The first one in “Orontea” is actually for a ‘lowly character,’ Gelone, who sleeps not because he is under a spell-the normal cliché-but because he is drunk. There are usually ‘sleeping scenes’ in early opera. The use of the genre, according to Helyard, signifies that her love for the hero is doomed. The ‘lament’ common at this time becomes Silandra’s first song of love for Alidoro. In the aforementioned podcast, Helyard makes the point that even so soon after the invention of opera, certain conventions had arisen, and Cesti and his librettist Cicognini brilliantly refreshed those tropes. There are, in fact, many combinations of ‘two-handers,’ including a duet between Giacinta, who is also in love with Alidoro-whom Roberta Diamond also plays-and a marvelously histrionic Aristea-sung by Australian mezzo-soprano Dominica Matthews-who is, supposedly, Alidoro’s mother, though it will turn out that Alidoro is of nobler blood, of course. The plot involves other pairings-love is potent after all-and there is a brief, classic case of mistaken identity. Silandra even discards her own lover Corindo, played by Australian tenor Douglas Kelly. Amore flies to Egypt-or “in a heightened, contemporary world, somewhere between Egypt and Las Vegas,” according to an introduction on the company’s website-to test their influence over Queen Orontea, who has renounced love and is played by Australian mezzo-soprano Anna Dowsley.Įnter Alidoro, a painter who has fled the advances of Princess Arnea of Phoenicia, played by New Zealand tenor Jonathan Abernethy. Almost immediately, Alidoro’s presence creates havoc in Orontea’s realm, and she and another woman of the court, Silandra-played by Sofia Troncoso again-both fall for the newcomer. In terms of plot, “Orontea” begins with a wager over who is stronger: Amore, God of Love-played by Australian soprano Roberta Diamond in this production-or Filosofia, God of Reason-played by American soprano Sofia Troncoso.
Judging by the audience’s reaction to its first Australian performance at Sydney’s Angel Place Recital Hall, “Orontea” still delights. “Orontea” is a marvelously sophisticated work, considering it is only 50-or-so years younger than the actual inception of opera itself. In a podcast interview with music journalist, Genevieve Lang on Pinchgut’s website, Artistic Director Erin Helyard explained that one criterion by which he selects repertoire for this award-winning company’s seasons of early opera is by choosing works that were popular in their time and seeing “if that popularity extends to today.” Early Sophistication On May 26, 2022, it premiered in Australia thanks to the enterprising Australian baroque company, Pinchgut Opera.
So popular was it in its day that it enjoyed more than 17 revivals at various musical centers before the close of the 1600s. Antonio Cesti’s 1656 opera “Orontea” was first performed in Innsbruck at the court of Archduke Ferdinand Charles.
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