Opera

Tonight there’s a star-studded gala to celebrate the naming of the Kiri Te Kanawa theatre at the Aotea Centre. On stage are three performers whose lives have been touched by New Zealand’s greatest… Audio

Opera might seem like a glamorous vocation, however performers train for years before even stepping onto the stage. Operatic export Martin Snell is back in New Zealand to perform but knows all too… Audio

A gala concert featuring Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and several rising opera stars will launch the renaming of Auckland’s Aotea Centre ASB Theatre to be the Kiri Te… Video, Audio

A young man’s wretched cries over the death of his one true love echo as a funeral choir slowly belts out a mournful tune. Video

“If we serve up the same old cat food, then no one gets to taste anything different,” says New Zealand Opera’s General Director Thomas de Mallet Burgess, who announced the 2020 season today. Audio

This one-act comic opera set in exotic Baghdad is full of witty misunderstandings and trademark Rossini musical features. Video

The drama of the Trojan War, replete with heroes and tragedy, comes to life never more vividly than in French opera's most astounding work. Video

Tatiana is a lovesick country girl, and Eugene Onegin is the sophisticated young man who callously spurns her love before realising, too late, what a mistake he’s made. Video

Inspired by the greatest of all Spanish novels, 'Don Quichotte' is the story of an eccentric idealist and self-proclaimed knight errant who tilts at windmills and fights for the honor of his lady… Video

Based on a story of feuding Scottish families by Sir Walter Scott, Donizetti's opera has become a bel canto classic. Video

Clarissa Dunn looks at some of the most intriguing vocal virtuosi from opera singers to yodellers to beat boxers: those artists who’ve taken the vocal instrument to physical and imaginative extremes.

A verismo opera loosely based on the life and tragic death of the French poet André Chénier, who was executed during the French Revolution.

New Zealand Opera's production of The Turn of the Screw, Benjamin Britten's psychological drama, is a tribute to the company's courage with excellent performances from the small cast. However, some…

NZ-born Holly Mathieson returns to conduct an all-Kiwi cast in NZ Opera's production Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw. Audio

Verdi's sweepingly ambitious opera on war, religion, love and fate.  Video

Dramatic coloratura soprano and astute businesswoman Madeleine Pierard has returned home from London to perform in NZ Opera's new production of The Turn of the Screw. Audio

New Zealand Opera’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’ starts next week in Wellington, and there’s a special connection to it for new NZO Head of Music. Audio

Designer Raymond Boyce made a huge contribution to ballet, opera, puppetry and straight drama after he first came to New Zealand in 1953. In 2015, Peter Mechen talked to Raymond and others who worked… Audio

Jacqueline Coats has been awarded the 2019 Pettman Dare Fellowship, travelling to the UK to work with Opera North and study at the University of Leeds. Audio