The small Civic Hall in the village of Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula is packed for this evening of Baroque opera presented to launch the 2026 Peninsula Summer Music Festival.  

Soprano Myriam Arbouz, tenor Jacob Lawrence and baritone David Greco perform excerpts from Baroque operas, accompanied on period instruments by the Festival’s 10-piece Baroque Orchestra under the creative direction of Melbourne-based Baroque harpist Hannah Lane.  

The excerpts are grouped thematically into six scenes depicting the idyllic pastoral life, nymphs, fairies, love and courtly wit of the Baroque world. They open with the overture to Stefano Landi’s 1632 opera, Il Sant’Alessio. This sparsely orchestrated work gives our 21st-century ears a chance to adjust before Arbouz makes her entry with the prologue La Musica from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607). 

Opera Gala, Peninsula Summer Music Festival 2026. Photo © Prue Bassett

In the second scene, devoted to pastoral light and play, the audience is treated to an exceptional performance of the madrigal Zefiro torna (an ode to the zephyr wind) as well as an orchestral ritornello and several more, equally satisfying excerpts from the same opera. 

The third scene gives expression to various forms of unrequited love including longing, loss and lament – Arbouz’s rendition of Monteverdi’s tender madrigal Lamento della ninfa is a highlight. 

Thankfully, love is restored in scene four with a compelling performance of the rapturous duet, Pur ti miro, pur ti godo (I gaze upon you, I desire you) from The Coronation of Poppea.

Scene five is set in France at the court of Louis XIV, showcasing courtly wit and refinement with music from two satirical operas: the overture to Le Génies, ou Les Caractéres de l’amour, by a Mademoiselle Duval (first name unknown), and three arias from Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. 

David Lawrence, Miriam Arbouz and David Greco. Photo © Prue Bassett

The final scene features music by Henry Purcell. The opening words to Sleep’s song from The Fairy Queen, Hush no more, be silent all still the hall, but the magical moment unexpectedly turns comic, even onstage, when it transpires that not everyone has heeded Sleep’s words. 

The upbeat mood continues with more life and love-affirming arias from Dido and Aeneas, Welcome to All the Pleasures and King Arthur before one final eruption of joy from The Fairy Queen.  

The Festival orchestra, led from the keyboard by Chad Kelly, accompanies the singers with extreme skill and sensitivity, and the audience clearly loves this concert. 

The Peninsula Summer Music Festival 2026 continues until 11 January.