Opera Australia’s La Traviata; photo by Keith Saunders.
Sydney audiences will be given a rare opportunity to watch backstage magic happen on Tuesday 21 March, when Opera Australia leaves the curtains open during the four-minute scene change between scenes 1 and 2 of Act II of La Traviata.
Previously in the history of the production, originally directed by Elijah Moshinsky, the curtain has always been closed and the audience literally left in the dark after the emotionally wrenching ‘country garden scene’ until the curtains rise on the next scene, in which the autumnal garden has been replaced by a lavish parlour and some 20 performers.