THE CASE OF THE VANISHING MEZZO

Fresh trouble is brewing in Surry Hills at the Pink Lubyanka – aka administrative HQ of Opera Australia and one that doesn’t look much like the original in Moscow (above) although some of the goings-on within can be kinda similar.

Most recently, sharp-eyed opera fans have noticed that Australia’s current finest mezzo, Jacqueline Dark (most recently seen and heard being brilliant in the Melbourne Ring) has mysteriously disappeared from the cast list for this year’s Parsifal. Where her name has been, on the information page of the OA website, just beneath visiting superstar Jonas Kaufman, is now the American singer Michelle DeYoung.

Also on the missing list at OA is well-respected board director Virginia Braden...it’s a nasty-smelling reminder of what happened with Simone Young all those years ago. Not that these things have any connections of course, but it’s amazing how quickly they can be forgotten or brushed beneath the Persian rug – which is clearly what the company is hoping for this time. It’s also said that Mazda, one of OA’s major sponsors, is “uneasy”. Meanwhile, watch The Daily Review and other media for further developments.

* That's a Cluedo joke by the way...