Pinchgut Opera’s winter offering this year is Giustino by Legrenzi. “Who?” you may ask.
Giovanni Legrenzi was one of the most prolific and performed composers of the late 17th century Venetian Baroque period. He epitomised the style of the era and his writing was emulated by the likes of JS Bach, Vivaldi, Albinoni and Domenico Scarlatti. Even Handel adopted Legrenzi’s ideas for a chorus in his oratorio Samson.
Not to be confused with eponymous operas by Vivaldi and Handel, Legrenzi’s Giustino, the tale of the peasant boy who became Emperor Justin I and founder of the Justinian dynasty, premiered in Venice to a glowing reception in 1683 and was performed a dozen times till 1700. Changing tastes saw it relegated to the archive until a revival in Germany in 2007 – and the production we see presented here at the City Recital Hall.
Nicholas Tamagna as Giustino. Photo © Cassandra Hannagan
Nine soloist singers from Australia and abroad, experts in their craft, play 11 characters sans chorus. The distinctive, nine-strong Orchestra of the Antipodes, perform on period and replica instruments under the erudite stewardship of Erin Helyard.
Making his Pinchgut debut, Dean...
Would love to go; a Pinchgut virgin, I must wait for November to see what has rapidly become an obsessive passion, one must trust the opera gods and demons will aid my attempt by gazing favourably on our efforts to attend… driving from Adelaide and staying in Beverly Hills, negotiating a 90th birthday party and fronting up to Pinchgut for what will possibly be the operatic experience of a lifetime.