Opera Australia bring ‘Breaking the waves’ to Melbourne

For the first time in Melbourne, Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s “Breaking the Waves” will startle audiences, as it has across the world, including acclaimed seasons at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Edinburgh Festival, and Adelaide Festival. Opera Australia will present a Melbourne exclusive, one-night-only semi-staged performance of this contemporary opera on 26 July at Hamer Hall, helmed by Melbourne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks and conducted by the award-winning Jessica Cottis. This will be Sarks’ first foray into opera, which she says offers an exciting opportunity to expand her creative output in a new direction. “Opera is an entirely different type of theatre; the sheer drama of the music adds a greater depth and dimension to the storytelling and allows us immediate access to the inner life of these characters. I am looking forward to working with some of Australia’s finest singers and musicians to bring this story to life. Breaking the Waves brings together some brilliant female creatives. Composer Missy Mazzoli, conductor Jessica Cottis, and designer Marg Horwell are world leaders in their fields, and it is so special to collaborate with them on this project,” said Ms. Sarks. Dubbed by Time Out as “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart,” Mazzoli is one of the most exciting composers working anywhere in the world, and her adaptation of von Trier’s film has been acclaimed as one of the 21st century’s best operas. Opera Australia filled Hamer Hall last year with its critically successful “Satyagraha,” and “Breaking the Waves” presents the perfect opportunity for a musically adventurous… Read More