NZ Opera has assembled a top-tier lineup of local and international talent for its 2024 programme, a trio of productions that traverse nearly two centuries of musical history, from classic bel canto to contemporary brilliance.

First up, in April, is the New Zealand premiere of Mansfield Park, based on the Jane Austen novel and set to music by 21st-century English composer Jonathan Dove.

A brand-new production of Rossini's comedy, Le comte Ory, directed by leading Kiwi director Simon Phillips, will visit Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in June.

The season's final offering is a bold and dramatic, mafia-inflected production of Verdi's Rigoletto, featuring New Zealand superstar tenor Amitai Pati (Ihitai’Avei’a – Star Navigator, Die Zauberflöte, Sol3 Mio), and renowned Australian baritone James Clayton (Barber of Seville, Marriage of Figaro, Macbeth).

The season's opening act, Mansfield Park, is a popular contemporary chamber opera (2011) based on Jane Austen's 1814 Regency-era novel. It brings Austen's world to vibrating life with charm and authenticity. The production, to be presented in historic venues in Wellington and Auckland, has garnered critical acclaim worldwide and promises to be a delight for Austen aficionados and music lovers alike. 

At the helm is director Rebecca Meltzer of Waterperry Opera Festival (UK), who guides a cast of 10 outstanding performers, led by Australian mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms (Carmen, Otello, Così fan tutte) as the reserved heroine Fanny Price and seasoned New Zealand baritone Robert Tucker (The Unruly Tourists, Eight Songs for a Mad King, Don Giovanni) in the role of Sir Thomas Bertram. New Zealand favourites Joanna Foote, Kristin Darragh and Joel Amosa also star in this much-loved study of manners, marriage and money.

Midway through the year, audiences in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch can revel in a brand-new production of the frothy, rollicking bel canto masterpiece, Le comte Ory. The all-star cast includes award-winning lyric tenor Manase Latu (Hamlet, Don Giovanni, Idomeno) in the titular role, sparkling soprano Emma Pearson (Cosi fan tutte, Semele, Lucia di Lammermoor) as Countess Adèle, and baritone Moses Mackay (Lucia di Lammermoor, Cavalleria Rusticana, Sol3 Mio) as the Count’s louche friend Raimbaud. Auckland Philharmonia, Orchestra Wellington, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the New Zealand Opera Chorus will perform in each centre, under the baton of conductor Brad Cohen.

Internationally acclaimed Kiwi director Simon Phillips (North by Northwest, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Elixir of Love) brings a local twist to this lively and risqué French comedy, offering a fresh take on its sublime silliness.

The season's final opera is Verdi's magnificent and enduring masterpiece Rigoletto, set to captivate audiences at Auckland's Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in September. This dramatic tale of love, betrayal and revenge has rightfully held a place in the operatic canon since its 1851 premiere. An acclaimed Opera Australia production originally created by director Elijah Moshinsky (1946-2021), Rigoletto will be conducted by renowned maestro James Judd leading the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the New Zealand Opera Chorus.

Set in 1950s Italy, with glamorous La Dolce Vita-inspired sets and costumes, this is large-scale romantic opera at its grandest.

With a stellar cast led by baritone James Clayton – one of Australia's most seasoned performers – and with Kiwi-Samoan tenor Amitai Pati as the Duke, Rigoletto is an unmissable event in Aotearoa's 2024 cultural calendar.

A one-night-only concert performance of Wagner’s epic Tristan und Isolde in partnership with the Auckland Philharmonia, directed by Frances Moore, will be presented at the Auckland Town Hall in August, starring internationally celebrated Wagnerian singers tenor Simon O’Neill (Die Walküre, Ring Cycle, Parsifal), soprano Manuela Uhl (Die tote Stadt, Ring Cycle, Die Frau ohne Schatten), and The New Zealand Opera Chorus.

nzopera.com