SEASON 2020 - Victorian Opera

SEASON 2020
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VICTORIAN OPERA ANNOUNCES SEASON 2020
 Victorian Opera reveals its largest and most eclectic year yet with its Season 2020. From Richard Strauss to
 The Who, Victorian Opera appeals to broad musical tastes in a season featuring revered musicians including
 conductor Simone Young, German soprano Marlis Petersen – Berlin Philharmonic’s current Artist-in-
 Residence – and singer Katie Noonan.

 On Season 2020, Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director Richard Mills describes: “A season of tremendous
 power from Salome and Die tote Stadt to the visceral energy of The Who’s Tommy. Victorian Opera’s Season
 2020 offers portals into fantastic worlds of myth and legend that only the unique union of music and poetry,
 a union which gives life to the art form of opera, can fully explore.”

 Marking the 15th anniversary of state opera company’s formation in 2005 and its second year as a Major
 Performing Arts company, Victorian Opera will also premiere its 23rd new Australian work in 2020. “As part
 of our proud long-term commitment to new Australian work, we tell stories of our own time by celebrating
 contemporary composers with an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s classic short stories Three Tales and revisit
 Margaret Fulton: The Musical,” Mills notes.

 Richard Strauss’ controversial operaSalome opens Season 2020 with a new production staged at Palais
 Theatre, St Kilda on 22, 25 and 27 February. The image of Salome kissing the severed head of John the Baptist
 at once repulses and fascinates; it still holds the power to shock audiences in Strauss’ exhilarating opera.
 Richard Mills conducts Orchestra Victoria with direction by Cameron Menzies and a cast led by Lithuanian
 soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė, English tenor Ian Storey, contralto Liane Keegan, and bass-baritone Daniel
 Sumegi.

 The head of John the Baptist will roll again with the world premiere ofThree Tales . The new Australian opera
 assembles three composers to bring their unique styles to words by Australian playwright Daniel Keene.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

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EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

A Simple Heart, the story of devoted maid Felicité, is realised by jazz saxophonist Zac Hurren and performed
by Katie Noonan. Dermot Tutty explores the world of The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller; following a
man’s transformation from conqueror to compassionate hermit. The story of Salome is revisited in Herodias,
composed by Stefan Cassomenos.

Featuring virtuosic ensemble Plexus, Richard Mills conducts the new opera and Jane Davidson directs.
Three performances only at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse on 26 and 27 June.

Mills describes Three Tales, highlighting: “Three wonderful Australian composers, three stories of bizarre
theatricality rendered by a great Australian playwright, and an ensemble whose name is now synonymous with
uncompromising sonic adventure and commitment to what is new and revelatory.”

Victorian Opera returns to the Palais Theatre for six electrifying performances of The Who’s Tommy from 14 –
21 August. The five-time Tony Award-winning musical is based on the band’s 1969 rock opera album Tommy.
Adapted by The Who’s guitarist and vocalist Pete Townshend and Broadway director Des McAnuff, it tells
the story of a traumatised teen who, despite being deaf, dumb, and blind, plays a mean game of pinball.
The new production, directed by Roger Hodgman with music direction by Laura Tipoki, is the first
professional staging of the musical in Australia. It’s set to shake audiences’ senses with smash hits, including
‘Pinball Wizard’ and ‘Acid Queen’.

Opera lovers will flock to Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on 21 August to hear some of the world’s
leading artists in Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) . The Australian National
Academy of Music (ANAM) Orchestra performs under the baton of distinguished Australian conductor
Simone Young (ANAM Guest Faculty), alongside two of Europe’s top singers: soprano Marlis Petersen (Lulu,
The Met) and tenor Michael Schade (Idomeneo, Vienna State Opera). Each artist marks their company debut.

The story of a grieving man caught between memory and reality was one of the biggest hits of the 1920s,
though has remained rarely performed since World War II. This one-night-only concert will also feature a cast
of acclaimed local artists including Samuel Dundas, Carlos E. Bárcenas, and Kathryn Radcliffe, as well as the
Australian Boys Choir and Victorian Opera Chorus.

Victorian Opera presents musical biographies about two notable women of the world: Peruvian singer Yma
Sumac and the late Australian cook Margaret Fulton.

Ali McGregor, who won the 2019 Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Artist, reprises her show Yma Sumac:
The Peruvian Songbird at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse on 18, 19, 20 June. McGregor traces her
discovery of the unique singer, who rose to fame in the 1950s as a best-selling artist for Capitol Records.
Margaret Fulton: The Musical celebrates Australia’s first culinary queen in a new production of this playful
musical comedy at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse from 15 – 19 September.

For younger audiences, Victorian Opera stages a further two works at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse; a
revived production of Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon (Cinderella) as its Family Opera. Three performances on
13 June will be preceded by a Relaxed Performance on 12 June. The production will be profiled in the
company’s innovative Access All Areas: Livestream Program, taking students behind the scenes in a series of

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

interactive online workshops before they experience the work at the theatre or livestreamed into their
classroom.

