BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Antonio Salieri has had his fair share of bad press over the last couple of centuries.
Painted as a second-rate composer who poisoned his rival Mozart, Salieri’s reputation has suffered both at the hands of his contemporaries, and those who represent him in modern popular culture (we’ve all seen Amadeus – a brilliant film, mind you, but not the most accurate portrayal).
While still alive, Mozart believed he had been poisoned, and the blame was placed on our poor Italian composer. Mozart’s father-in-law also bought into the rumour, and after 1803 stopped inviting Salieri around for drinks. Even Rossini enjoyed teasing Salieri, and cracked a joke when he met the composer two decades later.
By this stage, Salieri had just about lost his marbles, and gave a false confession which he retracted shortly after. But this wasn’t enough to save his reputation which is still fractured even today.
Sydney’s Pinchgut Opera will give the poor lad a break when they present the Australian premiere of his opera The Chimney Sweep starting July 5.
The best part is that if you’re under 27, you only have to pay $30 to experience the rarely performed production (in Salieri’s day, you’d be lucky if you even made it to 27 without suffering from phossy jaw, pustulous boils, small pox, or worse – the flu. Consider yourself lucky).
It’s ok to be a fan of both Mozart and Salieri, you know. You might admire Mozart’s musical genius, but it doesn’t mean that you’re getting second best with Salieri. In fact, Salieri’s works were so appreciated by the audiences of the 18th Century that he shone just as brightly as Mozart.
According to early music specialist and Pinchgut Co-artistic Director Erin Helyard, Salieri was “without question the leading opera composer in Vienna in 1781.”
Erin, who will conduct The Chimney Sweep from the fortepiano, has always been a fan of Salieri – but discovered this opera entirely by accident while he was studying at McGill University in Canada.
“Researching the Auenbrugger sisters, who were famed keyboard players associated with Mozart and Haydn, I discovered that their father, Leopold von Auenbrugger, wrote the libretto for The Chimney Sweep. This piqued my curiosity,” Erin explained in the Pinchgut Post.
“As a long-time admirer of the works of Salieri, I was fascinated to find a work rich in humour, invention, and virtuosity.”
The Chimney Sweep is a sexy comedy which follows the seduction by Volpino, an Italian chimney sweep, of the women he works for. Romance to blackmail, it’s all there.
“Salieri’s score is a charming and lively work, never before recorded or professionally staged in modern times. The fact that this piece was performed more than 80 times between 1781 and 1791 in German speaking lands demonstrates how much Salieri’s music was appreciated and enjoyed.”
Although The Chimney Sweep boasted massive success as a German singspiel, Erin says the nature of the work is, in many ways, more Italian than German.
“Auenbrugger provided Salieri with a libretto that is full of humorous references to which Salieri responded in the classic opera buffa tradition.”
“There is a “catalogue” aria, for example, in which Mr Bear lists off all the qualities that a good opera singer needs – and Salieri paints each and every one of these characteristics (the crescendo, the calando, the rubato and so on) brilliantly in the orchestral accompaniment.”
“There are also charming and tuneful short arias for the lower-class characters very much in the spirit of opera buffa.”
Italian, German, no matter – you’ll be hearing it in a new English version on the night, and sung by an impressive principal cast including Stuart Haycock (Volpino), Amelia Farrugia (Mrs Hawk), Janet Todd (Miss Hawk), Alexandra Oomens (Lisel), Christopher Saunders (Mr Wolf), David Woloszko (Mr Bear), and David Hidden (Tomaso).
The opera will also reveal the gorgeous voices of the Sydney Children’s Choir, so be prepared to be impressed by up to 40 kids aged between 10 and 12 years old.
The production will be second performance of the year for Pinchgut and their 13th production since the company was established in 2000.
Pinchgut specialises in bringing rare baroque and early classical operas into the light for Australian concert goers.
The Chimney Sweep will be held on July 5 and 7 at 7pm, and July 6 at 4.30pm in City Recital Hall, Angel Place. Pinchgut’s production will be directed by Mark Gaal and features the Orchestra of the Antipodes. Tickets for under 27s are $30 and available from www.cityrecitalhall.com.
For more information on Pinchgut Opera go to www.pinchgutopera.com.au.
Image supplied.
