The program for West Australian Opera’s 2021 season offers audiences a range of experiences from outdoor free events through to grand opera in His Majesty’s Theatre. The year celebrates a return to live performance with world premieres and new productions.
West Australian Opera Music Director, Chris van Tuinen, said “WAO 2021 will celebrate a milestone for Opera in the Park, see two new productions for Perth involving a man called Figaro, launch collaborations with the tertiary sector and regional communities, visit the heartland of Italian verismo, watch Star Navigator set sail, and show respect for the oldest continuous living culture by presenting the first indigenous opera performed in Noongar. We hope you’re moved, delighted, challenged, and
entertained by WAO 2021.”
The City of Perth Opera in the Park supported by Lotterywest (26-27 Feb) will take the form of a Gala Concert featuring Western Australian stars in concert of opera and musical theatre hits. This free event will be performed over two nights to ensure that capacity audiences can attend under COVID19 restrictions, but ticket registration is essential.
In April, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville will open at His Majesty’s Theatre. This is a hilarious story about a matchmaking barber, a lovelorn Count and a lecherous guardian all revolving around the bewitching young heroine, Rosina. Under the direction of Lindy Hume, this colourful production will be new for WA
audiences.
In May, attention will turn to the University of Western Australia’s iconic Winthrop Hall for Mendelssohn’s masterwork, Elijah. This will be presented in collaboration with the UWA Conservatorium of Music and feature over 150 student performers sharing the stage with WAO Principal artists.
In July, the company returns to His Majesty’s Theatre for the classic double-bill featuring Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Ruggeri Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. While these two operas were not written to be performed together, their pairing has become inseparable over the years.
Fortunately for WA audiences, Star Navigator will return from the cancelled 2020 program. This new work, written and composed by Tim Finn OBE, is based on the true story of Tupaia a Tahitian Star Navigator who sailed with James Cook on the Endeavour. Featuring outstanding principal opera artists and Tim Finn with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, this work will be performed at Perth Concert Hall in August for a special one-night only concert event.
In October, Koolbardi wer Wardong will make its world premiere as the first Noongar opera with thanks to the support of Principal Partner Wesfarmers Arts. This new Australian Commission is written by award winning song writers Guy Ghouse and Gina Williams. The opera for young people will be performed in Noongar language and share the creation story of two jealous brothers, Koolbardi (the Magpie) and Wardong (the Crow) and how they got their colours.
The final production for the 2021 Season will be a new production of The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. A comedy of servants and masters changing places, pageboys playing at soldiers, ruined flowerbeds and night-time trysts form the backdrop to some of the most beautiful music ever written. This work celebrates one idea, that true love is life’s most valuable gift and should be nurtured, cherished, and fought for.
In launching the 2021 Season, West Australian Opera Executive Director Carolyn Chard AM said, “Our dream is to speak to the heart through the human voice. We want to share the joy of music through opera and the powerful stories opera tells. We are uniquely and proudly Western Australian and we bring audiences and artists together to celebrate sung stories that are relevant to our people, time, and places. The 2021 program is filled with works that embody this vision.”
Book tickets at the WA Opera website.
OIP Staff
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