New General Manager at Pinchgut Opera

Sydney's Pinchgut Opera has appointed Anna Cerneaz as its general manager. Anna has been with Pinchgut since it was set up in 2000 and has been responsible for marketing, publicity and other areas through that time.

Antony Walker (who is also music director of Pittsburgh Opera and Washington Concert Opera) and Erin Helyard (of McGill University in Montréal) are the artistic directors of Pinchgut while Alison Johnston is responsible for artistic administration.

In December this year Pinchgut presents its ninth opera production - Haydn's L'anima del filosofo: Orpheus & Euridice - at City Recital Hall Angel Place Sydney opening on Thursday 2 December. Composed in 1791, this work was Haydn's last opera and this is its first Australian production.

Haydn's Orpheus is a rarely heard, beautiful, classical opera in Italian is based on the myth of Orpheus as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The story of Orpheus has fascinated composers and librettists over the centuries. The opera was never performed during Haydn's lifetime with its first performance, surprisingly, was in 1951 in Florence with a cast including Maria Callas and Boris Christoff.

The 2010 Pinchgut production will be simply staged, with a set and costumes and emphasis on the music at the highest level. The cast will include soprano Elena Xanthoudakis as the double part of Euridice/Genio and tenor Andrew Goodwin as Orfeo. The opera makes extensive use of the chorus, which will be Cantillation, and Antony Walker will conduct a classical orchestra (Orchestra of the Antipodes) that will include Erin Helyard playing fortepiano.

Pinchgut specialises in presenting unfairly neglected operas, mostly from the baroque and early classical periods.