Attila

Sydney Opera House, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney, Australia

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12:30 PM

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Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Sydney, Australia

Starts at: 12:30

Acts: 3

Intervals: 1

Duration: 2h 20min

Sung in: Italian

Titles in: English

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

Overview

The King of the Huns meets his match in this early Verdi in the vein of Aida.

No one can stand before Attila and his hordes until a warrior woman turns his head. As he opens his heart to his prisoner Odabella, the barbarian king reveals his weakness.

So the scene is set for one of the great revenge operas of the 19th century: an early Verdi in the vein of Aida.

Director Davide Livermore fuses video projections with colossal set pieces to create an awe-inspiring world for Attila.

This co-production with La Scala was a tremendous success at its Milan premiere. It’s a “blockbuster spectacle” (Financial Times), with four vivid characters, two horses, and plenty of crowd scenes.

World-renowned bass Ildar Abdrazakov sings his acclaimed Attila. Natalie Aroyan is Odabella with Diego Torre as Odabella’s lover Foresto. Marco Vratogna performs as the Roman General, Ezio.

A co-production between Opera Australia and the Teatro Alla Scala, presented by Opera Australia

History

Premiere of this production: 17 March 1846, La Fenice in Venice

Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the 1809 play Attila, König der Hunnen (Attila, King of the Huns) by Zacharias Werner. The opera received its first performance at La Fenice in Venice on 17 March 1846.

Synopsis

Time: Mid-5th century
Place: Aquileia, the Adriatic lagoons, and near Rome

Prologue

Scene 1: The ruined city of Aquileia
Attila and his victorious horde are surprised to see a group of women spared as prisoners of war. Their leader, Odabella, asks why the Huns' women remain at home (Allor che i forti corrono / "While your warriors rush to their swords like lions"). Attila, impressed by her courage, offers a boon and she asks for her sword, with which she intends to avenge the death of her father at Attila's own hand (Da te questo or m'è concesso / "O sublime, divine justice by thee is this now granted"). The Roman envoy Ezio asks for an audience and proposes a division of the empire: Avrai tu l'universo, Resti l'Italia a me / "You may have the universe, but let Italy remain mine". Attila disdainfully calls him a traitor to his country.

Scene 2: A swamp, the future site of Venice
A boat bearing Foresto and other survivors arrives; he thinks of the captive Odabella (Ella in poter del barbaro / "She is in the barbarian's power!") but then rouses himself and the others to begin building a new city (Cara patria già madre e reina / "Dear homeland, at once mother and queen of powerful, generous sons").

Act 1

Scene 1: A wood near Attila's camp
Odabella laments her father and Foresto (Oh! Nel fuggente nuvolo / "O father, is your image not imprinted on the fleeting clouds?...") believing the latter to be dead. When he appears, she is put on the defensive, denying any infidelity and reminding him of the biblical Judith. The couple is reunited: Oh, t'inebria nell'amplesso / "O vast joy without measure")

Scene 2: Attila's tent
Attila awakes and tells Uldino of a dream in which an old man stopped him at the gates of Rome and warned him to turn back (Mentre gonfiarsi l'anima parea / "As my soul seemed to swell"). In the daylight, his courage returns and he orders a march (Oltre quel limite, t'attendo, o spettro / "Beyond that boundary I await you, O ghost!"). However, when a procession of maidens clad in white approaches, singing Veni Creator Spiritus, he recognizes the Roman bishop Leo as the old man of his dream and collapses in terror.

Act 2

Scene 1: Ezio's camp
Ezio has been recalled after a peace has been concluded. He contrasts Rome's past glory with the current child emperor Valentine (Dagl'immortali vertici / "From the splendid immortal peaks of former glory"). Recognizing the incognito Foresto among the bearers of an invitation to a banquet with Attila, he agrees to join forces (E' gettata la mia sorte, son pronto ad ogni guerra / "My lot is cast, I am prepared for any warfare" ).

Scene 2: Attila's banquet
Foresto's plot to have Uldino poison Attila is foiled by Odabella, jealous of her own revenge. A grateful (and unsuspecting) Attila declares she shall be his wife, and places the unmasked Foresto in her custody.

Act 3

The forest
Uldino informs Foresto about the plans for the wedding of Odabella and Attila; Foresto laments Odabella's apparent betrayal (Che non avrebbe il misero / "What would that wretched man not have offered for Odabella"). Ezio arrives with a plan to ambush the Huns; when Odabella comes Foresto accuses her of treachery, but she pleads for his trust. Attila finds the three together and realizes he has been betrayed. As Roman soldiers approach, Odabella stabs him with the sword he had given her. The three conspirators cry that the people have been avenged.

Venue Info

Sydney Opera House - Sydney
Bennelong Point, Sydney NSW 2000

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre at Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the 20th century's most famous and distinctive buildings. Sydney Opera House is the largest and most famous opera house in Australia with an extensive repertoire.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The Government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point on Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the building comprises multiple performance venues which together host well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people. Performances are presented by numerous performing artists, including three resident companies: Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site annually, and approximately 350,000 visitors take a guided tour of the building each year. The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government.

On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, having been listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate since 1980, the National Trust of Australia register since 1983, the City of Sydney Heritage Inventory since 2000, the New South Wales State Heritage Register since 2003, and the Australian National Heritage List since 2005.