PINCHGUT OPERA PRESENTS
BY MONTEVERDI “A pillar of Baroque sacred repertoire.” Gramophone UK Cantillation chorus | Orchestra of the Antipodes Erin Helyard conductor and keyboards CITY RECITAL HALL | 20 – 21 MARCH, 2021 MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE | THU 25 MARCH, 2021
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
PINCHGUT OPERA PRESENTS
BY CAVALLI “In its flowing eloquence and laments of exquisite beauty, this is a masterwork of the Italian Baroque.” – Mitchell Butel, Director Conducted by Erin Helyard | Directed by Mitchell Butel CITY RECITAL HALL, SYDNEY | THU 20 MAY 7PM | SAT 22 MAY 2PM SUN 23 MAY 5PM | TUE 25 MAY 7PM | WED 26 MAY 7PM TICKETS FROM $55, ON SALE NOW | BOOKINGS: PINCHGUTOPERA.COM.AU | 02 9318 8300
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI Vespro della Beata Vergine for chorus & instruments, SV 206 (1610)
Chloe Lankshear, Anna Sandström – sopranos Anna Fraser, Max Riebl – altos Louis Hurley, Richard Butler – tenors David Greco, Andrew O’Connor – basses Orchestra of the Antipodes Erin Helyard – chamber organ and conductor City Recital Hall – 2pm Saturday 20 March and 5pm Sunday 21 March Melbourne Recital Centre – 7pm Thursday 25 March Sung in Latin, with English surtitles This concert is being performed without an interval and lasts approximately 85 minutes. These concerts are being recorded and filmed in Sydney for delayed broadcast by ABC Classic, and for later digital release on Pinchgut at Home. Any microphones you may see are for recording only.
1
Vespro della Beata Vergine Claudio Monteverdi, 1567-1643 I. Deus in adiutorium meum
Psalm 69 (70):2
II. Dixit Dominus
Psalm 109 (110)
III. Nigra sum
Song of Songs 1:5; 1:4; 2:10-12
IV. Laudate pueri
Psalm 112 (113)
V. Pulchra es
Song of Songs 6:4-5
VI. Lætatus sum
Psalm 121 (122)
VII. Duo seraphim
Isaiah 6:3 & 1 John 5:7
VIII. Nisi Dominus
Psalm 126 (127)
IX. Audi cœlum X. Lauda, Ierusalem
Psalm 146 (147):12-20
XI. Sonata sopra Santa Maria XII. Hymn: Ave maris stella XIII. Magnificat Magnificat Et exultavit Quia respexit Quia fecit mihi magna Et misericordia Fecit potentiam Deposuit Esurientes Suscepit Israel Sicut locutus est Gloria Patri Sicut erat in principio
2
Luke 1:46-55
WELCOME TO PINCHGUT’S FIRST CONCERT FOR 2021 2020 was a year of interruption, uncertainty, and unfathomable challenges. But throughout the crisis that faced all of us, and thanks to the generosity of you, our audience, as well as some extraordinary philanthropists, Pinchgut was able to produce a 60-minute opera film called A Delicate Fire. Constantine Costi, Charlotte Mungomery and I based the film on the madrigals of Barbara Strozzi, one of the most published and fêted composers of the seventeenth century, but sadly not as well known as her contemporaries. This was an enormous critical success and brought our work into the homes of many who had never experienced a Pinchgut opera live. We look forward to distributing the film this year on both international and national platforms and also to working in this medium again in the future. Pinchgut would like to thank Minister Don Harwin MLC and Create NSW for their significant support through the Arts Restart and Multi-Year funding which have supported Pinchgut Opera as we’ve navigated our way back to the stage. Pinchgut prides itself on unearthing and presenting little-known or forgotten works from the Baroque, but we buck that trend here in our performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers, because the Vespers is by no means neglected, even if it is not often performed in the manner that Monteverdi would have expected. The Vespers was first revived in the 1930s and the first recordings date from the 50s. In charting the discography of the many recordings of the Vespers over the last seventy years we are in the unique position to be able to trace remarkable developments and changes in taste, performance practice and research-led practice. This is a short time for a work to receive canonic status and is itself a testament to the power of the “work” itself. I put work in inverted commas, because the Vespers cannot really be regarded as a work in the modern sense, and indeed Monteverdi may very well have never performed or conceived it as one. It does not conform to any liturgically proper service and so it looks less like a “work” and more like a “resource book showcasing pieces in various new and older styles,” as Lindsay Kemp has put it so well, arranged against the conceptual background of the Vespers sequence. If you bought two copies of the complete part books, however, you could have put together a performance with all the instruments and voices (but only one-to-a-part), with people reading over each other’s shoulders (as you see in paintings). So, it was within the realms of possibility. I experience an unusual synergy with this piece in 2021—I am exactly the same age as Monteverdi when he wrote it over 400 years ago in 1610. At 43, Monteverdi was then mostly known as a superb madrigalist, and he was eager to escape the challenges of onerous courtly duties with the Gonzagas in Mantua. By publishing the Vespers as a kind of public advertisement of his supreme skills as a composer of sacred music, Monteverdi hoped to find a new life elsewhere. In the end, the publication undoubtedly helped Monteverdi gain the prestigious post at St Mark’s in Venice, where he would see out the end of his glorious career. 3
