Opera buffs are in for a treat next year when Opera Australia presents new productions of two rarely seen operas, Verdi’s Attila and Halévy’s La Juive (The Jewess), neither of which have been staged by the company before.

Lyndon Terracini. Photograph courtesy of Opera Australia

At the other end of the spectrum are four musicals, which Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini hopes will act as “a bridge” to attract a broader audience to the company –  The Light in the Piazza starring renowned American soprano Renée Fleming, Fiddler on the Roof performed in Yiddish, The Secret Garden, presented with musical theatre producer John Frost, and – as announced in April – a 30th anniversary production of the world’s first Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae.

In between there are some perennially popular operas including La Bohème, Carmen, Aida, Madama Butterfly and Don Giovanni, and some that are not quite so familiar to Australian audiences such as Roberto Devereux, the second opera in Donizetti’s Tudor Queens trilogy, which OA is presenting over a three-year cycle.

In other highlights, much-loved Australian soprano Nicole Car...