Britten’s Phaedra, Gorecki, Handel and Vivaldi

Britten’s Phaedra, Gorecki, Handel and Vivaldi

Benjamin Britten’s final vocal work, the dramatic cantata Phaedra, Op.93, for mezzo-soprano and small orchestra, Handel’s cantata Lucrezia, Gorecki’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings and two trio sonatas for two violins by Handel and Vivaldi are all in the line up in a performance conducted by Sarah Penicka-Smith featuring award-winning soprano Hester Hannah and early music ensemble Thoroughbass directed by harpsichordist…

Sydney Independent Opera’s double bill – Holst and Puccini

Sydney Independent Opera’s double bill – Holst and Puccini

Sydney Independent Opera present an unusual double bill this weekend with its productions of Gustav Holst’s The Wandering Scholar  and Puccini’s The Cloak (Il Tabarro). The Wandering Scholar was Holst’s last and most successful opera (he wrote four)*. It is a work in miniature, written in one act for a small orchestra and just four singers (tenor,…