In Conversation with Lyndon Terracini

Eleanor Lyons

Australian soprano Eleanor Lyons has an extraordinary career, which has taken her all over Europe and further abroad.

Most recently, she’s performed as soloist in Verdi’s Requiem and Britten’s War Requiem with Philippe Herreweghe and the Antwerp Symphony; at the Grafenegg Festival with conductor Leon Botstein in two roles: Maria in Der Diktator by Krenek and in Hindemith’s Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen; and with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice as soloist at their New Year’s Eve Gala with Australian conductor Matthew Coorey.

In 2020, Lyons made her Opera Australia debut as Donna Anna in our production of Don Giovanni.

Julie Lea Goodwin

Australian soprano Julie Lea Goodwin has been one of our busiest singers since she joined Opera Australia in 2015. Last year alone, she performed an extraordinary range of roles: Maria in West Side Story on Sydney Harbour, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Musetta in La Bohème, and Madame Cortese in Il Viaggio a Reims. She also impressively created the role of Wendy Whiteley in the world premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin's opera, Whiteley.

In this interview with our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Julie Lea talks about handling such diverse repertoire, making her way to opera via musical theatre, and what attracts her to certain roles. She also offers a special preview of The Merry Widow, which she'll be starring in at the Sydney Opera House in January 2021.

Anson Austin

From 1970 until 2004, Anson Austin was one of our audience’s favourite singers. He tackled some 50 leading roles in his 34 years at Opera Australia and partnered with singers such as Dame Joan Sutherland and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in everything from Puccini to Mozart and contemporary opera. Known for his effortless upper register, extraordinary versatility and professionalism, Anson has remained an essential part of our company since his retirement as a singer, and served on the Opera Australia Board from 2005 to 2016, lending his expertise and experience to the company.

In this interview with our Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Anson reflects on the highlights of his career, starting with his early days in New Zealand, discovering his voice as a high school student. He also discusses his experiences learning with legendary teacher Dominique Modesti and the secrets to longevity as a singer.

Chen Shi-Zheng

Chen Shi-Zheng is a visionary in the truest sense of the term. The Chinese-born director is known around the world for the extraordinary universes he brings to the stage in his deeply moving productions.

In this conversation with Opera Australia’s Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Chen reveals the life experiences that have influenced his unique perspective as a director. Starting with his turbulent childhood in China, Chen explains how he went from studying to be a Chinese opera singer to creating his own productions on the world stage. He also talks about his landmark production of the 22-hour Chinese epic The Peony Pavilion, and how it led him to direct Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

In 2021, Chen will become the first Chinese director to ever take on the Ring Cycle. In this conversation, he shares his vision for the production and the eclectic influences he’s drawing on to create a surprising new experience for audiences.

Chen also performs a popular Mongolian song, accompanied by Tahu Matheson.

Natalie Aroyan

Armenian-Australian singer Natalie Aroyan is one of the country’s leading sopranos, having taken on some of the biggest roles in the opera repertoire. But it wasn’t always her dream to be an opera star – instead, she had singers like Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Tina Arena in her sights.

In this fascinating conversation with Lyndon Terracini, Natalie reveals her journey from budding pop singer to centre stage at the Sydney Opera House. She talks about making her professional debut as Mimì in La Bohème, tackling the enormous demands of the title role in Aida, and learning her craft from opera world royalty.

Natalie’s roles at Opera Australia also include Desdemona (Otello), Micaëla (Carmen), Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra) and Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg).

The conversation finishes with a special performance of ‘Krunk’ a song by Armenian composer Komitas, accompanied by Opera Australia’s Head of Music, Tahu Matheson.

Brian Thomson

For five decades, Brian Thomson has been one of Australia’s most influential designers. He started his career in close collaboration with the director Jim Sharman and created designs for three of the biggest rock musicals of all time: Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair and The Rocky Horror Show.

In the years since, he’s had an extraordinarily varied career, working on projects ranging from small-scale indie theatre to the biggest live performance events in the world. He designed the world’s most enduring cult film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and in 1996 won a Tony Award for his design for The King and I on Broadway.

In this interview with our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Brian talks about discovering his love for set design as a young architect and creating the extraordinary visual concept for our first Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, La Traviata. He also shares stories from his time as the production designer for the Sydney 2000 Olympics Closing Ceremony, and working with Australian icons.

Diego Torre

Born in Mexico City, Diego Torre has been a leading tenor for Opera Australia for many years.

Diego’s most celebrated roles include Radames (Aida), Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana), Canio (Pagliacci), Calaf (Turandot), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Gustavus (Un ballo in maschera), The Duke (Rigoletto), Gabriele Adorno (Simon Boccanegra), Rodolfo (Luisa Miller) and the title role in Don Carlo.

In this conversation with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Diego shares stories from his life and career, starting with his days as a young singer in Mexico City. Diego reflects on his career and performs the very well known song 'Granada' by Agustín Lara in his native language.

Elena Kats-Chernin

Elena Kats-Chernin is one of Australia’s most successful and prolific composers, working across opera, concert music, ballet and film. She even composed our first opera for television, The Divorce, which aired on ABC TV across four episodes in 2015. Most recently, she won rave reviews for the score of Whiteley, our 2019 opera about the life and work of Australian painter Brett Whiteley.

Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan (at the time part of the Soviet Union) and studied in Moscow before moving to Australia in 1975. She studied piano and composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Soon after graduating, she moved to Europe where she worked in some of the world’s most innovative theatres, before returning to Australia in 1994. Since then, she’s composed for many of Australia’s leading orchestras, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and for the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

In this interview with our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Kats-Chernin talks about her composition process, the advantages and disadvantages of being born with perfect pitch, and how the world of theatre and her many collaborations keep her inspired.

Jun Yi Ma

The Opera Australia Orchestra is the busiest of all Australian orchestras, giving around 300 performances every year. This extraordinary group of musicians is led by Concertmaster and Orchestra Director Jun Yi Ma. In this conversation with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Jun shares stories from his life and career, starting with his days as a young violin prodigy. At just 12 years of age, Jun travelled from his home in Shanghai to perform for President Ronald Reagan at the White House. He would go on to be tutored by one of the greatest violinists of all time, Jasha Heifetz. Jun also reflects on his career, the role of a Concertmaster, and performs the beautiful Méditation from Massenet's opera, Thaïs.

Graeme Macfarlane

There are few singers who have achieved the same career longevity as Graeme Macfarlane. For 47 years, he’s been singing tenor roles from across a broad repertoire, and is still going strong. In this interview with Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, Graeme discusses making his Opera Australia debut in 1973 in War and Peace, our first production at the Sydney Opera House. He also speaks about making the career move from baritone to tenor, the key to his long career, the changes he's seen over almost five decades as an opera singer, and explains how a police choir brought him back to the stage. The interview also features a performance of an art song by Australian composer Vera Black, accompanied by Tahu Matheson.