Pinchgut Opera
Encyclopedia
Pinchgut Opera is a chamber opera
company in Sydney, Australia, presenting opera
from the 17th and 18th centuries performed on period instruments. Founded in 2002, the company's goal is to present operas not widely known and worthy of a wider audience. Pinchgut stages one opera each year in Sydney's City Recital Hall
, a venue chosen with the aim of a more intimate and involving audience experience.
The company utilises the professional chamber choir
Cantillation as its chorus
and has engaged both the Sirius Ensemble and the Orchestra of the Antipodes . Pinchgut draws most of its singers, players, directors and designers from Australia
, aiming in particular to develop and foster local talent. Pinchgut's joint artistic directors are Erin Helyard and Antony Walker. Walker has conducted most Pinchgut productions, although in 2007 the company's production of Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans
was directed from the harpsichord
by Attilio Cremonesi, and the company's co-artistic director Erin Helyard will conduct the 2009 production of Francesco Cavalli
's L'Ormindo
. All productions are recorded by ABC Classics
and are released on CD.
Pinchgut Opera draws its unusual name from Fort Denison, a former penal site
in the Sydney Harbour which was nicknamed "Pinchgut" by its inmates
. According to its website, the company chose the name "as we wanted something recognizably Sydney, easy to remember and as a reminder of our tight budgets and humble beginnings."
by G.F.Handel
(1743)
2003:The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell
(1692)
2004: L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
(1607)
2005: Dardanus
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
(1739) - Australian première
2006: Idomeneo
by W.A. Mozart (1781)
2007: Juditha triumphans
by Antonio Vivaldi
(1716)
This was a staged production of Vivaldi's oratorio
Juditha triumphans
(RV644). It was directed by Mark Gaal and designed by Hamish Peters. Mezzo soprano Sally-Anne Russell sang the title role, alongside Sara Macliver
(Abra), David Walker (Holofernes), Fiona Campbell (Vagaus) and Renae Martin (Ozias). The Orchestra of the Antipodes was conducted from the harpsichord by Attilio Cremonesi; Cantillation was the chorus.
2008: David et Jonathas
by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
(1688)
Soloists included Swedish tenor Anders Dahlin, soprano Sara Macliver
, basses Dean Robinson, Richard Anderson and David Parkin, baritone Simon Lobelson and tenor Paul McMahon. Antony Walker conducted the Orchestra of the Antipodes (playing authentic instruments of the period) with Cantillation as the chorus. This was a fully staged and costumed production directed by American director Chas Rader-Shieber and designed by Australian designers Brad Clark and Alex Sommer. Performances took place in early December at City Recital Hall Angel Place.
2009: L'Ormindo
by Francesco Cavalli
(1644)
The cast included American countertenor David Walker, who appeared as Holofernes in the company's 2007 Juditha triumphans. In the title role was Australian mezzo soprano Fiona Campbell as Erisbe, while Opera Australia
Principal Artists Taryn Fiebig
and Kanen Breen, both made their Pinchgut débuts, as Sicle and Erice respectively. Erin Helyard conducted, and the director was Talya Masel. L'Ormindo opened at Sydney's City Recital Hall on December 2, 2009.
2010: L'anima del filosofo
by Joseph Haydn
(1791)
2011: Griselda
by Antonio Vivaldi
(1735)
Chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
company in Sydney, Australia, presenting opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
from the 17th and 18th centuries performed on period instruments. Founded in 2002, the company's goal is to present operas not widely known and worthy of a wider audience. Pinchgut stages one opera each year in Sydney's City Recital Hall
City Recital Hall
City Recital Hall, or City Recital Hall Angel Place, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is a purpose-built concert venue with the capacity for 1,238 guests seated over three tiers of sloped seating...
, a venue chosen with the aim of a more intimate and involving audience experience.
The company utilises the professional chamber choir
Chamber choir
A chamber choir or group of chamber singers is the choral equivalent of a chamber ensemble, using voices instead of instruments. This prestigious choir will usually consist of 20-40 elite and dedicated singers. Several chamber choir formats exist, ranging from barbershop groups to exclusively...
Cantillation as its chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and has engaged both the Sirius Ensemble and the Orchestra of the Antipodes . Pinchgut draws most of its singers, players, directors and designers from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, aiming in particular to develop and foster local talent. Pinchgut's joint artistic directors are Erin Helyard and Antony Walker. Walker has conducted most Pinchgut productions, although in 2007 the company's production of Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans
Juditha triumphans
Juditha triumphans devicta Holofernis barbarie translated as Judith triumphant over the barbarians of Holofernes, Vivaldi catalogue number RV 644, is an oratorio by Antonio Vivaldi, the only survivor of the four that he is known to have composed...
was directed from the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
by Attilio Cremonesi, and the company's co-artistic director Erin Helyard will conduct the 2009 production of Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron Federico Cavalli, a Venetian nobleman.-Life:Cavalli was born at Crema, Lombardy...
's L'Ormindo
Ormindo
Ormindo is an opera in three acts and a Prologue by Francesco Cavalli to an original Italian libretto by Giovanni Faustini. The manuscript score and libretto, which describes the work as a favola dramatica musicale, are held at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice...
