Pinchgut Opera: Bajazet
Pinchgut Opera presents Antonio Vivaldi’s passionate and powerful Bajazet, performed for the first time in the southern hemisphere and the latest Baroque masterpiece to be rediscovered by the chamber opera ensemble.
Bajazet is a rarely performed operatic gem that premiered in Verona in 1735. The performance features an array of brilliant arias designed to showcase the virtuosic talents of the Baroque artists.
Replete with themes of betrayal, love and lust, Bajazet tells a tale full of romantic entanglement and love triangles. Tamerlano, Emperor of the Tartars, has conquered Bajazet, Emperor of the Turks, but desires the hand of Bajazet’s daughter Asteria. Meanwhile Tamerlano has already promised to marry Irene, princess of Trebisond. To solve his problem, Tamerlano hands Irene off to Andronico, his Greek ally. However, Andronico is also in love with Asteria.
Directed by Thomas de Mallet Burgess, Bajazet features an exceptional cast including Hadleigh Adams in the title role (Castor & Pollux), alongside American counter-tenor Christopher Lowrey (Faramondo). The performance will also see a number of exceptional period instrument players from Australia and around the world in the Orchestra of the Antipodes, led by Matthew Greco and conducted by Erin Helyard.
The performers: Conductor: Erin Helyard/ Director: Thomas de Mallet Burgess
Cast: Hadleigh Adams, Christopher Lowrey, Helen Sherman, Emily Edmonds, Russell Harcourt, Sara Macliver.
Designer: Alicia Clement; Lighting Designer: Matthew Marshall; Orchestra Leader: Matthew Greco.
Tickets: $30-$135
Read our interview with Hadleigh Adams and Jeffrey Thomson when they sang the title roles in Pinchgut Opera’s production of Castor and Pollux.
