Opera Australia today announced it had secured the world’s most in demand tenor, Jonas Kaufmann to perform his first ever fully staged opera in Australia when the Company presents

Wagner’s Lohengrin in Melbourne in May. Rarely performing outside Europe these days, this is the first time the German tenor will perform in a fully staged opera anywhere in the entire South East Asia region, let alone Australia.

OA’s Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini said “It‘s a tremendous thrill that the greatest tenor alive is coming to Melbourne to perform in his first opera in Australia, and singing, arguably, one of his
finest roles.

“After all we’ve been through these past two years, it will be a such treat for audiences to see Jonas live on stage, singing the title role in Olivier Py’s fantastic new production of Lohengrin. It’s really terrific that Jonas continues such a positive relationship with Opera Australia.”

\This will be Kaufmann’s fourth appearance with Opera Australia, following his performances in an operatic arias recital in 2014, and concert performances of Parsifal in 2017 and Andrea Chénier in 2019.

Kaufmann has performed Lohengrin many times to great acclaim since his role debut at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in 2009.
In the title role,

Kaufmann will be joined by a cast of powerhouse singers: Emily Magee, Elena Gabouri, Marco Vratogna, Daniel Sumegi and Warwick Fyfe. Opera Australia’s Head of Music Tahu Matheson will conduct Wagner’s romantic opera, featuring a huge chorus.

A co-production with Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Py’s acclaimed production is set in the ruins of Berlin during the aftermath of World War II. A romantic tale of mythical proportions plays out on a monumental revolving tiered set depicting a decaying theatre where emblems of German Romanticism gather dust.

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Featured image : Legendary tenor Jonas Kauifmann