Cirrus@Austlit

'Two new and important Australian operas within a month: Gilgamesh (Symons/Garrick) in Sydney in late September, and now Eucalyptus (Mills/Oakes) in Melbourne in mid-October. This certainly hasn’t occurred for quite some time, if ever. Composer Jonathan Mills, mentored at Sydney University by Peter Sculthorpe, is probably best known for two acclaimed operas. The Ghost Wife – a dark, brooding work with libretto by Dorothy Porter, based on a short story by Barbara Baynton – was a critical success when it premièred at the Arts Centre Melbourne in 1999, with subsequent seasons in Adelaide, Sydney, and London. A bleak and confronting work, it revealed a young composer of promise with an impressive grasp of the form.' (Introduction)

'An operatic adaptation of Murray Bail’s novel Eucalyptus updates his fable for contemporary audiences.'

'Jonathan Mills’s wondrous score adds a sense of mystery and myth to Murray Bail’s Miles Franklin-winning novel, in this adaptation by Opera Australia and Victorian Opera'

'My first curiosities about the new opera Eucalyptus, an adaptation of Murray Bail’s multi-award-winning 1998 novel, were regarding how Ellen and the many stories told to her by her ultimately successful suitor would be portrayed.'