Classic Melbourne – News and views on classical performances in Melbourne

Opera Australia: 70th Anniversary Gala

19th May, 2026

Victorian Opera – The Magic Pudding: The Opera

18th May, 2026

Musica Viva Australia: Beethoven’s Ghost

13th May, 2026

Waitress

11th May, 2026

Opera Australia: La Traviata

11th May, 2026

Springs in The City: Postcards from Ukraine and other places

9th May, 2026

Reviews

Opera Australia: 70th Anniversary Gala

by Heather Leviston 19th May, 2026

What a night! Opera Australia’s personable and articulate CEO, Alex Budd, launched Melbourne’s celebration of the company’s 70th Anniversary with a few …

by Heather Leviston 19th May, 2026

Victorian Opera – The Magic Pudding: The Opera

18th May, 2026

by Heather Leviston 18th May, 2026

Musica Viva Australia: Beethoven’s Ghost

13th May, 2026

by Sue Kaufmann 13th May, 2026

Opera Australia: La Traviata

11th May, 2026

by Heather Leviston 11th May, 2026

Springs in The City: Postcards from Ukraine and other places

9th May, 2026

by Heather Leviston 9th May, 2026

News

News: OperaChaser Critics Awards (OCCAs) 2025 Winners

by Classic Melbourne 5th February, 2026

Here is what you have all been waiting for: the Winners of the inaugural OperaChaser Critics Awards (OCCAs) for 2025. Below …

by Classic Melbourne 5th February, 2026

News: Nominations for the OperaChaser Critics Awards 2025

31st December, 2025

by Heather Leviston 31st December, 2025

News: Peninsula Summer Music Festival 2026

17th December, 2025

by Classic Melbourne 17th December, 2025

Victorian Opera: Season 2026

8th October, 2025

by Classic Melbourne 8th October, 2025

News: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Season 2026 – Celebrating 120 Years

15th August, 2025

by Heather Leviston 15th August, 2025

Recent Decents

Reviews & Editorial
Waitress

by Julie Houghton 11th May, 2026

by Julie Houghton 11th May, 2026

Read more
News
News: OperaChaser Critics Awards (OCCAs) 2025 Winners

by Classic Melbourne 5th February, 2026

by Classic Melbourne 5th February, 2026

Read more
News
News: Nominations for the OperaChaser Critics Awards 2025

by Heather Leviston 31st December, 2025

by Heather Leviston 31st December, 2025

Read more
News
News: Peninsula Summer Music Festival 2026

by Classic Melbourne 17th December, 2025

by Classic Melbourne 17th December, 2025

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Reviews & Editorial
Musica Viva Australia: Trio Isimsiz

by Sue Kaufmann 8th October, 2025

by Sue Kaufmann 8th October, 2025

Read more
News
Victorian Opera: Season 2026

by Classic Melbourne 8th October, 2025

by Classic Melbourne 8th October, 2025

Read more
News
News: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Season 2026 – Celebrating 120 Years

by Heather Leviston 15th August, 2025

by Heather Leviston 15th August, 2025

Read more
Reviews & Editorial
Les Misérables – The Arena Spectacular

by Heather Leviston 16th May, 2025

by Heather Leviston 16th May, 2025

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News
NEWS: fortyfivedownstairs Chamber Music Festival 2025

