A woman with a secret. An inquisitive journalist. An ambitious young theatre director. Student opera singers with brilliant voices. Young singers at an opera school learn drama music movement and languages. Their passion for opera unites them. Their love affairs ambition and political views divide them. Nicholas arrives in Melbourne from swinging London in 1968. Baffled by the cultural differences he struggles to adjust. He and his aunt Harriet quarrel when she refuses to allow him to update operas and the critics scorn the productions she forces on him. The novel follows the progress of five young singers from their auditions to the start of their professional careers. The lives of the characters entwine. Love affairs begin and end. Friends and enemies are made. Arguments about Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War erupt. Convention competes with change. Harriet has a dark secret which is in danger of being made public. Past and present collide as the forces from the past wreak their destruction. Vissi d’arte is about opera a mystery ambition love betrayal success and failure.