The title page of the 1610 Vespers publication makes it clear that the collection is in two parts: a choral mass for six a cappella voices—in the old polyphonic tradition of the prima prattica— and concertante vespers, disposed in a modern manner according to the seconda prattica, in a conversation between soloists, instruments and the modern sonorities of monody and dance. Many recordings and performances reorder and rearrange Monteverdi’s publication according to different liturgical or musical scenarios, but today we present Monteverdi’s publication in the form it took in 1610. Following our colleagues in historical performance practice, we perform the work with one voice to a part, in contrast to the many splendid massed-voiced performances and recordings that have justly made Vespers so famous. This approach, however, in no way diminishes the inherent splendour of Monteverdi’s achievements, rather it highlights the transparency of the text and overall contrapuntal clarity. Performed in this way, the modern elements of monody and dance rhythms additionally provide heightened contrast and additional buoyancy. Our mid-year production for 2021, just around the corner, is one of Cavalli’s earliest and freshest operas, written to a playful libretto by the great Busenello, who wrote Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea. This was Cavalli’s second opera, written in 1640 for the same San Cassiano theatre in Venice where he had given his debut in 1639. Called The Loves of Apollo and Dafne, this is a pastoral romp that showcases the very best musical and literary qualities of early Venetian opera at its finest. Joining sensational director Mitchell Butel in his debut with Pinchgut is a superb cast, and together with the exotic instruments of the Orchestra of the Antipodes, we look forward to welcoming you at those performances. Erin Helyard, Artistic Director
ABOUT PINCHGUT OPERA Pinchgut Opera celebrates the beauty and the breadth of emotions through music and the human voice. Led by ARIA Award-winning Artistic Director Erin Helyard, Pinchgut is a pioneer in excellent vocal and instrumental playing in historically-informed performance practice. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2021, Pinchgut presents two opera productions and two concert series each year, and is Australia’s only company dedicated to presenting masterpieces from the Baroque period. In 2019, Pinchgut was the first Australian opera company to win an International Opera Award, for the production of Hasse’s Artaserse. In 2020, Pinchgut Opera entered the world of film by releasing a 60-minute opera film titled A Delicate Fire, and has begun offering its live concerts for viewing via the digital platform, Pinchgut at Home. While other companies do the more familiar opera and early music repertoire excellently; Pinchgut performs the sublime and often neglected masterpieces from the past to help audiences of today discover something new.
4
ERIN HELYARD Erin Helyard has been acclaimed as an inspiring conductor, a virtuosic and expressive performer of the harpsichord and fortepiano, and as a lucid scholar who is passionate about promoting discourse between musicology and performance. Erin graduated in harpsichord performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with first-class honours and the University Medal. He completed his Masters in fortepiano performance and a PhD in musicology with Tom Beghin at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montreal. He was named the Westfield Concert Scholar (Cornell University) on fortepiano for 2009-2010, and from 2003 to 2012 Erin was a central member of Montreal’s award-winning Ensemble Caprice. As Artistic Director and co-founder of the celebrated Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes (Sydney) he has forged new standards of excellence in historically informed performance in Australia. The company won Best Rediscovered Opera (2019) for Hasse’s Artaserse at the International Opera Awards in London. Operas under his direction have been awarded Best Opera at the Helpmann Awards for three consecutive years (2015-2017). He has received two Helpmann Awards for Best Musical Direction: one for a fêted revival of Saul (Adelaide Festival) in 2017 and the other for Hasse’s Artaserse (Pinchgut Opera) in 2019. As a conductor Erin has distinguished himself in dynamic performances with the Adelaide, Tasmanian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and the Australian Haydn Ensemble. Erin regularly collaborates with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra and duets with Stephanie McCallum on historical pianos and with baritone David Greco. In 2020 Richard Tognetti and Erin won both the ARIA Award and the AIR (Australian Independent Record) Award for Best Classical Album, for their ABC Classic release of Mozart and Beethoven sonatas. In 2018 Erin was recognised with a Music and Opera Singers Trust Achievement Award (MAA) for his contribution to the arts in Australia. He is a part-time lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
5
ABOUT THE ARTISTS Chloe Lankshear soprano Based in Sydney, Chloe Lankshear is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has performed as a solo performer and consort artist with some of Australia’s best ensembles and companies including Pinchgut Opera, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, State Opera South Australia, and The Song Company. In 2020 Chloe featured as part of Pinchgut Opera’s short music video series and in their film A Delicate Fire. 2021 brings a busy year of exciting projects including solo engagements with Bach Akademie Australia and ABO, regular performances with St James’ King Street, and Pinchgut Opera’s production of Platée. Chloe is also a founding member of guitar trio Ensemble Assorti with classical guitarists Heathcliffe Auchinachie and Dennis Van Rooyen.
