With much fanfare and plenty of red balloons, Lyndon Terracini and Adrian Collette announced the Opera Australia 2012 Season in a one hour presentation in the Sydney Opera House Opera Theatre yesterday. For the first time this was a Public event (entrance on presentation of a visiting card – yes Mr Terracini a quote from Gilbert and Sullivan), finally involving very significant stakeholders in the company – interested  audience and fans.

The event opened with Andrew Green sprightly conducting the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra playing the overture to South Pacific. Curtain rise and General Manager Adrian Collette enters stage left to a podium placed on the new La Boheme Cafe Momus set, and speaks a carefully composed and delivered Ode to Lyndon Terracini, announcing that the 2012 season is revolutionary and that it is first full season devised by Mr Terracini. Did anyone else suspect a hint of laying all the credit (and blame) at Lyndon feet?

Enter Mr Terracini stage right, obviously very proud and excited by the launch, to deliver his address. Unfortunately his ,very rapid and unintelligible patter wasn’t generally heard… –  but it did matter. Mr Terracini sorely needs training in delivering such important speeches. His delivery was far too fast, garbled and had no organised flow. Full marks for enthusiasm however.

Packets of information were delivered with musical examples to wet the appetite for the invitees and ticket bearers. Cheryl Barker sang a moving ‘Gluck das mir verblieb’ (Marietta’s Lied) from Korngold’s DIE TOTE STADT, followed by Jose Carbo delivering a truly beautiful and breathtaking performance of the ‘Tanzlied des Pierrots’ from the same opera. Following more garbled information concerning the 2012 season, Emma Matthews was up next sing  ’Ah, fors’e lui ..’ and ‘sempre libera’ for LA TRAVIATA, with a superb contribution by the young tenor, Sam Sakkar. The Opera Australia chorus was introduced and sang the humming chorus from MADAME BUTTERFLY and the launch ended with a mash up of Rosaria la Spina singing ‘Nessun dorma’ leading into the final chorus from TURANDOT. Mr Terracini commended the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra stating that it was one of the 10 greatest opera orchestras in the World. This was reassuring given that he has shown little support for the survival of their sister orchestra, the Victorian Orchestra in Melbourne, and the constant jibes concerning the Sydney orchestra constantly running at a loss in their annual reports over the years.

Well what did we learn? Well Sydney will be getting a string of opera festivals during 2012 commencing with the Summer season. From 2012 on the Summer Season will be themed around an individual composer, and guess what, Mozart is up first – not a bad thought! The Summer season consists of:

Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE director Julie Taymor (NEW PRODUCTION)

Mozart’s MARRIAGE OF FIGARO director Benedict Andrews (NEW PRODUCTION)

Mozart’s COSI FAN TUTTI director Jim Sharman (RE-STUDIED PRODUCTION)

Puccini’s TURANDOT director Graeme Murphy (REVIVAL)

Following this during March will be:

Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA director Francesca Zambello (MEGA-NEW PRODUCTION)

The inaugral Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.

The Winter season will be divided into two halves each of three operas, punctuated by Roger’s and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC which will run for 8 performances per week for 4 weeks through August September 2012. The Winter season consists of:

Korngold’s DIE TOTE STADT director Bruce Beresford (NEW PRODUCTION)

Bizet’s THE PEARL FISHERS director Ann-Margret Pettersson (REVIVAL)

Verdi’s AIDA director Graeme Murphy (REVIVAL)

Rogers and Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC director Bartlett Sher (NEW PRODUCTION)

Puccini’s MADAME BUTTERFLY director Moffat Oxenbould (REVIVAL)

Donnizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR directed by John Doyle (NEW PRODUCTION)

Strauss’ SALOME director Gale Edwards (NEW PRODUCTION)

Highlights and major features of the season are:

• a totally new and novel approach to formulating the season that breaks all the old archaic ‘rules’
• an astounding 7 new productions
• a composer themed Summer season
• all Mozart operas to be performed in English! Well done !
• importing tried and true, and award winning new productions
• a family and children orientated production and pricing for THE MAGIC FLUTE
• importing the Tony Award winning production of SOUTH PACIFIC that ran for several years in the Lincoln Centre, New York that is bound to be both an artistic and financial success
• the Handa Opera on the Harbour – say no more!
• the first staged performances of Korngold’s DIE TOTE STADT in Australia
• Cheryl Barker making her Australian debuts in DIE TOTE STADT and SALOME
• the return of Australasian singers Deborah Hubble, John Pickering, Joshua Bloom, Paul Whelan and Jessica Pratt to sing with OA
• new productions feature the very best in Australian and International directors
• a large number of excellent International guest artists including Norma Fantini (AIDA), James Valenti and Giorgio Caodura (LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR), Stefan Vinke (DIE TOTE STADT), and Susan Foster and Daria Masiero (TURANDOT)

