 |
| Hadleigh Adams in Pinchgut Opera's marketing |
We've always wondered why some opera companies don't use their singers in their marketing materials, particularly when they have marketable appearances. We were thrilled to see that Pinchgut Opera in Australia has Hadleigh Adams' notoriously handsome face prominently featured on their marketing materials for Vivaldi's
Bajazet.
The performances will be the Southern Hemisphere premiere of the opera. Hadleigh Adams is wrapping up
his second season as a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and
returning to Pinchgut after a successful run as Pollux in their
production of Rameau's
Castor & Pollux in 2012.
Bajazet, a rarely performed operatic tragedy, premiered in Verona in
1735 and is a pastiche of Vivaldi's own arias, as well as those by
Johann Adolph Hasse,
Geminiano Giacomelli, Nicola Porpora and Riccardo Broschi. The opera is
also known as
Il Tamerlano and the story was also successfully set to music by Handel.
 |
| Hadleigh Adams in Pinchgut Opera's Castor & Pollux |
Vivaldi wove into the opera an underlying tale of power struggles and
invasion, reflective of the ones going on at the time, when Neopolitan
operas were trouncing their local Venetian counterparts in popularity.
Music associated with Neapolitan composers is thus cleverly designated
to the invaders Tamerlano, Irene and Andronico.
Vivaldi’s
Bajazet, a rarely performed operatic tragedy, premiered in Verona in
1735. An opera of romantic entanglement and love triangles, Bajazet
tells the tale of a struggle for power between Bajazet, ruler of the
Turks, and Tamerlano, ruler of the Tartars. When Bajazet’s daughter
Asteria is threatened with marriage to the invading ruler, she conspires
to murder him. The plot thickens after Tamerlano’s former betrothed,
Irene, turns up to reveal the scheme, having taken issue with being
pushed aside onto Tamerlano’s Greek ally (Andronico) who, unfairly, is
also in love with Asteria - See more at:
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/pinchgut-opera-launches-2015-season#sthash.jSqY461i.dpuf
Vivaldi’s
Bajazet, a rarely performed operatic tragedy, premiered in Verona in
1735. An opera of romantic entanglement and love triangles, Bajazet
tells the tale of a struggle for power between Bajazet, ruler of the
Turks, and Tamerlano, ruler of the Tartars. When Bajazet’s daughter
Asteria is threatened with marriage to the invading ruler, she conspires
to murder him. The plot thickens after Tamerlano’s former betrothed,
Irene, turns up to reveal the scheme, having taken issue with being
pushed aside onto Tamerlano’s Greek ally (Andronico) who, unfairly, is
also in love with Asteria - See more at:
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/pinchgut-opera-launches-2015-season#sthash.jSqY461i.dpuf
Adams has maintained a busy schedule this season while a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, having sung Schaunard in
La boheme, the Marquis in
La Traviata, Grand commissioner in
Madame Butterfly and Jailer in
Tosca. He also performed Gendarme in
Poulenc’s
Les mamelles de Tirésias with San Francisco's innovative young company Opera Parallèle.
Performances are on July 4, 5, 7 & 8 2015 at City Recital Hall Angel Place in Sydney. Tickets go on sale on February 9th, so mark your calendars. Also in the cast is
Christopher Lowrey as Tamerlano, Helen Sherman as Irene, Emily Edmonds
as Asteria and Russell Harcourt as Andronicus.
 |
| Zachary Gordin in our Barihunks Charity Calendar |
Only 48 hours left to buy your Barihunks Charity calendar. Click below to purchase your copy now. It's a great gift, too!
