THEODORA IN CONCERT

BY HANDEL
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OPERA AUSTRALIA

8 & 9 FEB | JOAN SUTHERLAND THEATRE | SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

In a milestone collaboration with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera makes its Sydney Opera House debut for Handel’s masterpiece.

Bookings and Information available here.

How strange their ends, and yet how glorious!

The Messiah might be Handel’s most famous work, but the composer himself held Theodora in higher esteem.

Judge for yourself which oratorio deserves the title of Handel’s greatest masterpiece when Pinchgut Opera and Opera Australia join forces to present Theodora in concert.

A series of sublime arias and powerful choruses, Theodora is a heavenly musical experience. Set in ancient Rome, it follows the plight of a courageous woman and bold young soldier who risk everything in the face of a tyrannical power.

This milestone collaboration with Pinchgut Opera is the first time the acclaimed Baroque specialists have performed in the Joan Sutherland Theatre.

It’s a wonderful chance to see the Orchestra of the Antipodes in their element, performing on period instruments, with Pinchgut’s charismatic director Erin Helyard leading from the harpsichord, and Cantillation as the chorus. Pinchgut has assembled a cast of early music specialists, including countertenor Christopher Lowrey who reprises his acclaimed performance of Didymus which he first sang in Pinchgut’s fully staged production of Theodora in December 2016.

ATTILA (OPERA AUSTRALIA)

I will be joining the Opera Australia Chorus in March to perform in Verdi’s Attila. It’s been about two years since I was able to commit to a project with Opera Australia so I’m really looking to returning to the company and for the first time the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

The King of the Huns meets his match.

No one can stand before Attila and his hordes, until a warrior woman turns his head. As he opens his heart to his prisoner Odabella, the barbarian king reveals his weakness.

So the scene is set for one of the great revenge operas of the 19th century: an early Verdi in the vein of Aida.

Director Davide Livermore fuses video projections with colossal set pieces to create an awe-inspiring world for Attila.

This co-production with La Scala was a tremendous success at its Milan premiere. It’s a “blockbuster spectacle” (Financial Times), with four vivid characters, two horses and plenty of crowd scenes.

In the prelude, a mournful cello draws you down into the gravity and turmoil of war. Verdi’s score is full of darkness, rhythm and life, displaying the composer’s gift for creating emotion. Taras Berezhansky is Attila, opposite Natalie Aroyan as Odabella. Simone Piazzola performs as the Roman General, Ezio. Diego Torre debuts another Verdi tenor role as Odabella’s lover Foresto.

More details and bookings here.