Pinchgut Opera’s Women of the Pietà celebrating the music of Antonio Vivaldi is a showcase of excellence in programming, instrumental and choral performance. However, this concert belongs to one individual, soprano Miriam Allan, who holds the audience in the palm of her hand, mesmerising with her consummate technique, exquisite tone and radiant presence.

Miriam Allan, Erin Helyard and the Orchestra of the Antipodes performing Women of the Pietà, PInchgut Opera, 2022. Photo © Cassandra Hannigan

From the harpsichord, Pinchgut’s Artistic Director Erin Helyard, directs the 11 female voices of Cantillation and the 15-strong Orchestra of the Antipodes, led by Karina Schmitz. Performing at baroque pitch, A=415, the instruments range from period originals to modern-day replicas. The program centres on works by Vivaldi written for the young female residents of the Ospedale della Pietà, in Venice, where in 1703, Vivaldi was appointed maestro di violin. The Pietà cared for homeless girls; those with promise received musical training. They must have been promising, even precocious, if they were schooled in works of this calibre. The Pietà’s services, enriched with music, attracted broad and noble patronage. Teaching these musicians and...