Without André Grétry (1741-1813) there wouldn’t be opera as we know it. The first French composer to successfully marry French and Italian styles in the Classical period, Grétry’s melodic and dramatic gifts coupled with a strong desire to push opera to its limits ensured his lasting fame. First performed at Versailles in 1778 before Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, L’Amant Jaloux, ou Les Fausses Apparences (The Jealous Lover, or False Appearances) was an immediate success. The setting is Cadiz, Spain. The rich Don Lopez (baritone David Greco) forbids his widowed daughter Léonore (soprano Celeste Lazarenko) to marry again. But she is in love with the eponymous jealous lover, Don Alonze (tenor Ed Lyon), who has a sister Isabelle (soprano Alexandra Oomens), who is Léonore’s friend and the beloved of French officer Florival (tenor Andrew Goodwin). Without giving too much away, much mayhem ensues before the happy ending. Erin Helyard directs cast and orchestra – both of which are uniformly excellent – from the keyboard with great attention to detail yet with a sure grasp of forward momentum. We also get snippets of English dialogue which must have made live performances from which this recording was made an… Continue reading Get…

Always inventive, Rameau’s love of pushing the limits of convention won him both ardent admirers and die-hard detractors.

The October 2016 awards see a few of the companies who lost their four-year funding making some headway. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

The Australian mezzo is finishing off her year with Pinchgut Opera’s latest show and SwanSongs Perth. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Inspired musical values and post-Trump passions let down by awkward staging.

In his first year as sole Artistic Director, Erin Helyard offers Rameau and Monteverdi with an Aussie premiere for good measure. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★★☆ Star turns (and zombies) help Haydn’s musical sorceress cast her spell. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Based on the premise that far more operas were written before 1750 than since, Pinchgut has been unearthing a rich stash of rediscovered treasures for Sydney audiences since 2002. Starting off with one production a year, the company under its Artistic Director Antony Walker has moved to two short seasons at the intimate City Recital Hall. For its 2014 offerings Pinchgut moved to the decade before the French Revolution to stage two contrasting works, Salieri’s comedy The Chimney Sweep and Gluck’s Euripidean saga of parricide, matricide and near-fratricide, Iphigénie en Tauride, which marked the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth. You can now share the performance of the latter, containing some of Gluck’s finest music, with this live two-disc set. Premiered in Paris in 1789 Iphigénie was an instant hit and this disc shows why – the vocal and orchestral writing are both wonderful. The mystery is why it has taken so long for it to re-emerge from relative obscurity. Gluck pitches the listener straight into the dramatic action. Dispensing with an overture we hear the timpani signalling an approaching storm at sea off Scythia where Iphigénie, exiled after the goddess Diana saved her from being sacrificed by her father…

★★★★★ A testament to the vivacity of Australian music culture. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

How a Parisian composer’s experimental efforts resulted in a stylistic movement much closer to home. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Pasticcio it may be but Vivaldi's Bajazet is more than the sum of its parts.

Clive Paget and Pinchgut Opera’s Erin Helyard consider who was the real winner. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in