ATTILA (OPERA AUSTRALIA)
I will be joining the Opera Australia Chorus in March to perform in Verdi’s Attila. It’s been about two years since I was able to commit to a project with Opera Australia so I’m really looking to returning to the company and for the first time the stage of the Sydney Opera House.
The King of the Huns meets his match.
No one can stand before Attila and his hordes, until a warrior woman turns his head. As he opens his heart to his prisoner Odabella, the barbarian king reveals his weakness.
So the scene is set for one of the great revenge operas of the 19th century: an early Verdi in the vein of Aida.
Director Davide Livermore fuses video projections with colossal set pieces to create an awe-inspiring world for Attila.
This co-production with La Scala was a tremendous success at its Milan premiere. It’s a “blockbuster spectacle” (Financial Times), with four vivid characters, two horses and plenty of crowd scenes.
In the prelude, a mournful cello draws you down into the gravity and turmoil of war. Verdi’s score is full of darkness, rhythm and life, displaying the composer’s gift for creating emotion. Taras Berezhansky is Attila, opposite Natalie Aroyan as Odabella. Simone Piazzola performs as the Roman General, Ezio. Diego Torre debuts another Verdi tenor role as Odabella’s lover Foresto.