Opera In Australia Costing More Money While Audience Shrinks

Sinking Art: A promotional advertisement for Opera Australia's production of Madama Butterfly.

"The Federal Government pays an average of $60 for ticket-holder but opera is still losing both money and audiences. At least one company is on the verge of bankruptcy and opportunities for Australian artists are shrinking. The high level of subsidy is consistent with other major performing arts companies. Major dance companies are subsidised at a rate of $63 a ticket and orchestras even higher at $86 a ticket. But, unlike most other art forms, the subsidy is not delivering audiences to opera. The National Opera Review has found that despite increasing funding, Australia’s opera companies are facing reduced audiences, growing debt, and reduced artistic vibrancy. The high level of subsidy is consistent with other major performing arts companies. Major dance companies are subsidised at a rate of $63 a ticket and orchestras even higher at $86 a ticket. But, unlike most other art forms, the subsidy is not delivering audiences to opera. The National Opera Review has found that despite increasing funding, Australia’s opera companies are facing reduced audiences, growing debt, and reduced artistic vibrancy." [Source]

Opera Australia Will Fulfill Tamar Iveri Contract For "Otello"

UPDATE: Opera Australia has severed ties with Ms. Iveri, who will no longer be singing in the Otello. Full details are here. The company will announce a replacement soon. (June 23, 2014)
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Tamar Iveri is already seeing
cancellations of engagements.

"Opera Australia has just published a statement regarding allegedly homophobic soprano Tamar Iveri, stating that the singer has apologised and rehearsals and performances will go on as planned. Iveri (pictured) who is from the central Asian country of Georgia and is currently in Sydney rehearsing for Otello and will perform in Melbourne later this year, has been plagued by controversy following allegations she penned a homophobic diatribe on her Facebook page in which IDAHOT supporters in the capital city of Tblisi were branded 'fecal masses.' Georgian LGBTI rights group Identoba published a translation of the post which Iveri was said to have subsequently taken down. 'I was quite proud of the fact how Georgian society spat at the parade,' said the translation. The message goes onto to implore Georgian’s President to 'stop vigorous attempts to bring West’s 'fecal masses' in the mentality of the people by means of propaganda. Even today, US ambassador said that the people who raided the rally yesterday were against NATO. No, Mr Ambassador: those, who yesterday raided the rally, are Georgian youth of pure blood, still unspoilt by you,' the translation continues. Identoba directed the comments to the National Opera of Paris who have reportedly now withdrawn an invitation for the singer to perform. With a social media campaign calling on Opera Australia to sack Iveri continuing to grow, and a Change.org petition circulating as well, Opera Australia published a statement regarding the allegations on its Facebook page at 12noon today. 'Opera Australia has become aware in the past 24 hours, of the media and social media coverage of comments reported to have been made by soprano Tamar Iveri,' the statement read. 'The company has made the singer aware of the response from the Australian media and people via social media. Tamar Iveri has sought to clarify her views on this important issue, and has issued an apology and explanation on her own Facebook page. This can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/tamariverisoprano. Rehearsals and performances at Opera Australia are continuing as planned.' Iveri reportedly blamed her husband for rewriting her original letter, which she said she deleted as soon as she saw his homophobic remarks and how it was under her name. The Georgian soprano is currently in Sydney rehearsing for her role as Desdemona in Otello at the Sydney Opera House, before heading to Melbourne in November to perform in Tosca." [Source]

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Runs On Coffee, Wine, And Beer

(Photo: Cal Crary)

"His grand baritone and tall, brawny bearing have made Teddy Tahu Rhodes a pop star of the opera circuit and beyond. The cooly reserved New Zealander and one-time accountant is returning to the role of French expatriate Emile de Becque in Opera Australia's terrific production of South Pacific, a love story set during World War II. Reprising her part alongside Rhodes in last year's hit season of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical is screen favourite Lisa McCune as Nellie Forbush, the nurse who falls for the wealthy plantation owner with a chequered past. Their apparent chemistry off-stage as well as on drew considerable attention last year, but Rhodes neatly sidestepped a question here about the two of them. Reports suggest they are also set to pair up on stage next year as leads in another musical classic, The King and I." Read all about his daily routine, from what gets him going in the morning to post-performance activities, by clicking here. [Source]

Benedict Andrews Moves "Figaro" to a Gated Community

Joshua Bloom, Benedict Andrews, and Taryn Fiebig, at the Sydney Opera House
(Photo: Nikki Short/The Australian)

"Oxygen masks, walking frames and maids in starched uniforms are not normally associated with Mozart's 18th-century opera The Marriage of Figaro. But in director Benedict Andrews's imagination, these touches are a way to bring European feudal society crashing through the centuries into modern times. One of Australia's most accomplished theatre makers, Andrews is staging his first opera here after a false start two years ago. His production of Figaro was slated for 2010 but Opera Australia postponed it amid box-office fears and a $900,000 deficit. In the meantime, Andrews made his opera debut with a London production of The Return of Ulysses. 'I'm getting my first big drug hits as an opera addict,' he said before a rehearsal yesterday at the Sydney Opera House. Andrews has transferred Figaro from an 18th-century manor in Seville to a modern gated community to make clear tensions between characters of different social classes. 'This milieu, the framing device of the gated estate, there's nothing that radical about it,' he said. 'It's a simple transposition to a plausible present. 'The opera is about forms of love, forms of desire . . . but they are associated with class and politics and who has what, who gets what, who wants what.' The action begins with a young couple on their wedding day, Figaro and Susanna, and the threat of their aristocratic master, the Count, to exercise the droit du seigneur: the mythical right of a feudal lord to take a subordinate girl's virginity." [Source] For more about performance dates and purchasing ticket prices, click here.