Franz Schubert’s Die Freunde von Salamanka (The Friends of Salamanca) will be staged as the company’s
annual Youth Opera, performed by a cast of singers aged 13 – 25. The jolly story of love and friendship will be
performed on 25 and 26 September.

Even younger audiences will be introduced to opera with Victorian Opera’s new Baby Bilby Sings program
for toddlers as a chance to experience music and play.

This marks one of 19 intimate events taking place at the company’s base Horti Hall, Hemstritch Studio
throughout 2020. Victorian Opera presents a series of talks with soprano Greta Bradman, Richard Mills, as
well as cabaret evenings, social singing nights, and an opera trivia night.

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm on Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on
Wednesday 18 September to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from
Wednesday 9 October.

To book visit: www.victorianopera.com.au

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

SALOME
Palais Theatre, St Kilda // February Sat 22, Tue 25, Thu 27 - 7.30 pm
Richard Strauss’ controversial opera Salome opens Victorian Opera’s Season 2020 with a new production
staged at Palais Theatre, St Kilda on 22, 25 and 27 February.

The image of Salome kissing the severed head of John the Baptist at once repulses and fascinates; it still holds
the power to shock audiences in Strauss’ exhilarating opera long after its premiere in 1905.

Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director Richard Mills (La Sonnambula, William Tell, Pelleas and Melisande) conducts
Orchestra Victoria with direction by Cameron Menzies (Seven Deadly Sins, The Selfish Giant). The cast features
luminaries from the Australian and international stage, led by Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė, English
tenor Ian Storey, contralto Liane Keegan, bass baritone Daniel Sumegi, and tenor James Egglestone.

Most famous for the hypotonic ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ moments before Salome requests the head of John
the Baptist, the music of Strauss’ opera is known for power, immediacy, and rich orchestral colour.

“A ritual which shocks through pity and terror, a catharsis which shakes the foundations of what it is to be
human. Salome offers a theatrical experience which explores ‘the very north of humanness’ in a bloody
confrontation which releases the spirit and makes us gasp with wonder.” – Richard Mills, Artistic Director,
Victorian Opera

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on 18 September
to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from 9 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

THE WHO’S TOMMY
Palais Theatre, St Kilda // August Fri 14, Sat 15, Tue 18, Wed 19, Thu 20, Fri 21 - 7.30 pm
The five-time Tony Award-winning musical The Who’s Tommy is coming to Melbourne in 2020 for six
electrifying performances at Palais Theatre, St Kilda from 14 – 21 August.

Marking its first professional staging in Australia, the musical is an adaptation of The Who’s legendary 1969
rock opera album Tommy. The original album, which was later adapted into a star-studded 1975 film, sold more
than 20 million copies.

Brought to the stage in 1992 by The Who’s vocalist and guitarist Pete Townshend and Broadway director Des
McAnuff, the musical debuted on Broadway to huge acclaim – running for 899 performances and later
transferred to London’s West End, where it received three Olivier Awards.

Packed with smash hits such as ‘Pinball Wizard’ and ‘Acid Queen’, the musical centres on traumatised young
man Tommy whose troubling childhood has left him deaf, dumb and blind. Despite his circumstances,
Tommy’s knack for pinball propels him to superstardom in this story of hope and triumph over adversity.

Acclaimed Australian theatre director Roger Hodgman (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love
and Murder) leads a team of expert theatre-makers alongside music direction by Laura Tipoki (School of Rock).

Casting is yet to occur for the musical which is set to attract some of the biggest names in Australian music.

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on 18
September to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from 9 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

DIE TOTE STADT (THE DEAD CITY)
Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall // August Fri 21 - 7.30 pm
Opera lovers will flock to Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall on 21 August to hear some of the world’s
leading artists in Victorian Opera’s concert of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (The Dead City).

The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Orchestra performs under the baton of distinguished
Australian conductor Simone Young (ANAM Guest Faculty), alongside: soprano Marlis Petersen (Lulu, The
Met) and tenor Michael Schade (Idomeneo, Vienna State Opera). Each artist marks their company debut.

The story of a grieving man caught between memory and reality was one of the biggest hits of the 1920s,
though has remained rarely performed since World War II. Prefiguring his career as a film composer (The
Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk), Korngold was only 23 when he wrote the opera.

This one-night-only concert will also feature a cast of acclaimed local artists as well as the Australian Boys
Choir and Victorian Opera Chorus.

Die tote Stadt is the second collaboration between Victorian Opera and ANAM following their production of
Debussy’s Pelleas and Melisande in 2018.

