The Top Five Non-Stuffy Operas of 2012

Opera isn't known for being the hippest of the arts. Between the scarily priced tickets and insatiably conservative subscribers, it's been hard for the medium to connect to a new audience that will keep it alive for generations to come.

But lately there's more than a bit of buzz about opera in Sydney, and it's all on the creative, experimental and accessible side of things. These are the top five operatic happenings stirring our interest.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VXPOg574cr0

1. La Traviata

Who: Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour
When: March 24 to April 15 at Mrs Macquaries Point

The upcoming Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour is providing weeks' worth of spectacle before it even starts as we watch the set get built over Sydney Harbour and the nine-metre crystal chandelier float over to meet it. The show is lavish and then some, but the outdoor venue gives it that edge of something different, adventurous and open to chaos. So accessorise your gown with a plastic poncho and get out there.

2. The Marriage of Figaro

Who: Opera Australia
When: Until March 24 at the Sydney Opera House

This is a classic opera, but one that's always contained a note of subversion. Along with the English-translated libretto, director Benedict Andrews (more commonly found at Belvoir or the STC) has made it relevant and accessible with a modern setting in a privileged gated community.

3. In the Penal Colony

Who: Sydney Chamber Opera
When: April 7-14 at the Parade Playhouse

It's bewildering that no opera by legendary contemporary composer Philip Glass has ever been performed in Sydney. This one is based on a dark short story by Franz Kafka about an elaborate torture and execution device and is being put on by a young company bringing back the experience of intimate opera.

4. Karen O's Stop the Virgens

Who: Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame as part of Vivid LIVE
When: May 30 to June 3 at the Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House

With the aid of production designer KK Barrett (Where the Wild Things Are, Lost in Translation) and director Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter and In Treatment writer), Karen O has been able to realise her long-nurtured blend of music and theatre, dubbed 'psycho-opera', and it's set to be a highlight of Vivid LIVE 2012. Stop the Virgens is an autobiographical mindwarp featuring over 50 artists, including her Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase.

5. Die Tote Stadt

Who: Opera Australia
When: June 30 to July 18 at the Sydney Opera House

Bruce Beresford directs this bold production complete with holographic images and other groundbreaking tech. It's fitting for the story, which follows a widower's journey through grief after the arrival of a woman who resembles his wife and which is laced with hallucinations and doubt.