La bella Italia! The main-stage production of the 2024 LGNOP, directed by Stuart Maunder AM, and accompanied by the invaluable Ensemble Q, pays homage to the birthplace of opera itself, and the rich and varied culture it has shared with the world. This year, we are presenting scenes from operas, either by Italian composers such as Rossini and Donizetti, or, in the second half of the evening, by composers of other nationalities, ranging from Handel to Offenbach (not to mention Gilbert and Sullivan!), who have looked to Italy for their inspiration.

Whether in Venice, Padua, Rimini or Terracina, our talented young singers feel right at home, having enjoyed three weeks of intensive training in all the skills necessary for singing Italian opera, not least thanks to the inestimable skills of our guest coach and conductor, Felice Venanzoni, from Frankfurt Opera.

An evening of love, laughter, drama and la dolce vita – just what you would expect.

Join us for a masterclass with Felice Venanzoni, our our guest coach and conductor from Frankfurt Opera.

Join us for a lecture with Greg Massingham.

Join us for a listening room with Felice Venanzoni.

From the beginning, northern Europeans have always been attracted to the Mediterranean: the sun, the shining sea, olive groves and vineyards, not to mention classical ruins and the cradle of western culture - what’s not to like? Poets and composers were particularly enamoured of the vibrant South, as this evening’s programme illustrates. Beginning with Goethe’s Mignon, who famously asks if we know the land “where the orange trees grow”, we will hear songs by Schumann, Fanny Hensel, Strauss, Debussy and Ravel, among many others, all inspired, at first by Italy, and then Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean. And, as travel became simpler, and the world became smaller, further afield. Until, of course, it’s time to go home…

Join us on our Grand Tour, as we bring you Art Song and Antipasti with some of Australia’s finest young singers in this year’s Liederabend – “Elsewhere”.

Join us for a Lecture with Nancy Underhill.

Join us for a Listening Room with Sharolyn Kimmorley.