. All productions are recorded by ABC Classics
ABC Classics
ABC Classics is the classical music record label within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is internationally recognised as Australia's premier classical music label, with a catalogue of more than 500 titles...
and are released on CD.
Pinchgut Opera draws its unusual name from Fort Denison, a former penal site
Convicts in Australia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. One of the primary reasons for the British settlement of Australia was the establishment of a penal colony to alleviate pressure on their...
in the Sydney Harbour which was nicknamed "Pinchgut" by its inmates
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. According to its website, the company chose the name "as we wanted something recognizably Sydney, easy to remember and as a reminder of our tight budgets and humble beginnings."
Past productions
2002: SemeleSemele (oratorio)
Semele is a 1743 opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It is based on the classical myth of Semele, mother of Dionysus.-Background:...
by G.F.Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
(1743)
2003:The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
(1692)
2004: L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Monteverdi
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
(1607)
2005: Dardanus
Dardanus (opera)
Dardanus is an opera in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The French libretto was by Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère.-Performance history:It was first performed at the Académie de musique in Paris on November 19, 1739...
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
(1739) - Australian première
2006: Idomeneo
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
by W.A. Mozart (1781)
2007: Juditha triumphans
Juditha triumphans
Juditha triumphans devicta Holofernis barbarie translated as Judith triumphant over the barbarians of Holofernes, Vivaldi catalogue number RV 644, is an oratorio by Antonio Vivaldi, the only survivor of the four that he is known to have composed...
by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
(1716)
This was a staged production of Vivaldi's oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
Juditha triumphans
Juditha triumphans
Juditha triumphans devicta Holofernis barbarie translated as Judith triumphant over the barbarians of Holofernes, Vivaldi catalogue number RV 644, is an oratorio by Antonio Vivaldi, the only survivor of the four that he is known to have composed...
(RV644). It was directed by Mark Gaal and designed by Hamish Peters. Mezzo soprano Sally-Anne Russell sang the title role, alongside Sara Macliver
Sara Macliver
Sara Macliver is an Australian soprano singer, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia.Sara is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, appearing in operas, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings...
(Abra), David Walker (Holofernes), Fiona Campbell (Vagaus) and Renae Martin (Ozias). The Orchestra of the Antipodes was conducted from the harpsichord by Attilio Cremonesi; Cantillation was the chorus.
2008: David et Jonathas
David et Jonathas
David et Jonathas , H. 490, is an opera in five acts and a prologue by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, Paris, on 28 February 1688. The libretto, by Father François Bretonneau S.J., is based on the Old Testament story of the...
by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
(1688)
Soloists included Swedish tenor Anders Dahlin, soprano Sara Macliver
Sara Macliver
Sara Macliver is an Australian soprano singer, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia.Sara is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, appearing in operas, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings...
, basses Dean Robinson, Richard Anderson and David Parkin, baritone Simon Lobelson and tenor Paul McMahon. Antony Walker conducted the Orchestra of the Antipodes (playing authentic instruments of the period) with Cantillation as the chorus. This was a fully staged and costumed production directed by American director Chas Rader-Shieber and designed by Australian designers Brad Clark and Alex Sommer. Performances took place in early December at City Recital Hall Angel Place.
2009: L'Ormindo
Ormindo
Ormindo is an opera in three acts and a Prologue by Francesco Cavalli to an original Italian libretto by Giovanni Faustini. The manuscript score and libretto, which describes the work as a favola dramatica musicale, are held at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice...
by Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli was an Italian composer of the early Baroque period. His real name was Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, but he is better known by that of Cavalli, the name of his patron Federico Cavalli, a Venetian nobleman.-Life:Cavalli was born at Crema, Lombardy...
(1644)
The cast included American countertenor David Walker, who appeared as Holofernes in the company's 2007 Juditha triumphans. In the title role was Australian mezzo soprano Fiona Campbell as Erisbe, while Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
Principal Artists Taryn Fiebig
Taryn Fiebig
Taryn Fiebig is an Australian opera and musical theatre soprano and cellist.Taryn Fiebig initially graduated as a cellist from the University of Western Australia, before commencing vocal training, occasionally marrying the two on stage, with her cello accompanying her own singing.She joined Opera...
and Kanen Breen, both made their Pinchgut débuts, as Sicle and Erice respectively. Erin Helyard conducted, and the director was Talya Masel. L'Ormindo opened at Sydney's City Recital Hall on December 2, 2009.
2010: L'anima del filosofo
L'anima del filosofo
L'anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice , Hob. 28/13, is an opera in Italian in four acts by Joseph Haydn, the last he ever wrote. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based on the myth of Orpheus and Euridice as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses...
by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
(1791)
2011: Griselda
Griselda
Griselda is a feminine given name used in the English, Italian, Spanish, and Germanic languages. According to the 1990 United States Census, the name was 1066th in popularity among females in the United States....
by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
(1735)
External links
- Pinchgut Opera - official website
- Pinchgut Opera blog
- Cantillation
- Orchestra of the Antipodes - bio at bach-cantatas.com
- Antony Walker - official website