Bajazet: Pinchgut Opera concocts a striking Vivaldi pasticcio

By Paul Selar, 07 July 2015

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“a luscious reading of the music, adding rump and exposing sinew”

Reviewed at City Recital Hall, Sydney on 4 July 2015

Vivaldi, Bajazet (Il Tamerlano), RV 703

Pinchgut Opera

Erin Helyard, Conductor

Thomas de Mallet Burgess, Director

Alicia Clements, Set Designer

Sara Macliver, Idaspe

Emily Edmonds, Asteria

Helen Sherman, Irene

Christopher Lowrey, Tamerlano

Hadleigh Adams, Bajazet

Russell Harcourt, Andronicus

Orchestra of the Antipodes

Netia Jones directs Pinchgut Opera in a well-oiled Fairy Queen

Jeremy Eccles, 7th June

A rare 17th-century English Baroque spectacular, designed to delight the Restoration crowd, is given a contemporary twist in Sydney.

****1

Julius Caesar – or some of it – from Pinchgut Opera

Sandra Bowdler, 21st November

Handel's Giulio Cesare is heavily abridged in Sydney, but generally well-performed musically, albeit with a rather awkward staging by Neil Armfield.

***11

Faithful to Handel: Pinchgut Opera performs Theodora

Jeremy Eccles, 8th February

Pinchgut Opera presents magnificent music and a timeless ethical debate on faith versus sectarian difference.

****1

A streamlined, dramatic Rinaldo from Pinchgut

Sandra Bowdler, 30th November

Although abbreviated, Pinchgut Opera's production of Handel's Rinaldo makes a powerful dramatic impact and exemplifies high musical values, with excellent orchestral playing and consistently fine singing.

****1

Baroque opera resurrected at Pinchgut: Legrenzi's Giustino

Jeremy Eccles, 25th May

Unseen since the 18th Century apart from one night in Germany, Legrenzi's Giustino deserves to re-enter the repertoire after its revival by Pinchgut Opera's Erin Helyard.

*****

Sublime performance of Buxtehude by Pinchgut Opera

Sandra Bowdler, 4th April

A wonderful night of late 17th-century music by the somewhat obscure German composer Dietrich Buxtehude is brought to radiant life by Erin Helyard and the Pinchgut Opera company.

*****

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Paul Selar

Also known as 'OperaChaser', Paul's passion for attending opera in performance spans 30 years. With a background in architecture and an unstoppable need to travel, Paul's foray into the world of reviewing started as Opera Australia's inaugural Critic-in-Training. He currently blogs at operachaser.blogspot.com.au.