Julie Taymor's "Magic Flute" Down Under With Australian Opera

"Julie Taymor's renowned and fanciful production of The Magic Flute, which originated late in 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera New York, arrived triumphantly at the Sydney Opera House on January 6. Impressively reconstructed locally and directed by Matthew Barclay, it inaugurated a Mozart-intensive Opera Australia summer holiday season. While this Flute is memorable for its innovative good humour and often cartoonish design touches, its premiere under the baton of Jonathan Darlington was only very intermittently anything like as impressive musically. Its vocal apex was Emma Pearson’s pretty well impeccable assault on the Queen of the Night’s second aria. Andrew Brunsdon’s Tamino improved as the evening wore on. Andrew Jones never quite managed to creep convincingly inside Papageno’s happy-go-lucky shoes, but David Parkin was a reasonably sonorous Sarastro and Nicole Car a pleasing Pamina. This is the abridged family version of Taymor’s production, so it is odd that only two of the 28 performances will be matinees." [Source]

Bass James Olds To Perform in "La Traviata" Sydney Spectacle

Aussie Bass: James Olds

"A giant stage will be built on Sydney Harbour to bring opera to the masses when Opera Australia presents La Traviata for an exclusive three-week season next year. And James Olds of Cronulla who has made a career as a bass singer will perform in the chorus when the spectacular is staged in March. 'This production is a world premiere, a massive spectacle,' Olds said of the production, which will involve installing huge pillars in the harbour. 'This is going to be a total fanfare with fireworks every night and a shorter opera that is trimmed for all ages and for all audiences.' Olds began classical training in year 10 at Newington College and joined the Conservatorium of Music in 2004. Since joining Opera Australia in 2009, he has performed in many famous productions, including Der Rosenkavalier, MacBeth, The Merry Widow and Pirates of Penzance. Since becoming a full-time performer with the company, he has travelled with their productions and has picked up some small solo and understudy roles." [Source] Read more about James Olds after the jump.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Reprises "Don Giovanni" Despite Costume

Click to enlarge Teddy Tahu Rhodes.
(Photo: Jeff Busby/Opera Australia)

"As far as grand entrances go, it was unforgettable. When opera's bass-baritone pin-up, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, bounded on to the Opera House stage six years ago wearing, ahem, not all that much as Mozart's infamous rogue, Don Giovanni, the audience audibly gasped. The 195-centimetre-tall Tahu Rhodes, who likes to keep in shape, was dressed in leather boxers, boots and a cape. Rarely has so much rippling flesh been seen on an operatic stage. 'Actually the original [costume] was a little less than that,' says Tahu Rhodes, 45, who's reprising the role for eight performances of Don Giovanni at Sydney Opera House from September 24 until October 15, when Jose Carbo takes over for the rest of the season. 'It was like Speedo leathers and I asked them to go to the boxer-type thing...

Trainer Steve Curran

because I wasn't so keen on that.' In fact, Tahu Rhodes isn't that keen to discuss his physique (but he is hoping his trainer, the hardcore Steve Curran from City Gym, will come to see him on stage). 'So much of it can be made about the body and I want to make it about the character, if I can,' he says. Tahu Rhodes says that although reprising the role is 'like putting on an old glove,' audiences will find 'he'll be a different don this time - he's a slightly older don.' [Source] Two more photos of Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the Opera Australia production of Don Giovanni after the jump.

Gale Edwards Stages "La Bohème" For Opera Australia

"Berlin in the 1930s. The Spiegeltent’s fairy lights are twinkling and the music is playing but, in reality, people are hungry and cold. Rodolfo meets Mimi and hardship melts in a blaze of passion. Musetta sings and she is the most beautiful woman in the world. But the world is changing, and love won’t pay the rent. A new production of Puccini’s La bohème is always a big event. In 2011 Opera Australia is thrilled to present a bold reworking of Puccini’s romance from director Gale Edwards and starring Takesha Meshé Kizart as Mimi. La bohème is a young person’s opera, about falling in love, and losing the love of your life. Get ready to have your heart stolen by some of the finest young singers in Australia and beyond." [Source]

Also a warning to Australian audiences: there will be partial nudity in Act 2! Full cast listing after the jump.

Christopher Alden's "Partenope" Brings Händel To New Heights

"One of Handel's lightest and frothiest pieces, this forgotten gem sparkles under the direction of Christopher Alden." The Daily Telegraph

The American director brings his production of Händel's Partenope to Opera Australia with soprano Emma Matthews taking on the title role. The cast also includes Jacqueline Dark, Catherine Carby, Christopher Field, Kanen Breen and Richard Alexander. Christian Curnyn is conducting. Performances will be March 23, 26, 28 and 31.

"As Partenope, soprano Emma Matthews delivered another triumphant performance. Her opening aria was a stunning coloratura showpiece, displaying breathtaking agility and clarity of articulation. Matthews was secure, flexible and controlled across her tessitura, conveying her character's curious mix of teasing superficiality and emotional honesty." The Australian

Watch a video of excerpts from Emma Matthews' CD of arias. Click image to purchase CD

"Emma Matthews makes a triumphant return to baroque repertoire with her role debut as the alluring but wise Partenope. A cascade of blissful arias and ensembles show Handel at his most inventive, exploring voices from bass to contralto to countertenor, while the orchestra conjures up the crash and dazzle of battles in love and war."
[Source, Source, Source]