PINCHGUT OPERA’S BAJAZET TAKES SYDNEY BY STORM

“Bajazet rivals the company’s 2011 staging of (Vivaldi’s) Griselda for the mantle of Pinchgut’s finest production…Showing a touch of brilliance Burgess cleverly subverted the opera’s unconvincing happy ending in a manner true to both Tamerlano’s character and the context of his production…the cast of Bajazet all shone in their respective roles by successfully balancing the need to achieve dramatic intensity while simultaneously displaying flamboyant virtuosity…”
The Australian, Bajazet, Pinchgut Opera
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“Pinchgut Opera’s gripping tale a glorious triumph of intensity….Director Thomas de Mallet Burgess and music director Erin Helyard have fashioned a tight, gripping piece of theatre from this torrid tale… The cast respond to Vivaldi’s muscular rhythms and rangy harmonic developments with a deep physicality, capturing the swagger of triumph and the slump of despair. Their recitative passages, in particular, are choreographed with thrilling detail, sudden emotions flashing across their faces. Then, when the time comes to consider these psychological epiphanies at more length, movement on stage slows or even stops, a character is framed in a spotlight, and the music takes over.”
The Sydney Morning Herald, Bajazet, Pinchgut Opera (4.5/5 stars)
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