Anna Sandström soprano Anna Sandström has performed as a soloist in major venues throughout the UK and Europe. She has featured in numerous recordings, ABC and BBC broadcasts, and festivals including the Brugge Early Music Festival, Henley Festival, Poole Lighthouse Festival and Petworth Festival. Now based in Australia, Anna’s recent performance highlights include appearances with Bach Akademie Australia, The Song Company, and as featured soloist in the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s 2020 Noël! Noël! series. She also co-directs early music ensemble Camerata Antica. Anna is a passionate music educator, and is in demand as a vocal coach and choral conductor. www.camerataantica.com
6
Anna Fraser mezzo-soprano Anna Fraser has gained a reputation as a versatile soprano specialising predominantly in the interpretation of early and contemporary repertoire, performing in a myriad of traditional and exploratory programming expertly demonstrating the versatility and virtuosity of a cappella singing. Equally at home as a dramatist on the stage, Anna is also a strong exponent of music education. She performs extensively with a number of Australia’s professional ensembles including Pinchgut Opera, Cantillation, Sydney Chamber Opera, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the SSO, Ironwood, Acacia Quartet, Ensemble Offspring, Halcyon, TaikOz, Bach Akadamie Australia, Australian Haydn Ensemble and Salut! Baroque, and performed with The Song Company as a principal artist for over a decade. www.annafraser.net.au
Max Riebl countertenor Max Riebl has performed with Pinchgut Opera, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Opera, La Cetra Baroque Orchestra, The Song Company and Orchestra Victoria in venues across the world, including Vienna’s Musikverein, Theatre Basel, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Australia’s major concert halls. Max studied Baroque performance in Switzerland, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and has participated in many vocal competitions including the Herald Sun Aria (winner), the IFAC Australian Singing Competition (winner) and the London Handel Competition (finalist). He performs regularly in Australia’s major festivals and has curated and directed a number of his own shows. www.maximilianriebl.com
Louis Hurley tenor Louis Hurley is a Sydney-based tenor. He is a current Artist with Melba Opera Trust, where he has been the recipient of the Joseph Sambrook Opera Scholarship in 2020 and 2021. An alumnus of Melbourne Opera’s Richard Divall Emerging Artist Programme, Louis has recently been made an Associate Artist with the company, and is also continuing his relationship with Songmakers Australia as a 2021 Young Songmaker. Louis recently made his debut at the Adelaide Festival as Flute in Neil Armfield’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten. 7
Richard Butler tenor English tenor Richard Butler was a Choral Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge and Lay Clerk at Westminster Cathedral before performing with many ensembles such as Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae and The English Concert. Since moving to Australia in 2010, Richard has appeared as soloist for the Melbourne, West Australian, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras performing Handel and Bach. Most recently, Richard has performed in several Melbourne Digital Concert Hall streams for Bach Akademie Australia and will be appearing for them in their Easter program as well as for Sydney Philharmonia as the Evangelist in Bach’s St John Passion on Holy Saturday.