by Classic Melbourne 24th April, 2025

by Classic Melbourne 24th April, 2025

Read more
News
Albury Chamber Music Festival 2025: Superlative Times

by Classic Melbourne 19th April, 2025

by Classic Melbourne 19th April, 2025

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				2 events 1 2 events, 1 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 2026 Chamber Music Festival – The Crossing Machine performs The Juliet Letters by Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet May 1 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 2026 Chamber Music Festival – The Crossing Machine performs The Juliet Letters by Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet Melbourne string quartet The Crossing Machine (violinists Marianne Rothschild and Matthew Rigby, violist Margaret Butcher and cellist Charlotte Jacke) will be… $32 – $42, 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tempo Rubato: Slava Grigoryan & Al Slavik: ‘And so, it turns’ May 1 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tempo Rubato: Slava Grigoryan & Al Slavik: ‘And so, it turns’ Australian guitarist Slava Grigoryan and Austrian bassist Al Slavik re-unite for an Australian tour celebrating the release of their 3rd album… $50	4 events 2 4 events, 2 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Royal Melbourne Philharmonic: Handel’s “Acis & Galatea” May 2 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Royal Melbourne Philharmonic: Handel’s “Acis & Galatea” Featuring an English text by John Gay, George Frideric Handel’s “Acis & Galatea” has been variously described as a serenata, a… $30.00 – $85.00, 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm Choristry – A Tapestry of Voices May 2 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm Choristry – A Tapestry of Voices Choristry welcomes you to our first concert series of 2026! Join Choristry as we step into a rich soundscape weaving together…, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 2026 Chamber Music Festival – Triptych of Shadows: Satie, Ullmann, Kouvaras May 2 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm 2026 Chamber Music Festival – Triptych of Shadows: Satie, Ullmann, Kouvaras Meditations on love, death, memory, and what remains Erik Satie’s luminous Socrate, performed by soprano Lily Flynn and pianist Coady Green, offers… $38 – $48, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven, Mozart & more! May 2 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven, Mozart & more! Are you ready for a whirlwind voyage through the history of Western music? Maybe you’ve never heard an orchestra, and you’re… $20 – $127	4 events 3 4 events, 3 2:30 pm - 6:00 pm The Rake Punished or Don Giovanni May 3 @ 2:30 pm - 6:00 pm The Rake Punished or Don Giovanni Melbourne Opera is staging a timely production of Don Giovanni (The Rake Punished) from 26 April - 3 May at the Athenaeum Theatre. This staging…, 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm Melbourne Opera: Don Giovanni May 3 @ 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm Melbourne Opera: Don Giovanni Don Giovanni is hailed as one of Mozart’s greatest and most demanding operas. Melbourne Opera has assembled a world class cast… $49 – $119, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Through Forest and Flame: Lieder and Love May 3 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Through Forest and Flame: Lieder and Love Experience a nineteenth-century world of musical fantasy in the historic ambience of the German Lutheran Church. In this first recital of…, 7:00 pm - 9:15 pm The Spooky Men’s Chorale – 25 Years of Pointless Grandeur May 3 @ 7:00 pm - 9:15 pm The Spooky Men’s Chorale – 25 Years of Pointless Grandeur ‘Stand back and admire the beautifully sung anarchy.’ – Daily Telegraph The Spooky Men’s Chorale is a magnificent, many-headed beast that has… $60 – $75
2 events 4 2 events, 4 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Melbourne Recital Centre & the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Mostly Mozart – Mozart & the Bach sons May 4 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Melbourne Recital Centre & the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Mostly Mozart – Mozart & the Bach sons When the Bachs met Mozart. In this Monday morning performance, take a deep dive into the Bach family tree and the… $49 – $59, 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm Melbourne Recital Centre: Leonkoro Quartet May 4 @ 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm Melbourne Recital Centre: Leonkoro Quartet Lion-hearted chamber revelation. Berlin's Leonkoro Quartet arrives with the fearless intensity their Esperanto name promises – 'lion-heart' – and a reputation… $49 – $139	1 event 5 1 event, 5 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm Royal Melbourne Philharmonic: Handel’s “Acis & Galatea” May 5 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm Royal Melbourne Philharmonic: Handel’s “Acis & Galatea” Featuring an English text by John Gay, George Frideric Handel’s “Acis & Galatea” has been variously described as a serenata, a… $30.00 – $85.00	1 event 6 1 event, 6 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Stewart Kelly Pianist and Music by the Springs Festival Springs in the City – Postcards from Ukraine May 6 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Stewart Kelly Pianist and Music by the Springs Festival Springs in the City – Postcards from Ukraine Music by the Springs presents Postcards from Ukraine Album Launch. A concert of virtuosic folk music from across the world, much… $30 – $79	2 events 7 2 events, 7 7:30 pm - 9:10 pm Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Overgrown Paths May 7 @ 7:30 pm - 9:10 pm Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Overgrown Paths MCO + Sophie Rowell. MCO Artistic Director and violinist Sophie Rowell leads a luminous fusion of music and poetry that culminates… $30 – $150, 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening of Opera: Verdi, Puccini, Rossini & more With Melbourne Youth Orchestra and Melba Opera Trust May 7 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening of Opera: Verdi, Puccini, Rossini & more With Melbourne Youth Orchestra and Melba Opera Trust Experience the next generation of orchestral musicians. Musicians from the Melbourne Youth Orchestra join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and soloists from… $35	1 event 8 1 event, 8 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 8 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata “What should I do? Plunge into the vortex of pleasure and drown there?” – Violetta Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the… $40 – $295	2 events 9 2 events, 9 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Crowns and Coloratura: A Night in the Operatic Stratosphere May 9 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Crowns and Coloratura: A Night in the Operatic Stratosphere Join soprano Uma Dobia for a dazzling night of arias inspired by the QUEENS of opera. Uma is a versatile and… $60, 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 9 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata “What should I do? Plunge into the vortex of pleasure and drown there?” – Violetta Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the… $40 – $295	1 event 10 1 event, 10 2:30 pm - 4:10 pm Melbourne Chamber: Orchestra Overgrown Paths May 10 @ 2:30 pm - 4:10 pm Melbourne Chamber: Orchestra Overgrown Paths MCO + Sophie Rowell. MCO Artistic Director and violinist Sophie Rowell leads a luminous fusion of music and poetry that culminates… $30 – $150
0 events 11 0 events, 11	2 events 12 2 events, 12 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Musica Viva Australia: Beethoven’s Ghost May 12 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Musica Viva Australia: Beethoven’s Ghost Serendipitous meeting of musical hearts and minds. Australian pianist and storyteller Aura Go has worked with Finnish/Australian-based cellist Timo-Veikko (Tipi) Valve… $20 – $163, 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 12 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata “What should I do? Plunge into the vortex of pleasure and drown there?” – Violetta Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the… $40 – $295	1 event 13 1 event, 13 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 13 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata “What should I do? Plunge into the vortex of pleasure and drown there?” – Violetta Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the… $40 – $295	2 events 14 2 events, 14 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 14 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata “What should I do? Plunge into the vortex of pleasure and drown there?” – Violetta Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the… $40 – $295, 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tempo Rubato: Jacob Lawrence & Ensemble 642 – Between Earth and Sky May 14 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tempo Rubato: Jacob Lawrence & Ensemble 642 – Between Earth and Sky Jacob Lawrence, tenor Ensemble 642: Hannah Lane, Italian Baroque triple harp & Nicholas Pollock, theorbo Between Earth and Sky: the shared… $25 – $40	4 events 15 4 events, 15 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm CzechMate – Meeting at the Crossroads May 15 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm CzechMate – Meeting at the Crossroads Baroque without borders. Before the likes of Vivaldi and Bach set the benchmark, baroque music was wild, temperamental, and emotionally charged.… $45 – $55, 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 15 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the toast of Paris, desired by many. When she meets the ardent Alfredo, her life changes… $40 – $295, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Melbourne Conservatorium of Music: Brahms Symphony No.4 May 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Melbourne Conservatorium of Music: Brahms Symphony No.4 Join the The University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Brahms Symphony No.4. The University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s second concert of 2026… Free, 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tempo Rubato: Po Goh and Reuben Johnson May 15 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm Tempo Rubato: Po Goh and Reuben Johnson Po Goh & Reuben Johnson, piano duo Two guys play works that weren't meant to be played on piano, on piano.… $10 – $22	5 events 16 5 events, 16 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Victorian Opera – The Magic Pudding: The Opera May 16 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Victorian Opera – The Magic Pudding: The Opera Victorian Opera is bringing its adored adaptation of Norman Lindsay’s classic The Magic Pudding to the stage for an unmissable return season. Filled… $42, 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm The Orchestra of U3A Hawthorn: FOUR SEASONS IN A DAY May 16 @ 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm The Orchestra of U3A Hawthorn: FOUR SEASONS IN A DAY Concert 1, 2026 FOUR SEASONS IN A DAY 2.30pm 16 May 2026 St John's Anglican Church Burke Road, Camberwell Conductor: David… $10, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm Victoria Chorale “Mozart Great Mass in C Minor” Concert May 16 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm Victoria Chorale “Mozart Great Mass in C Minor” Concert Victoria Chorale Concert: Mozart’s “Great Mass in C Minor” Victoria Chorale presents the Great Mass in C Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus… $20 – $80, 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata May 16 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Opera Australia: La Traviata Violetta is a coveted courtesan, the toast of Paris, desired by many. When she meets the ardent Alfredo, her life changes… $40 – $295, 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: String Spectacular May 16 @ 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: String Spectacular Could the waltz from Serenade for Strings be the most charming piece of music ever written? Decide for yourself when you… $20 – $105	4 events 17 4 events, 17 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Tempo Rubato: MATTUTINO Antoine Flores Gracia & Yiyun Gu May 17 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Tempo Rubato: MATTUTINO Antoine Flores Gracia & Yiyun Gu This program moves between the minimalist melodies Melbourne Sonata by Barry Cockcroft, composed in 2012, and the tango, which draws on elements of… $27, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Mass of Deliverance May 17 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Mass of Deliverance The human voice is an instrument that connects us all. Hear it sing through two radiant pieces of music from England's… $20 – $105, 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Gran Partita May 17 @ 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Gran Partita Fall in love with the most lyrical family in the orchestra. The MSO woodwind players will soar through melodies from Strauss… $20 – $105, 7:00 pm - 9:20 pm Opera Australia: 70th Anniversary Gala May 17 @ 7:00 pm - 9:20 pm Opera Australia: 70th Anniversary Gala Join us for a landmark, glittering celebration of our journey — and be part of the story that continues. Seventy years… $79 – $295
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There are no events on this day.

