Ritz Cinemas

I have lived for art, I have lived for love... Cultivating the next generation of Opera stars

Love Opera provides an inside look at Brisbane’s world-class Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program as it prepares a production of Carmen with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Nestled inside Griffith University on Brisbane’s South Bank, the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program is the brainchild of its eponymous leader, whose singular qualities as an opera singer have taken her from The Met to Covent Garden and all across Europe. This warm-hearted documentary follows Lisa as she looks to cultivate the next generation of opera stars and deliver a top-flight production over the course of an intensive program. The students dig deep to give the performance of their lives for the famous opera Carmen, as they prepare to share the stage with international talent on opening night. The documentary includes extensive interviews with Lisa Gasteen AO, renowned Australian soprano and Director of the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program, Alondra de la Parra, who is an internationally acclaimed conductor and recently Musical Director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Simone Young, leading International conductor from Australia and Italian conductor Giovanni Reggioli, who works with the Washington National Opera, USA.