Baroque Banter: Episode 15 Pre-performance podcast - Orontea

Pinchgut Opera's pre-opera podcast, hosted by Genevieve Lang, with very special guests Pinchgut Opera Artistic Director Erin Helyard, and Director Constantine Costi. Witty, beautiful and psychologically fascinating, Orontea is set in a heightened contemporary world somewhere between Egypt and Las Vegas. The story centres around a love octagon, where decadence, pleasure and power fuel our colourful cast of grandiose and joyful characters as they pursue their personal passions above all else. When it premiered at Innsbruck in February 1656, Orontea became one of the most successful operas of the entire century, deftly combining Cesti’s melodic inventiveness with Cicognini’s clever and comic libretto. With Pinchgut’s imaginative staging and musical assurance, Orontea is guaranteed to amuse and delight our audiences of today, just as it did then.