David Greco bass ARIA-nominated baritone David Greco has sung on some of the finest stages across Europe, and at the world’s most exciting opera festivals including Aix-en Provence and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. David regularly appears with ensembles such as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony. He was the first Australian appointed to a position with the Sistine Chapel Choir in the Vatican, Rome. David’s PhD in historical performance practice of nineteenth-century voice has led to the first Australian historically informed recordings and performances of Schubert’s songs cycles Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin with Erin Helyard. www.davidgreco.info
Andrew O’Connor bass As a performer and educator Perth-born Andrew O’Connor is versed in a wide variety of styles and genres. A Lay Clerk with St Mary’s Cathedral Choir, he was an Associate Artist with Pacific Opera in 2019, and the winner of the 2020 Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Competition. From 2015 to 2019 he was a core member of The Song Company and has since developed a busy freelance portfolio career, singing with virtually all of Sydney’s leading music organisations in both an ensemble context and increasingly as a solo artist. www.andrewoconnor.com.au
8
ORCHESTRA OF THE ANTIPODES Violins
Recorder
Matthew Greco
Matthew Manchester
David Christian Hopf, Quittenbach, Germany, 1760
Descant rRecorder (maple), by Christoph Hammann
Rafael Font Viera
after Praetorius
Steffen Nowak, Bristol, UK, 2012, after Nicola Amati, Cremona, Italy, 1666
Viola Karina Schmitz Francis Beaulieu, Montreal, Canada, 2011,
(Kobliczek Musikinstrumentenbau), Germany, 2009,
Sackbuts Ros Jorgensen Large bore tenor sackbut in B-flat by Rainer Egger, Basel, Switzerland, after Sebastian Hainlein, Nuremberg, Germany, 1632
after Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza, 1793
Basse de violon Anton Baba Martin Bowers, Maldon, UK, 1995, after a 17th-century Italian original
Viola da gamba
Nigel Crocker Large bore in Bb tenor sackbut by Rainer Egger, Basel, Switzerland, after Sebastian Hainlein, Nuremberg, Germany, 1632
Brett Page Bass sackbut in F by Rainer Egger, Basel, Switzerland,
Laura Vaughan
after Isaac Ehe, Nuremberg, Germany, 1612
Bass viol by Henner Harders, Mansfeld, Germany, 2007,
Theorbo
after Michel Colichon, Paris, France, 1691
Lirone Laura Vaughan
Simon Martyn-Ellis Theorbo by Jirì Čepelák, Prague, Czech Republic, 2004
Lira da gamba by Ian Watchorn, Melbourne, Australia,
Harp
2009, after Giovanni Maria da Brescia, Italy, 16th century
Hannah Lane
Violone Kirsty McCahon Chair patrons John and Irene Garran
Italian Baroque triple harp ‘Nuvolone’ by Claus Hüttel, Düren, Germany, 2014
Chamber organ
Ernest Francis Lant, Sevenoaks, Kent, UK, 1969,
Erin Helyard
after Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Italy, 17th century
Continuo organ by Henk Klop, Garderen, Netherlands,
Cornetti Matthew Manchester Cornetto (cherry) by Matthew Manchester (Christopher Monk Instruments), London, UK, 2012
John Foster
2007, courtesy of ABC Classic, Cantillation and Pinchgut Opera
Chamber organ prepared by Carey Beebe. Pitch: A440 Temperament: Quarter comma meantone
Cornetto (pear), John McCann, USA, c.1995
9
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PINCHGUT OPERA LIMITED ABN 67 095 974 191 PO Box 291 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 www.pinchgutopera.com.au
PATRONS His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) and Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley LIFE PATRON Elizabeth Nielsen ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Erin Helyard CONDUCTOR EMERITUS Antony Walker GENERAL MANAGER Cressida Griffith ARTISTIC MANAGER Alison Johnston OPERATIONS MANAGER Andrew Johnston MARKETING AND Ilona Brooks PHILANTHROPY MANAGER MARKETING AND Alexandra Peek ADMINISTRATION CO-ORDINATOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR Emma Murphy FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT Barbara Peters
BOARD
Norman Gillespie (Chair), Virginia Braden OAM, Nicola Craddock, Mark Gaal, Tony Gill, John Pitman
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Tony Gill (Chair), Norman Gillespie, Julia King, Alden Toevs, Claire Wivell Plater
FOR THIS PROGRAM LIGHTING DESIGNER LIGHTING SUPPLIERS SURTITLE OPERATOR PROJECTOR SUPPLIERS PROGRAM EDITING PROGRAM DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHERS FILM PRODUCER EPIDEMIOLOGIST
Peter Rubie Intense Lighting Jacob Lawler TDC Natalie Shea Imagecorp Lando Rossi, Albert Comper Jason Knight, Loom Creative Dr T G Henning Liljeqvist
