The idea of Brisbane tenor Rosario La Spina singing on horseback is a tantalising one. Just to let you know, though, it will only be happening in the singer’s imagination.

The equestrian aspiration arises when we chat about Opera Queensland’s program for 2024, which includes the now hugely popular Festival of Outback Opera 2024.

The state opera company is dedicated to covering Queensland, with its regional program spread to all points of the compass – the crowning glory being the Festival of Outback Opera 2024, returning to Winton and Longreach in May.

Meanwhile, Marcus Corowa will star in the touring production Do We Need Another Hero? created by the same team behind the phenomenally successful Are You Lonesome Tonight and Lady Sings the Maroons

Rosario La Spina is one of the singers who will be going west for the event, with another Queenslander, Kate Miller-Heidke, headlining.

For La Spina it will be a first and he’s looking forward to it and maybe letting his imagination run away with him.

“Imagine halfway through Nessun Dorma I jump on a horse and ride around,” he says. Probably not going to happen, but never mind.

When we chat, La Spina is in Sicily where he has been performing. He grew up on Brisbane’s northside but Sicily is his ancestral homeland and when we catch up his father is beside him.

“Dad was born in Sicily so it’s a full circle moment for him to come and see his son singing here,” La Spina says.

The 54-year-old opera star has always been popular but it seems like he’s on fire at the moment. Anyone who saw him performing as Siegmund in The Ring Cycle at QPAC last year will agree. La Spina’s performances were a highlight and Opera Queensland’s artistic director Patrick Nolan agrees.

“He is a local and yes he is on fire at the moment,” Nolan says. “He was in beautiful form in The Ring Cycle. It was wonderful to see him in that because he has always been this Verdi tenor and has made a career as an Italian specialist and lo and behold as he gets older and his voice matures, he nails this German repertoire.”

Nolan has programmed La Spina for the Festival of Outback Opera 2024 and for the inaugural Brisbane Bel Canto festival in April, Opera Queensland’s new gift to the cultural landscape.

Bel Canto simply means beautiful singing and this festival uses the rich and popular repertoire of Italian operas from the middle of the 19th century as a springboard into a celebration of song in all its many forms.

Opera Queensland has attracted one of the hottest opera stars on the planet as the star of that festival – Australia’s own Jessica Pratt, a soprano considered one of the world’s foremost Bel Canto interpreters.

Pratt will sing in several events including a performance of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (her speciality) and Jessica Pratt in Concert, a celebration of the music of Bellini with tenors Carlos Bárcenas and Rosario La Spina, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Richard Mills.

In collaboration with Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Bel Canto will also present Gioachino Rossini’s poignant masterpiece Stabat Mater featuring, among others, Brisbane soprano Eva Kong. Mills conducts the Queensland Conservatorium Orchestra and a chorus of vocal students for that production.

Mixing local and imported talent is good for everyone, says OQ artistic director Patrick Nolan.

“We try to develop local talent as much as we can,” he says. “So, we bring people from elsewhere to collaborate with our local artists and it makes my job easier that we have talent such as Rosario here.”

After Brisbane Bel Canto, La Spina will be going west and he’s looking forward to that.

“This is my first time for this festival in the Outback,” he says. “My wife, mezzo soprano Milijana Nikolic, did it last year and told me how much fun it was. She said the atmosphere was amazing and people were so passionate and that the night time events and settings were amazing. I love the country so I’m looking forward to it.”

When he’s not travelling or singing La Spina and Nikolic enjoy life at Redcliffe with their son Enrico, who is 11. La Spina may stride the stage of concert halls here and abroad for work but he’s also happy fishing at Redcliffe and enjoying the bayside lifestyle.

He will also be performing in Opera Australia’s Tosca after his Opera Queensland appearances.

Opera Queensland’s three major productions in Brisbane show the breadth of vision of artistic director Patrick Nolan, who has put together a program that pitches classics alongside brave new works in a highly original way.

While Brisbane Bel Canto focuses on the art of singing, contemporary circus outfit Circa will bring their acrobatic wizardry to Dido and Aeneas. Later in the year we get Straight From the Strait, a brand-new musical by artists from the Torres Strait Islands, which is Opera Queensland’s Brisbane Festival offering for 2024.

The Festival of Outback Opera 2024, presented in association with Queensland Symphony Orchestra and University of Queensland, features the return of the two spectacular open-sky concerts in Longreach and Winton and the popular community sing-along Sing Sing Sing, the Opera Ball and the Long Lunch.

“Our purpose at Opera Queensland is to bring great music and song to audiences, wherever they may reside,” Nolan says. “We created the Festival of Outback Opera with this in mind and are delighted by the way audiences have embraced all that it has to offer.

“Each year we have sought to expand the festival’s program, never losing sight that at the centre of any great festival is a collection of exceptional artists who can offer audiences a unique experience in a remarkable location. 2024 is no different – a roster of some of the best singers in the country, more opportunities to connect with the locals and, fingers crossed, more stunning sunsets.”

oq.com.au

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