JOSÉ DE NEBRA (1702–1768)“¿Quién fió de un mar sereno” Aria de Venus Zarzuela, Vendado es amor, no es ciego (1744) During the 18th century, Spain rebelled against the operatic boom of France and Italy, giving birth to Spanish music-theater, embodying deep ties to folk and Gitano culture through entertainment and celebration without regard for social class. Old, young, rich, and poor spilled out into the streets, ready to dance their beloved fandango. This vibrant performance brings Iberian Baroque decadently to life, with a surprise ending that will thrill even the most stoic of listeners. (Melbourne, Australia) Ensemble: Tim Willis, Baroque Violin Adam Masters, Baroque Oboe Laura Vaughan, Viola da Gamba Hannah Lane, Baroque Triple Harp Samantha Cohen, Baroque Guitar & Theorbo Jess Ciampa, Percussion Guest Artists: Arte Kanela Flamenco (Chantelle Cano, Johnny Tedesco) Sound & Production: Daniel Denholm, Shoelace Creative Broadcast: ​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@BloomingtonEarlyMusic Original Broadcast: Australian Digital Concert Hall and Hugh Drum for HD Productions With ENORMOUS thanks to: Fine Arts and Music at Melbourne - VCA & MCM, Shepparton Festival, Kristen Retallick, Greater Shepparton City Council, Ethnic Council, 3MBS Melbourne 103.5FM, Nic Healey & ABC Shepparton, ONE FM Shepparton Radio, Shepparton News, The Shepparton Adviser, ArtsHub, ABC Goulburn Murray, Goulburn Valley Health, SoundsLikeSydney, Lisa & David McKenzie, Carmel Johnson, Angela & Jim Andreadis, Rye Studio, Tallis Wine, Mark Niglia, Debbie Jenkins.

Evergreen Ensemble perform 'The Emigrant Highlander's Wife' from their 2019 album 'Curious Caledonians' at Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney. Released through ABC Classics, the album explores the sounds of Scottish music from the early days of the Australian colony performed on period instruments. Guest musicians on the album include two members of the Glasgow-based ensemble, Concerto Caledonia (David McGuinness, keyboards, and Aaron McGregor, violin) and Neal Peres da Costa (keyboards) and Daniel Yeadon (cello) from the University of Sydney. www.evergreen-ensemble.com/albums The Emigrant Highlander’s Wife Allegra Giagu, mezzo-soprano, Shane Lestideau & Aaron McGregor, violins, Ben Dollman, viola, Daniel Yeadon, cello, David McGuinness, 19th–century square piano & arrangement Unlike the other repertoire recorded on this album this piece did not come to the project from an Australian library or museum, but was brought directly from Scotland by members of Concerto Caledonia after having been discovered by Jeanice Brooks of the University of Southampton. The lyrics were taken from a letter written by John Marriott (1780-1825) while he stayed at Dalkeith Palace, Scotland in 1807 and it describes the emotional journey of Scottish Highlanders leaving their homes for foreign shores; O turn thee, Donald, turn & view The valley we are leaving… Marriott set his words to Since First I Saw Your Face from Thomas Ford’s Musick of Sundrie kindes (1607) which appeared in many 19th-century collections of ‘ancient music’. The melody fits the words well, being mournful and reserved in character yet quietly defiant in its final cadence.

Evergreen Ensemble rehearsing 'Queen of France's Lamentation' from their 2019 album 'Curious Caledonians' at the Eugene Goosens Hall, Sydney. Released through ABC Classics, the album explores the sounds of Scottish music from the early days of the Australian colony performed on period instruments. Guest musicians on the album include two members of the Glasgow-based ensemble, Concerto Caledonia (David McGuinness, keyboards, and Aaron McGregor, violin) and Neal Peres da Costa (keyboards) and Daniel Yeadon (cello) from the University of Sydney. www.evergreen-ensemble.com/albums Queen of France's Lamentation Allegra Giagu, mezzo-soprano, Ben Dollman, viola, Daniel Yeadon, cello, David McGuinness, harpsichord.

A celebration of Spanish Baroque music and dance inspired by my childhood as a flamenco dancer and the simultaneous discovery of vibrant, vocal-dance music from the Iberian Peninsula during my time in New York. This project explores reconstructions of eighteenth-century Spanish music-theatre through performance. Grants and awards allocated thus far have assisted with initial research, sets and costuming, and consultations with international experts and sources all over the world, previously unknown in Australia. Special thanks must go to B'Nai B'rith, Victoria and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. We have performed ten Australian premieres in the past eighteen months. ENSEMBLE Violin I, Shane Lestideau Violin II, Ben Dollman Viola, Anna Webb Cello, Rosanne Hunt Double Bass, Miranda Hill Theorbo+Guitar, Nick Pollock Theorbo+Guitar, Rose Hodgson David MacFarlane, Harpsichord LIGHTING+SOUND Stage Managers, Paul Doyle and Jennifer Knight Sound, David Collins VENUE Melba Hall, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music DESIGN Sets+Props+Costumes, Allegra Giagu With special thanks to Debbie Jenkins

JAYME OVALLE (1894–1955) "Azulão" Brazilian poem by Manuel Bandeira (1886-1968) --translation. L. Yannucci Improvised folk arrangement for guitar and voice. Self-taught, Ovalle was one of the "Second Nationalist Generation" of Brazilian composers. Primarily, though—he was a Brazilian Minister of Finance. The poem mentions ‘the sertão': a vast, arid region of northern Brazil, considered desolate and unfruitful. It is home to many disadvantaged and struggling communities and is a place where nothing can thrive— deepening the irony of the song. Azulão: Vai, Azulão, Azulão, companheiro, vai! Vai ver minha ingrata, Diz que sem ela O sertão não é mais sertão! Ai! Võa Azulão, Vai contar companheiro, vai! Bluebird: Go bluebird, my companion, go! Go and see my ungrateful love Say that without her The sertão is no longer the sertão! Alas, fly bluebird, Go and tell her, my companion, go!

