For one ordinary Australian with an extraordinary voice this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to live the dream and be transported from obscurity to stardom. Over four drama-filled episodes amateur singers from all over Australia come out of their closets, showers and sheds to compete for the chance to perform with professional opera singers at the Sydney Opera House.
Recorded live at The Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Idomeneo, King of Crete, has been away from home during the long years of the Trojan War. Idamante, his son and now regent of the island, waits for his return, heralded by the arrival in Crete of Trojan prisoners. One of these prisoners is Ilia, daugher of the murdered King Priam of Troy. Idamante has fallen in love with Ilia, but is loved by Electra, daughter of the Greek King Agamemmnon, who has taken refuge in Crete. This production marked the operatic debut of Trevor Nunn. It has been much-acclaimed for its dramatic effect, blending Minoan Crete with the ritualistic delicacy of Japanese theatre. This dynamic stylisation is appropriately reclected in John Napier's considered and elegant designs. Bernhard Haitink conducts the London Philharmonic in a forceful account of the music.
Renowned opera director David Pountney delivers a superlative production in this 1995 staging of British composer Henry Purcell's "The Fairy Queen," featuring Yvonne Kenny at Titania, Simon Rice as Puck, Thomas Randle as Oberon and Richard Van Allan as Thesus. Modern dance numbers blend deftly with baroque music as maestro Barry Griffiths conducts the English National Opera's orchestra and chorus.
Soprano Yvonne Kenny turns in a spirited performance as Aspasia in this brilliant staging of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's first notable opera -- penned when he was only 14 years old. The production, set in early Roman times, follows the inner circle of the empire's most formidable foe, King Mithridates of Pontus. Maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the sterling cast, which includes tenor Gosta Winbergh and mezzo-soprano Ann Murray.
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