Brisbane Bel Canto

Opera Queensland's festival for the stage,  Brisbane Bel Canto Festival returns for its second year, with a program of concerts covering music from the beginnings of operatic song in Italy to a song cycle composed in Australia over the past few years. 

At the festival’s centre, Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella), celebrates the generous, compassionate and kind heart that beats so strongly within the title character. There are plenty of laughs, thanks to the antics of Magnifico and Dandini, a pair of scheming stepsisters, and a mix-up at the ball. Add some dazzling singing and you’ve got a night at the opera offering the rare and joyous conclusion that fairy tales really can come true.

Opera Queensland welcomes two rising stars to Queensland for the first time, Mara Gaudenzi as Angelina (Cinderella) and Petr Nekoranec as Don Ramiro, the man whose heart she captures. As befits artists involved in a bel canto festival, they have been widely praised for the beauty of their voices. With Conductor Richard Mills AM leading the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, this promises to be a great night in the theatre.

The festival in March includes the return of Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, with a presentation of Andrew Ford’s Red Dirt Hymns, a contemporary Australian collection of secular hymns with lyrics by some of Australia’s finest writers including Sarah Holland-Batt, John Kinsella and Ellen van Neerven, Ford has created a collection of songs that sing praise to the everyday. Be it in the shape of a vase or desire by a river at dusk, Red Dirt Hymns sings of an Australia we all know and love.

New additions to the festival include The University of Queensland School of Music, who join OQ for Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (Little solemn mass), written in 1863, is a glorious celebration of sacred music written towards the end of Rossini’s life. Neither little nor solemn, this is a work of profound beauty and exultant joy.

Written for two pianos and a harmonium, with four soloists and a choir, their collaboration with The University of Queensland sees Opera Queensland joined by two of Australia’s great pianists – Anna Grinberg and Liam Viney. Perfect for seasoned concertgoers and newcomers, Rossini combines orchestral and choral textures, to create a work distinguished by its unashamed romanticism.

Emerging Brisbane ensemble One Equal Music are also joining Opera Queensland for The Birth of Bel Canto, tracing the roots of bel canto back to the madrigal.

One of Australia’s most beloved culinary figures, Stefano de Pieri, will curate the Long Lunch for this year’s festival. His renowned restaurant Stefanos in Mildura has been a fixture in The Age’s Good Food Guide for an impressive 29 years. As a passionate advocate for local ingredients, Stefano will showcase the best of Queensland’s culinary offerings, crafting a long lunch that pairs exceptional food with wonderful singing.

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