character of his sixth piece of music theatre, completed in 1848, the year of revolutions. Although it is reckoned among his ‘romantic operas’, his new vision of musical drama is already clearly heralded in this work. In his hands, the mediaeval saga of the Knight of the Swan becomes a meditation on the true love that asks no questions. Alain Altinoglu, our Music Director, who has already conducted this work in Bayreuth, guarantees the quality of the music, while the director Olivier Py, known at La Monnaie for his brilliant productions of Les Huguenots and Hamlet, can be relied on not to downplay Wagner’s revolutionary political side. Wagner’s own opinion was that ‘one can only understand Lohengrin if one can liberate oneself from any modern-looking, generalising form of representation so as to see the phenomena of real life’. A challenge to us all?