Australia Post Opera In The Bowl

Media Release: Opera Australia 2009 Spring Season
For immediate release 3 December 2009



Australia Post Opera in the Bowl

Be enchanted by Puccini's La bohme under a starry summer night
11 December 2009











On Friday 11 December 2009 Opera Australia and Australia Post proudly present a free
performance of Puccini's La bohme in Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl at 8pm, with
one of Australia's favourite radio personalities, Christopher Lawrence, as master of
ceremonies.

Puccini's La bohme is an operatic best seller, second only to Madama Butterfly in terms of
frequency of performance (according to Opera America). The story tells of a group of friends
a poet, a philosopher, a musician and a painter living in Paris at the turn of the century.
Money is tight but love is free and the romance between the poet, Rodolfo, and seamstress,
Mim, inspires some of the most touching music ever written. Indeed many of the arias
appear on the operatic hit parade, including `Che gelida manina' (Your tiny hand is frozen)
and Musetta's Waltz.

Melbourne Theatre Company's Simon Phillips originally conceived this production as `a
Bohme for the twenty-first century', updating it to the modern day with the help of set and
costume designer Stephen Curtis. Besides the arias and duets, which everyone knows and
loves, this contemporary interpretation features wheelie bins, laptops and a beanbag plus
some riotous crowd scenes and even a break-dancer!

It is the concentration of the universal dilemmas that speak to the audience, "the heady
excitement of love, the agony of incompatibility and desire, the complexities of cohabitation
and the terrible grief of death," says Simon Phillips, director of La bohme.

The Australia Post Opera in the Bowl performance of La bohme stars Antoinette Halloran
(replacing Nicole Youl) as Mim and Carlo Barricelli as her lover, Rodolfo; the bohemians
Barry Ryan as Marcello, Jud Arthur as Colline and Warwick Fyfe as Schaunard with John
Bolton Wood as their landlord Benoit. And the show-stealing role of Musetta goes to Taryn
Fiebig under the baton of young Australian maestro Ollivier-Philippe Cuno.

"La bohme is a must-see for anyone new to opera. Puccini's irresistible music and moving
story make it one of the world's favourites. I can't imagine a better setting, or a better work,
to get your first experience of the power of opera," says Opera Australia Chief Executive
Adrian Collette.


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He continued, "this performance is an opportunity to invite the people of Melbourne to enjoy
the outstanding quality of the Opera Australia Chorus, Orchestra Victoria, and our fine
ensemble. It is one of many initiatives, made possible through Australia Post, which allows
us to bring great opera to the wider community. Get ready for a magical experience that
carries you away. Bring a picnic, bring your family and friends, cross your fingers for balmy
weather and, I promise, you will fall in love with this glorious art form."

Managing Director of Australia Post, Graeme John says Australia Post believes that the
opera experience should be available to as many people as possible.

"Bringing free opera to the people of Melbourne is part of Australia Post's continuing
commitment to deliver more for local communities," said Graeme John.

Australia Post sponsored the inaugural concert two years ago, to the delight of the 12,000
Victorians who attended. In this special year of its Bicentenary celebrations, Australia Post
has also sponsored Opera Australia's touring company Oz Opera and the Moffatt Oxenbould
Young Artist Program.

Both Opera Australia and Australia Post hope that opera in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl will
help reflect and strengthen Melbourne's identity as a city for the arts.

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Sponsored by Media Partner







8pm, Friday 11 December 2009

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Linlithgow Ave

Sung in Italian with English surtitles
Duration: 2 hours & 30 minutes including one 20-minute interval

FREE

www.opera-australia.org.au


Further information and interviews:
Emma Williams, National Publicist
Phone: 02 9318 8327or 03 9685 3703 from 30 November 2009
Mobile: 0413 985 291 Email: [email protected]