Baroque Banter

Join award-winning writer and actress Kate Mulvany OAM and acclaimed director Lucy Clements as they discuss the new prologue for Pinchgut's new production of Dido and Aeneas. In the spirit of providing a backstory and context Kate has written us a new spoken-word prologue that helps us freshly understand Purcell’s original setting. Discover what it was like to create this piece.

Host Keiren Brandt-Sawdy chats with Artistic Director and Erin Helyard about Theodora. Delve deep into Handel's oratorio and gain insight our performance at the Sydney Opera House in partnership with Opera Australia.

Host Keiren Brandt-Sawdy chats with conductor Erin Helyard and director Louisa Muller about one of the most beloved works in the Baroque repertoire. Discover fresh insight into Pinchgut's first staging of a Handel opera, with Rinaldo. Get ready to be swept away by the magic and adventure when you witness this towering masterpiece of music and drama on stage at City Recital Hall this November.

In this pre-performance podcast, host Genevieve Lang sits down with Conductor Erin Helyard to chat about the upcoming September performance of Pleasures of Versailles by Charpentier. They discuss the tiny operas that were enjoyed by Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles. Step inside the courtly chambers and learn about the entertainment that was fit for a king.

Baroque Banter 11: French Imports. In this Baroque Banter Erin Helyard talks about the influence of Italian music and musicians in France in the seventeenth century. He talks about opera, dances, chaconnes, passacaglias and the multicultural mix that makes Baroque music so special. Excerpts by Erin on harpsichord.

Host Genevieve Lang is joined by Pinchgut's Artistic Director Erin Helyard and director Dean Bryant to discuss the much anticipated Australian premiere of the opera Giustino by Legrenzi. A forgotten triumph of Venetian opera, Giustino is a fast-paced, kaleidoscopic and fanciful opera packed with arias and old-fashioned wonder that will leave you stamping your feet for more. A classic rags-to-riches story of the shepherd Giustino who, through a series of adventures and magical interventions, ultimately becomes the Emperor of Rome. Treacherous journeys on the high seas, siblings embroiled in swashbuckling battles and star-crossed lovers set the scene in Legrenzi’s spectacular operatic setting. After the successes of The Loves of Apollo and Dafne by Cavalli (2021) and Orontea by Cesti (2022), Pinchgut now shines a light on the brilliant composer and grandfather of the da capo aria, Giovanni Legrenzi, who was considered the Puccini of the late 17thcentury. While Legrenzi’s operatic output was small, he was praised for “exceeding the expectations of many in cultivating charm and delight”, and Giustino is one of his great successes. With over 70 short arias, Giustino is a truly dynamic and effervescent opera, showcasing Legrenzi’s ability to spin an unending melodic thread, and convey the nuance, mood and shifts in his characters.

Pinchgut Opera’s pre-concert podcast with Genevieve Lang and Pinchgut Opera Artistic Director, Erin Helyard. Passion, divinity, transcendence: Pinchgut Opera presents its first concert of the season, Membra Jesu Nostri by Buxtehude. A cycle of seven cantatas composed by German composer Dieterich Buxtehude in 1680. The music is loving: pure, balanced and deeply expressive, demonstrating an extraordinary attention to unity of conception. Pinchgut’s presentation of this astonishing work brings together a stellar chorus of soloists, including Alexandra Oomens and Lauren Lodge- Campbell, who both return to Australia after performances throughout Europe with some of the world’s eminent Baroque ensembles, along with the sublime sounds of Andrew O’Connor, Hannah Fraser and Louis Hurley. Joining them will be a specially selected group of expert players of the Orchestra of the Antipodes, led by Erin Helyard. This is sacred, meditative music of the highest order and beauty, presented with all the intimacy, emotion and power that inspired its creation over 300 years ago.

Listen to a sneak peek of the Membra Jesu Nostri pre-concert podcast, hosted by Genevieve Lang and Erin Helyard. Passion, divinity, transcendence: Pinchgut Opera presents its first concert of the season, Membra Jesu Nostri by Buxtehude. 1 - 4 April, Sydney and Melbourne.

Pinchgut Opera presents a very special episode of Baroque Banter! Host Genevieve Lang is joined by Pinchgut's Artistic Director Erin Helyard to discuss the exciting season of Baroque and Early Music concerts and operas ahead for our treasured audiences in our 2023 Season. We hope you enjoy listening! PINCHGUT OPERA'S 2023 SEASON April | Concert Membra Jesu Nostri by Dieterich Buxtehude May | Opera Giustino by Giovanni Legrenzi September | Concert Pleasures of Versailles by Marc-Antoine Charpentier Nov - Dec | Opera Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel Discover the season on our website.

To help you prepare for your attendance at Médée, we invite you to listen to Pinchgut's pre-opera podcast. Hosted by Genevieve Lang, with guests Pinchgut Opera Artistic Director Erin Helyard, and Director Justin Way. For more than 20 years, Pinchgut Opera's end of year production has remained one of the highlights of the live performance calendar, and this year will be no exception. Charpentier’s towering masterpiece, Médée, brilliantly showcases our Australian cast, the chorus Cantillation and players of the Orchestra of the Antipodes in all their splendid glory. Charpentier’s sensual lyricism and dramatic insight take us deep inside the mind and heart of this powerful and damaged woman who refuses to be a victim – even at the cost of her own flesh and blood. Médée is high drama and emotion: French tragédie lyrique in its most classic form. The sorceress Médée is driven by desperation and the abandonment of her lover Jason to do the unthinkable, and ultimately murder her own children. Returning to Pinchgut after her star turn in The Return of Ulysses, mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby takes on the role of the tortured Médée, with the brilliant Michael Petruccelli, who was thrilling in 2019’s Farnace, as her lover Jason. Cathy-Di Zhang, Andrew Finden and Adrian Tamburini are joined by Cantillation and the inimitable Orchestra of the Antipodes to tell this passionate and unforgettable story.