Warren Mok, Artistic Director of the Macau International Music Festival, invited Opera Australia to participate in the festival after seeing Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House last year. Mr Mok was in Australia to perform the role of Calaf in Turandot for the national opera company at the time.
Although cast locally by the festival, Opera Australia’s production of Rigoletto will involve several Australians including rehearsal director Julie Edwardson, tenor Henry Choo in the role of Borsa Matteo, and six theatre technicians from Opera Australia.
Opera Australia Chief Executive Adrian Collette will attend the opening night of the festival with Opera Australia board member Tim McFarlane.
“This collaborative event provides a wonderful opportunity for Opera Australia to showcase our production capabilities and expertise in Asia, a region we are keen to explore,” said Mr Collette.
Mr Collette and Mr McFarlane will also visit Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo and Taipei to hold discussions about future collaborations and the potential for touring when the Sydney Opera House is unavailable due to renovations to the Opera Theatre.
The 26-day festival from 5-31 October 2007 features many internationally recognised music ensembles including the Prague Chamber Choir, Berlin Trio, Russian National Orchestra, Ominart Trio from Italy and the Vienna Boys Choir. Rigoletto is one of two operas to be performed at the Macau International Music Festival, the other being Don Giovanni by the Prague National Marionette Theatre.
The performance of Rigoletto in Macau brings the total number of Opera Australia productions hired internationally since 1997 to 15. Other international hirers include English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera NZ, Pacific Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Toronto Opera. In addition, Opera Australia hires approximately four productions each year to the state based opera companies within Australia.
“Co-productions and hires with opera companies nationally and internationally allows Opera Australia to offer a greater variety of productions to our audience by enabling us to share or offset the costs of manufacturing the opera’s physical elements,” said Mr Collette.
Current joint venture productions with international companies include Billy Budd with the Welsh National Opera, which returns to Opera Australia in 2008, and Lakmè with L’Opera de Montreal, which was performed by Montreal Opera and Minnesota Opera this year. Discussions are underway with Austin Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, Tulsa Opera and Vancouver Opera to hire Opera Australia productions in coming years.
