Lyndon Terracini launches final season with Opera Australia

Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann and grand Italian opera feature in Lyndon Terracini’s final season with Opera Australia, as the company records its strongest-ever box office.

Opera Australia artistic director Lyndon Terracini. Picture: John Feder

Just two years after the first pandemic lockdowns wiped out box-office earnings across the country, Opera Australia is having its most successful season ever, with ticket revenue already reaching a record $78m this year.

Before Covid ruined everyone’s night at the opera, OA ­recorded full-year ticket sales of $73.6m in 2019.

Sales slumped to just $10.6m in 2020 before rebounding slightly to $17.3m last year.

Opera’s stunning comeback is due mainly to musical theatre.

OA this year has mounted two productions of one of the most famous musicals ever, ­Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.

It played on the outdoor Sydney Harbour stage in March and a new theatrical production opened at the Sydney Opera House on Friday.

OA artistic director Lyndon Terracini said he was “incredibly happy” that this year’s season had already delivered the company’s biggest-ever box office.

The record year comes as Terracini prepares to depart the company he has led since 2009.

On Tuesday, he announces what will be his final season with OA, which has many Terracini hallmarks: grand opera, international stars, role debuts by local singers, and the twice-delayed Brisbane Ring Cycle.

Two highlights, rarely staged in Australia, are from the Italian verismo tradition: Adriana Lecouvreur, featuring Ermonela Jaho and Michael Fabiano; and two concert performances of La Gioconda, featuring tenor superstar Jonas Kaufmann, who has been a return guest during Terracini’s tenure.

Renowned Australian soprano Jessica Pratt will appear in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, taking each of the four soprano roles in the manner made famous by Joan Sutherland.

Sydney will also see the return of Madama Butterfly on the Sydney Harbour stage and a new production, called Chorus, that is designed to showcase the Opera Australia Chorus.

Gale Edwards’ production of La Boheme will return for a final season, before a new digital staging by Constantine Costi makes its debut in 2024.

Limited venue availability in Melbourne next year means that OA will not present any fully staged opera in the city. Instead, it will present concert performances of Wagner’s Tannhauser, and Philip Glass’s “portrait opera” about Mohandas Gandhi, Satyagraha, as well as singers in recital.

Terracini said he was planning to stage another musical next year which was yet to be ­announced.

His term as artistic director finishes late next year and OA is expected to announce his successor in the coming months.