My personal reservations are numerous.There is one less opera in the season. A shame the planned revival of VERDI’s DON CARLO never eventuated, neither the new Elena Kats-Chernin opera DIVORCE or Strauss’ ELEKTRA – perhaps all to be seen in future seasons. What – MADAME BUTTERFLY yet again!! And is there no Opera in the Park next year – it is not mentioned in the season brochure ?  The new MAGIC FLUTE is edited with the removal of much of the dialogue and some music reducing it to a one hour and forty minute performance with no interval. I am concerned with the editing, and the ability for families and children to sit in their seats for such a long period. The new production of DIE TOTE STADT will place the very large orchestra that will not fit in the Opera Theatre pit in the Studio of the Sydney Opera House during performances, with the music piped to the theatre and played using ‘state of the art cinematic surround sound’. While Mr Terracini validates this proposal as being in keeping with Korngold’s later career as a great movie composer, it strikes me as possibly deflecting from an impoverished compromise on opera standards. What guarantee is there that the orchestra WILL be playing in the Studio for every performance and we will not be subjected to a Karaoke performance ? Time will tell ! Similarly the concept of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, which is already heavily sold, while appealing to new opera goers and what tourist trade remains in these hard economic times is also an artistic compromise. SOUTH PACIFIC, a valid piece of musical theatre for Opera Australia to produce from time to time, has only one opera singer, Teddy Tahu Rhodes cast in it at this time. The rest of the cast (as yet unannounced) is said to be coming from musical theatre rather than the opera. At least the past yearly excursions into Gilbert and Sullivan, operetta, Sondheim and even MY FAIR LADY used either all or predominantly, principals from the company. Finally, there are some noticeable omissions of singers from the roster such as the magnificent Takesha Kizart a MOST welcome guest artist for the last 2 years, Christopher Tonkin and Brad Daley who made such a mark in the recent performances of CAPRICCIO and OF MICE AND MEN respectively, and also Tiffany Speight and Nicole Youl, while singers such as Sharon Prero, Anke Hoppner and Jacqueline Mabardi have been given massive roles with which they may struggle. I for one would much prefer Nicole Youl singing Aida.

Opera Australia, as do most opera companies, carefully guard their details of future opera productions more secretively than the CIA. And rightly so, future productions are subject to financial constraints and contractual arrangements that are subject to change depending on artist availability and changing finances. From a marketing point of view, the great “reveal” with the announcement of a new season adds immensely to the hype. Despite all this, leaks occur and wet the appetite for future seasons. Oh for Wiki leaks to cover opera as well. Anyway, here are some hints at what to expect in the OA 2012 season:

DON CARLO – Verdi,  with Takesha Kizart as Elizabetta de Valois (not known whether this is a new production or a revival of the current Moshinsky production). This production was proposed for 2012, but has now been cancelled/deferred.

TURANDOT – Puccini, with Elizabeth Connell as Turandot (NEW PRODUCTION).

MARRIAGE OF FIGARO – Mozart, directed by Benedict Andrews (NEW PRODUCTION).

DIVORCE – Elena Kats-Chernin. A new Australian comic opera (NEW PRODUCTION). To be premiered in Melbourne before the work goes to Sydney.

ELEKTRA – Richard Strauss. A co-production with the Western Australian Opera (NEW PRODUCTION). ? when and if will reach the Eastern States.

LA TRAVIATA – Verdi. This is the first opera to be presented on the new floating stage, directed by Francesca Zambello and starring Emma Matthews and Rachelle Durkin alternating as Violetta (NEW PRODUCTION).

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR – a co-production with Houston Grand Opera and Teatro La Fenice, Venice, starring Emma Matthews, directed by John Doyle and conducted by Antony Walker (NEW PRODUCTION). The production originated at Scottish Opera in 2007 and was also staged at the Mariinsky Theatre in 2009.

DIE TOTE STADT – Korngold, directed by Bruce Beresford with Cheryl Barker as Marie/Marietta (NEW PRODUCTION).

COSI FAN TUTTE – Mozart. Revival of the Jim Sharman production.

SALOME – with Cheryl Barker in the title role.

The plans already sound extremely exciting. THE TURN OF THE SCREW,  and AIDA may also be on the cards as well.

2012 also includes the return of ex-Musical Director, Simone Young. Which opera will she be conducting?

I will add more as more information appears. Feel free to leave any hints on the site. All information gladly received.