After months of live music deprivation, audiences are invited to experience the power of opera’s most famous aria in Puccini’s Turandot when it returns to the Sydney Opera House in January 2022.
Achieving pop status when Luciano Pavarotti’s Vincerò made 73,603 people at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final hold their breath, Nessun dorma ends with the statement “I will win” – a fitting mantra for the arts industry after its recent decimation, guaranteed to evoke goosebumps and tears in the Joan Sutherland Theatre.
Singing the aria will be celebrated South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee who will perform “a superb Calàf, his stentorian delivery producing decibels that belie his slim frame”, while stellar American soprano Lise Lindstrom returns to demonstrate how she made a name for herself in the title role, bringing her “commanding voice and an equally commanding presence,” (Limelight).
OA Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini is pleased to announce that rising star Australian soprano Anna-Louise Cole will share the title role.
“Anna-Louise has been a member of our Young Artist Program and is ready to tackle these big roles,” he said. “It is really exciting that she will make her role debut as Turandot so audiences in Sydney can hear what her voice can really do.”
Also sharing the lead roles will be Russian tenor Ivan Gyngazov making his Opera Australia debut as Calàf while South Korean sopranos Karah Son and Mariana Hong will share the part of Liù.
The exceptional Italian maestro Renato Palumbo returns to Australia to lead the Opera Australia Orchestra, Chorus and Children’s Chorus through Puccini’s intensely moving score. Sharing the baton is Italian Leonardo Sini, known as one of the most promising conductors of his generation.
A fantasy opera of poetry and myth, Turandot transports audiences to an exotic world where fear and love go hand in hand. Viewers will be on the edge of their seats as suitors answer riddles at the risk of death in an attempt to win the hand of the ice princess of opera.
Since its premiere in 1990, director Graeme Murphy’s daring production quickly became renowned as one of the ultimate classics in the Opera Australia repertoire that has since stood the test of time.
Conductors: Renato Palumbo, Leonardo Sini | Director & Choreographer: Graeme Murphy AO | Revival Director: Shane Placentino | Featuring: Lise Lindstrom, Anna-Louise Cole, Yonghoon Lee, Ivan Gyngazov, Liù Karah Son, Mariana Hong, David Parkin, Virgilio Marino, Iain Henderson, Luke Gabbedy, Dean Bassett, Alexander Sefton, Leah Thomas, Katherine Wiles, Opera Australia Chorus, Opera Australia Children’s Chorus, Opera Australia Orchestra | Set & Costume Designer: Kristian Fredrikson | Lighting Designer: John Drummond Montgomery | Assistant Director: Warwick Doddrell
Turandot
Joan Sutherland Theatre – Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney
Season: 12 January – 14 March 2022
Information and Bookings: www.opera.org.au
Image: Lise Lindstrom in Opera Australia’s 2019 production of Turandot – photo by Jeff Busby