THANKS TO
John Kilpatrick, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Carey Beebe and Mark Probert
CITY RECITAL HALL LIMITED
Chair, Board of Directors: Renata Kaldor AO CEO: Justin Boschetti 2 Angel Place, Sydney NSW 2000
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE
Chair, Board of Directors: Professor Andrea Hull AO CEO: Euan Murdoch 31 Sturt St, Southbank VIC 3006
10
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS Pinchgut Opera exists so that we may touch lives, and to see our audiences transcend the everyday through the power of music and the beauty of the human voice. We exist also because of the generosity of our incredible family of donors, and would like to thank everyone who has supported us through our Donor Circles, Annual Giving Campaign and special projects. JUPITER – $20,000+ Sisyphus Foundation Danny Kaye & Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation Patricia H. Reid Endowment Fund Emily and Yvonne Chang Anonymous (2) THEODORA – $10,000+ Iphy Kallilnikos Nick & Caroline Minogue Justice François Kunc and Felicity Rourke in memory of Lidia Kunc Agnes Sinclair Suzanne Kirkham Noel & Donna McIntosh & Family Anonymous (3) DIANA – $5,000+ Mrs W G Keighley Anthony Gill Annie and Anthony Whealy Gillian and David Ritchie Roslyn Maguire Alan Hyland James & Claire Kirby Family Fund Pru and Peter Davenport Anthony Strachan Jan Marie Muscio Nena Beretin and John Claudianos Jean Dalton Frank and Pat Harvey Cameron Williams Anonymous (3) ORFEO – $2,000+ Nena Beretin Nicholas Cowell Michael Ball
Helen and Phillip Meddings Stephen Booth & Zorica Rapaich Robyn and Keith Power Carey Beebe R A J Stewart Andrew and Lesley Rosenberg Pieter and Liz Oomens Emma Johnston and Mark Probert Trevor Parkin Ms Mary Jane Lawrie John Hughes Diccon and Elizabeth Loxton Frances Muecke Elizabeth Watson Anna Ralston Ailsa Hocking and Bernie Dr Ann McFarlane Ms Jocelyn Woodhouse Kevin and Deidre McCann Anne Amigo Jocelyn Goyen Catherine Playoust and Elliot Gyger Anonymous (2) MAESTRO’S CIRCLE Justice François Kunc and Felicity Rourke in memory of Lidia Kunc (Lead Patrons), Tony Gill, Anonymous (3) FARINELLI PROGRAM Emily and Yvonne Chang (Lead Patrons), Andrew Goy, Nena Beretin and John Claudianos, James and Claire Kirby Family Fund, Anonymous (3)
11
CONTINUO CLUB (BEQUESTS)
Join our Continuo Club
Gillian Appleton, Anonymous (3)
Share your lasting passion for Pinchgut Opera by making a gift in your will. Your generosity will ensure future generations will experience the pleasure and inspiration that Pinchgut has given you.
We also thank the estate of the late Timothy Brian Carey Donations from 1 January 2020 and current as at 3 March 2021 For a complete list of donors, please visit pinchgutopera.com.au/pinchgut-heroes We invite you to join us in making a donation in one of the following ways: Give to the Maestro’s Circle Support our Artistic Director, Erin Helyard fulfil his artistic vision and our commitment to excellence. Give to the Farinelli Program Support our outstanding artists, and nurture the next generation of singers and players. Become a Chair Patron of the Orchestra of the Antipodes Become a sponsor of an orchestra chair and help us provide constancy for our key players to secure our destiny as one of the world’s finest Baroque bands.
12
HOW TO DONATE: Online: pinchgutopera.com.au/donate Direct Deposit / EFT (avoids high credit card fees that Pinchgut pays on your donation): Pinchgut Opera Public Fund BSB: 012 003 Account #: 198 883 733 Please include your name as the reference and notify our Philanthropy Manager, Ilona Brooks, of your donation by email: ilona@pinchgutopera.com.au Phone: (02) 9318 8344 All donations of $2 or more are fully tax deductible.
PINCHGUT OPERA PRESENTS
BY RAMEAU A jewel of French Baroque opera, Rameau’s comic masterpiece is brought to the Australian stage for the first time, directed by Neil Armfield. Kanen Breen | Siobhan Stagg | Orchestra of the Antipodes Neil Armfield director | Erin Helyard conductor
CITY RECITAL HALL | DECEMBER, 2021 | PINCHGUTOPERA.COM.AU TICKETS FROM $55 | BOOKINGS: CITYRECITALHALL.COM | 02 8256 2222
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS
Experience renewal, rejuvenation, reflection and celebration this year, with Australia’s premier Baroque opera company.
SEPTEMBER | SYDNEY | MELBOURNE
CAVALLI | MAY | SYDNEY RAMEAU | DECEMBER | SYDNEY
TICKETS FROM $55, ON SALE NOW BOOKINGS: WWW.PINCHGUTOPERA.COM.AU | 02 9318 8300
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS