February 19th, 2025Lyster Opera bringing Mozart’s ‘Abduction from the Seraglio’ to Creswick

Lyster Opera is returning to the historic Creswick Town Hall this April in a rousing new production of Mozart's great comedy, The Abduction from the Seraglio.

Lyster Opera is returning to the historic Creswick Town Hall this April in a rousing new production of Mozart’s great comedy, The Abduction from the Seraglio.

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Featuring a vibrant cast and all new sets and costumes, this is a fast paced romp with some of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most demanding and exciting music.

Part of a wider tour of regional Victoria that also takes in towns like Charlton, Milawa, Castlemaine and Drysdale, the Saturday afternoon matinee performance at Creswick takes place April 26 from 2pm.

Lyster Opera derives its name from William Saurin Lyster (1828-1880), an Irish born entrepreneur who made it his mission to provide opera to the growing population of Australia.

Under Lyster’s auspices, Australians were given their first taste of operatic composers as diverse as Mozart, Donizetti, Auber, Meyerbeer and Wagner.

Local stars such as Marie Carandini and Fanny Simonsen brought these works to a new public.

Lyster’s extraordinary life and career were documented by Harold Love in his book The Golden Age of Australian Opera (Currency Press, 1981) and today the Melbourne suburb of Lysterfield is named in his honour.

Tickets through TryBooking online and more details available through the Lyster Opera website.

Words: Eve Lamb. Image: Supplied