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Diary of One Who Disappeared

Performer

classical themes of desire and revenge under strobing lights.

Black and white silhouette of a V-shaped graphic with irregular edges.

A Sydney Chamber Opera production commissioned by Sydney Opera House

TROUBLING AND SENSUAL, IT HAS NEVER BEEN STAGED IN AUSTRALIA - UNTIL NOW.

Jessica O’Donoghue as Zefka & Chorus

Written in the aftermath of World War I, Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s Diary of One Who Disappeared is a lacerating song cycle of delusion and illicit desire centred on a man who would abandon everything for forbidden love.

A man meets a woman by chance. They share a fleeting moment of connection. A brief fleeting moment. She then leaves and goes on with her life. He does not... 

A Sydney Chamber Opera production commissioned by Sydney Opera House, enabled by Prof Ross Steele AM. 


SCORE: Leoš Janáček

PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Wall

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  • Sydney Morning Herald logo black

    “...a tour de force of dramatic range held together with brilliant vocal precision and control.”

    - Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald

  • Text that reads 'NIGHT WRITES' in bold, capital letters.

    “Zefka (Jessica O’Donoghue) returns to the stage and asserts her autonomy as more than the boy’s manic pixie dream girl.”

    - Night Writes


Diary of One Who Disappeared (Premiere)

A man in a black tuxedo holding a bouquet of red roses on a colorful confetti-covered floor, looking up with a dramatic expression.
Jessica O'Donoghue with curly hair sitting on a floor covered in colorful confetti, holding a handful of confetti, while two other people stand behind her in a dark setting with scattered confetti.
Two men in formal suits lie on a colorful confetti-covered floor, one on his side and one propped on his elbow, with multicolored confetti raining down around them in a dark setting.