April 28

April 28 @ 7:30 am - 9:00 pm

fortyfivedownstairs Chamber Music Festival 2026: Brahms, Liszt & Mendelssohn – Hungarian Fire and Italian Light

April 29

April 29 @ 7:30 pm - 11:00 pm

The Rake Punished or Don Giovanni

April 29 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Melbourne Opera: Don Giovanni

April 30

April 30 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Sonorous XIII: Ros Bandt & Vijay Thillaimuthu

April 30 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

2026 Chamber Music Festival – Meta Cohen and Olivier Messiaen: Prophecy and Eternity

May 1

May 1 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

2026 Chamber Music Festival – The Crossing Machine performs The Juliet Letters by Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet

May 1 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Tempo Rubato: Slava Grigoryan & Al Slavik: ‘And so, it turns’

May 2

May 2 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Royal Melbourne Philharmonic: Handel’s “Acis & Galatea”

May 2 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Choristry – A Tapestry of Voices

May 2 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

2026 Chamber Music Festival – Triptych of Shadows: Satie, Ullmann, Kouvaras

May 2 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven, Mozart & more!

May 3

May 3 @ 2:30 pm - 6:00 pm

The Rake Punished or Don Giovanni

May 3 @ 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Melbourne Opera: Don Giovanni

May 3 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Through Forest and Flame: Lieder and Love

May 3 @ 7:00 pm - 9:15 pm

The Spooky Men’s Chorale – 25 Years of Pointless Grandeur

May 4

May 4 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Melbourne Recital Centre & the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Mostly Mozart – Mozart & the Bach sons

May 4 @ 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm

Melbourne Recital Centre: Leonkoro Quartet

May 5

May 5 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Royal Melbourne Philharmonic: Handel’s “Acis & Galatea”

May 6

May 6 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Stewart Kelly Pianist and Music by the Springs Festival Springs in the City – Postcards from Ukraine

May 7

May 7 @ 7:30 pm - 9:10 pm

Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Overgrown Paths

May 7 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening of Opera: Verdi, Puccini, Rossini & more With Melbourne Youth Orchestra and Melba Opera Trust

May 8

May 8 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 9

May 9 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Crowns and Coloratura: A Night in the Operatic Stratosphere

May 9 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 10

May 10 @ 2:30 pm - 4:10 pm

Melbourne Chamber: Orchestra Overgrown Paths

There are no events on this day.

May 12

May 12 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Musica Viva Australia: Beethoven’s Ghost

May 12 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 13

May 13 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 14

May 14 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 14 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Tempo Rubato: Jacob Lawrence & Ensemble 642 – Between Earth and Sky

May 15

May 15 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

CzechMate – Meeting at the Crossroads

May 15 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music: Brahms Symphony No.4

May 15 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Tempo Rubato: Po Goh and Reuben Johnson

May 16

May 16 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Victorian Opera – The Magic Pudding: The Opera

May 16 @ 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

The Orchestra of U3A Hawthorn: FOUR SEASONS IN A DAY

May 16 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Victoria Chorale “Mozart Great Mass in C Minor” Concert

May 16 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Opera Australia: La Traviata

May 16 @ 7:30 pm - 9:20 pm

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: String Spectacular

May 17

May 17 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Tempo Rubato: MATTUTINO Antoine Flores Gracia & Yiyun Gu

May 17 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Mass of Deliverance

May 17 @ 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Gran Partita

May 17 @ 7:00 pm - 9:20 pm

Opera Australia: 70th Anniversary Gala

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

There are no events on this day.

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There are no events on this day.