Saluti from Patricia, an update of where we've been and where we are going! (Dec 2002)

Dear Opera friends,

2002 has been a splendid opera year with many of you joining me on my two three week tours to Italy and weekends in Christchurch and Sydney.

My new venture to assist our young opera singers, my Italian for Opera Singers School in Tuscany in May, was a unique experience for tour participants who befriended four talented New Zealand singers. They later travelled to see two of them perform: Andrea Creighton as Susanna in NBR New Zealand’s 'The Marriage of Figaro' and Jack Bourke as Ferrando in Canterbury Opera’s 'Cosi fan tutte'. Their time in Italy was invaluable for learning their roles.

We have recently returned from South of Rome and Sicily - a wonderful tour We learnt so much of the history, art, Greek theatres and opera houses of this different and exotic part of Italy. We were warmly welcomed by Friends of the Opera in Palermo, we heard a superb tenor in Rome where the audience stopped the performance begging him to sing again, we were thrilled by the Sicilian puppet show and Mt Etna erupted after we left!

My plans for 2003 are great and I hope you will return with me to these opera icons and places I know and love so well.
A group of 10 friends asked me to take them to Venice for New Year for La Traviata and two weeks in northern Italy. I will be home again in time to take you to Sydney to hear Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Don Giovanni and Jonathan Lemalu as Leporello. This is a very special event and we opera lovers should be proud to honour these two young New Zealand singers. I am thrilled they will be with us at our exclusive party in the Sydney Opera House.

Programme 2003

Sydney, 3—5 or 6 February
Opera Australia’s Don Giovanni by Mozart with Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Jonathan Lemalu. Party in their honour at Sydney Opera House, Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti with Sumi Jo, opera superstar, and Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach (optional).

Wellington, 8—9 March
Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky by NBR New Zealand Opera starring Vladimir Matorin, star of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. A weekend of opera, art galleries, museums and fine dining in the capital city.

From Rome to Bologna via a Villa in Tuscany, 30 April—16 May
Two weeks in Italy and one in France.Placido Domingo in Sly by Wolf-Ferrari and Tosca places in Rome, Fidelio by Beethoven in Florence’s May Festival, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride in Bologna. Singers and a Maestro, Wyn Davies, with a Concert in our Villa, Tuscan wines and cuisine with our own chef and Verdi and Puccini places.

Christchurch , 19—20 July
Lakme by Delibes, famous for “The Bell Song” and “The Flower Duet”. An opera gem presented by Canterbury Opera. Visit Akaroa and nearby vineyards and gardens.

Sydney , 31 July—3 August
Opera Australia presents Salome by R. Strauss, Madama Butterfly by Puccini in a stunningly beautiful production, and Verdi’s Otello conducted by Simone Young and starring Richard Margison, outstanding Verdi interpreter.

Sydney , 11—14 September
Opera Australia presents Lulu by Berg, with Emma Matthews as Lulu and Conal Coad as the AnimalTrainer/Acrobat. Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky with the great Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov, both conducted by Simone Young. The Pearl Fishers by Bizet (optional extra).

For more information please contact Patricia Hurley