“One of the most remarkable operas by a composer who was held by his Viennese contemporaries as second
only to Mozart in technical facility and raw talent. Theatre of memory in which the present confronts the past
and conquers its hauntings through affirmation of the enduring power of love.” – Richard Mills, Artistic
Director, Victorian Opera

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on 18
September to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from 9 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

WORLD PREMIERE: THREE TALES
Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse // June Fri 26 - 7.30 pm & Sat 27 - 1.00 pm, 7.30 pm
Victorian Opera celebrates the world premiere of its 23rd new work, an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s
legendary book Three Tales, with three performances at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse on 26 and 27
June.

The new Australian opera assembles three composers to bring their unique styles to words by Australian
playwright Daniel Keene. A Simple Heart, the story of devoted maid Felicité, is realised by jazz saxophonist Zac
Hurren and performed by much-loved singer-songwriter Katie Noonan. Dermot Tutty explores the world of
The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller; following a man’s transformation from conqueror to compassionate
hermit. The story of Salome and John the Baptist is revisited in Herodias, composed by Stefan Cassomenos.

Featuring virtuosic local ensemble Plexus, Richard Mills conducts the new opera and Jane Davidson (The Tales
of Orpheus, Dialogues of the Carmelites) directs.

Flaubert is one of France’s greatest writers, known for his realism and mastery of the French language. With
his meticulous attention to rhythms and harmonies of language, exacting use of expression and focus on the
minutiae, Flaubert turned simple social stories into works of art.

“This world premiere Australian opera unites three wonderful Australian composers, three stories of bizarre
theatricality rendered by a great Australian playwright, and an ensemble whose name is now synonymous with
uncompromising sonic adventure and commitment to what is new and revelatory.” – Richard Mills, Artistic
Director, Victorian Opera

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on 18
September to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from 9 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

DIE FREUNDE VON SALAMANKA (THE FRIENDS OF SALAMANCA)
Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse // Sep Fri 25 - 7.30 pm, Sat 26 - 3.00 pm, 7.30 pm
Franz Schubert’s Die Freunde von Salamanka (The Friends of Salamanca) will make its Australian premiere in
2020 as Victorian Opera’s annual Youth Opera at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse for three performances
on 25 and 26 September.

Never performed in Schubert’s lifetime, this rarity offers a unique opportunity to see the master songwriter
bring his genius to opera with his light-hearted singspiel about the amorous adventures of students united by
friendship.

Alonso, Diego and Fidelio live a carefree existence in the Spanish university town of Salamanca, surrounded by
hills and vineyards. Alonso needs a little help from his friends to rescue his love Olivia from the idiotic Count
Tormes, so they devise a cheeky prank to ensure she falls for Alonso. Love is in the air when the two groups of
friends meet.

This charming romantic comedy is the perfect opera for the cast of emerging singers aged 13 – 25, including
members of the Victorian Opera Youth Chorus Ensemble (VOYCE).

Elizabeth Hill-Cooper (Cendrillon, Pelleas and Melisande) directs the production with Fabian Russell (The Magic
Pudding – The Opera) conducting the Victorian Opera Youth Orchestra.

“The melodic genius of Schubert tells of the adventures of the human heart and extending the hand of
friendship and compassion across time through music of enduring vitality.” – Richard Mills, Artistic Director,
Victorian Opera

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on 18 September
to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from 9 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730

MEDIA RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 8 PM

VICTORIAN OPERA PRESENTS TWO MUSICAL BIOGRAPHIES
Victorian Opera presents musical biographies about two notable women of the world in Season 2020:
Peruvian singer Yma Sumac and the late Australian cook Margaret Fulton.

Ali McGregor, who won the 2019 Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Artist, returns to the company following
her celebrated performances in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (2019) and the world premiere of new
Australian opera Lorelei (2018).

McGregor reprises her show Yma Sumac: The Peruvian Songbird at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse on 18,
19, 20 June. The intimate cabaret traces Ali’s discovery of the unique singer, who rose to fame in the 1950s as
a best-selling artist for Capitol Records with hits such as ‘Gopher Mambo’ and ‘Chuncho’.

Sumac was renowned for her five-octave range and vocal flexibility, allowing Ali McGregor to dazzle
audiences with her interpretation of the Peruvian songbird’s music.

Margaret Fulton: The Musical celebrates Australia’s first culinary queen in a new production of this playful
musical comedy at Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse from 15 – 19 September.

The musical, written by Doug Macleod with music by Yuri Worontschak, premiered in November 2012. Set in
the swinging sixties, it charts Margaret Fulton’s rise from home cook to household name as she taught a
growing nation how to cook. Casting is yet to be announced.

Subscriptions are available from 8 pm Tuesday 3 September for current subscribers and go on sale on 18
September to the public. Tickets to all Season 2020 productions will go on sale from 9 October.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Scott Whinfield, Media & Communications Executive
scottw@victorianopera.com.au // (03) 9012 6653 // 0412 534 730