It’s more than 30 years since Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia has been seen in Melbourne, at least in part because this bel canto opera demands an exceptional coloratura soprano in the title role. Having already impressed in recent Melbourne Opera productions such as Bellini’s Norma and Verdi’s Macbeth, Helena Dix shines even brighter as Lucrezia, turning extreme vocal challenges into opportunities to dazzle.

Lucrezia Borgia

Christopher Hillier and Helena Dix, Lucrezia Borgia, Melbourne Opera, 2022. Photo © Robin Halls

This Melbourne Opera production is also notable as the opera debut for theatre director Gary Abrahams. His latest success, in a year that’s included Admissions for MTC and Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s Yentl, refreshes what might be considered a museum piece with appealing late 2oth-century House of Gucci-meets-the-mafia scheming and style.

Premiering at La Scala in 1833, Lucrezia Borgia is based on Victor Hugo’s play of the same name. Both lean on colourful rumours about the 16th-century noblewoman, including that she poisoned enemies left and right. Donizetti’s Lucrezia is a villain with a heart, as she frets over her secret son, Gennaro. When they meet in the prologue she is...