Performer: Chas Rader-Shieber

In Barbiere, the humor is constantly in the music So this staging was best when the director didn't impose anything but followed and respected the text and especially the music.

Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria is given the Pinchgut treatment, with an abstract staging complementing historically informed music-making under Erin Helyard.

Perhaps Pinchgut Opera's finest production to date, a brave presentation of a classic Baroque opera, little heard in Australia apart from Handel, benefits from the star presence of Vivca Genaux in splendid form.

Another ancient hit revived and delivered with panache by Sydney-based Pinchgut Opera: Gretry's L'Amant jaloux (1778) proved it still could raise laughs, aided by a superb cast. 

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale about a great conservatory production of Ariadne auf Naxos, with wonderful singing and visual delights aplenty.

Giasone was the most performed opera of the 17th century, but this was no dry, reverent exhumation. This was something much better from Pinchgut Opera: a joyous, animated resurrection.