Jessica Pratt's Mad Scenes, learning Anindilyakwa with Shellie Morris, & remembering Sinéad O'Connor and Tony Bennett

Opera is full of mad scenes, particularly those written in the 19th century in Italy, but there's a trend - none of the men ever go mad, only the women. In fact, the preoccupation with "mad women" in opera and throughout a range of art forms during this era is telling of how 19th-century society viewed mental health and the role of women - mostly written by men. 

By exploring these operas and portrayal of women, coloratura soprano Jessica Pratt has become quite fond of characters like Amina from Bellini's La sonnambula and the perhaps more recognisable, Lucia from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, a character that Jessica has played over 100 times. She has distilled five operas from Italy's Bel Canto composers into a concert program of "Mad Scenes," that not only has challenging vocal acrobatics, but also unpacks how and why these characters go mad, which, when you hear their stories, will make a lot of sense.

Shellie Morris is a singer and songwriter working with remote communities to preserve some of the worlds oldest languages through music. Most recently, she has been working with the Groote Eylandt Language Centre to write songs in their language, Anindilyakwa. Shellie speaks about the collaborative process of writing an album of songs with the translators at the Language Centre and being able to ordering a strong coffee on the island.

And we remember two distinctive voices of of our time, Tony Bennett who has died at the age of 96, and Sinéad O'Connor, at the age of 56.