Pinchgut Opera was set up by accident. One day in early 2000, Alison Johnston, Anna Cerneaz, Erin Helyard, Anna McDonald and Liz and Ken Nielsen were talking, over coffee, about music. This was not unusual. We often did that. Someone wondered if there was a different way of doing opera. A way of putting the music first and having the other elements -- sets, costumes, production -- support the music but not get in its way. By the second cup of coffee we had agreed to set up an opera company. City Recital Hall Angel Place had recently opened and we thought it would be perfect -- a fairly small space, where the audience would feel close to the musicians, and with a lovely acoustic for voice. Antony Walker, the already very well-known conductor, came on board, so we reckoned we had all of the artistic and business skills needed to produce and sell an opera. We had no strategic plan, just a rough budget for the first production. No government grants, just confidence that we would find enough people who wanted to help us. It was not intended that we would concentrate on Baroque opera. We wanted to give audiences the chance to hear Australia's young singers and musicians, many of whom live overseas but are happy to return here to perform. We started with Handel's Semele in 2002 -- because we had some musicians who were very experienced in playing on period instruments in Baroque style. That was followed by Purcell's The Fairy Queen (2003), Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (2004), Rameau's Dardanus (2005), Mozart's Idomeneo (2006), Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans (2007), Charpentier's David et Jonathas (2008), Cavalli's L'Ormindo (2009), Haydn's L'anima del filosofo (2010) and Vivaldi's Griselda (2011). All our productions have been broadcast by ABC Classic FM and all but one recorded for CD -- originally by ABC Classics but recently by our own label Pinchgut LIVE. More operas were composed before 1750 than after. Except perhaps for a few from Handel, very few are performed these days. We think there is a huge treasure trove of marvellous works that Australian audiences have not seen. Cavalli, Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Rameau and Charpentier are almost unheard of, as opera composers, in this country. Other companies do the more familiar operas excellently; we want to help audiences discover something new. Perhaps in the future we will take the Pinchgut approach to works from the 20th or 21st century. Our aims have not changed much since the beginning. We've been joined along the way by Andrew Johnston, John Pitman and Genevieve Lang. We know that artistically we are working in a very fertile area and achieving very worthwhile things. We continue to be extremely grateful to our audience who buy tickets, to all those who very generously donate both time and money, and to our sponsors who have helped us out enormously. If you believe in what we are doing and are able to help, please get in touch. We call our supporters 'Heroes of Pinchgut' because without them we could not have got this far. http://www.pinchgutopera.com.au/rameau/

JOSEPH MAURICE RAVEL (1875–1937) "Kaddisch" from Deux Mélodies Hébraïques (1914) --trans. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, edited and re-worked in Ravel’s score by Allegra Giagu. PERFORMERS: Allegra Giagu, mezzo-soprano Shane Lestideau, violin David Barnard, piano Ravel’s Kaddisch makes an interpretation based on the original text of the Mourners Kaddish (in Sephard-Aramaic), with melodic colours of Sephard intonation. With this in mind, Shane Lestideau and I have respectfully constructed an interpretation, based on Ravel’s score, suggesting a more flexible phrasing and improvisation between the voice and ‘wailing’ violin, to accentuate the outpouring of grief. Ravel’s text is adjusted to reflect the true words of the Kaddisch in this performance, and in the text below. In Ravel's setting, he omits the words attributed to death. Perhaps he does this to lift us out of mourning; to honour the one who has died with a transcendent offering of the soul. Kaddisch (qaddīš): yit-ga-dal v’yit-ka-dash sh’may ra-ba b’al-ma dee v’ra chir-oo-tayh v’yam-leech mal-choo-tayh b’cha-yay-chon oo-v’yo-may-chon oo-v’cha-yay d’chal bayt yis-ra-ayl ba-a-ga-la oo-viz-man ka-reev v’im-roo a-mayn. yit-ba-raych v’yish-ta-bach v’yit-pa-ar v’yit-ro-mam v’yit-na-say v’yit-ha-dar v’yit-a-leh v’yit-ha-lal sh’may d’kood-sha b’reech hoo l’ay-la min kal bir-cha-ta v’shee-ra-ta toosh-b’cha-ta v’ne-che-ma-ta da-a-mee-ran b’al-ma v’im-roo a-mayn. Holy Prayer: His great name should be magnified and sanctified In the world that He created according to His will And may He establish His Kingdom May it happen in your lifetime And in your days And in the lifetime of all the House of Israel Speedily and very soon And say Amen. Blessed and lauded and beautified and exalted and raised up and glorified and elevated and praised the name of the Holy One, blessed be He Higher than any blessing and song praise and consolation that we could say in the world, And say Amen.