Moonstruck

Pierrot lunaire sits somewhere between cabaret and concert, acting and singing, madness and depravity. Showcasing the extraordinary talents of soprano Jane Sheldon, it flirts with chaos as Arnold Schoenberg translates each tiny poem into music. It’s over a hundred years old, but it remains radical to the ear – a revolutionary classic that transformed music and concerts forever, just as Cubism changed painting. Even Ensemble Offspring’s distinctive line-up of musicians can be traced to this iconic creation and its grungy tale of the ‘moonstruck’ clown of commedia dell’arte.

In a one off staged performance at Eugene Goossens Hall presented in association with Sydney Chamber Opera, Pierrot lunaire will be directed by Eugene Lynch and feature the incredible physicality of Mitchell Riley. In response, ‘triple threat composer-performer provocatrice’ Laura Bowler (UK) has created a long-form fresh interpretation of Albert Giraud’s poems, deconstructing and repurposing Schoenberg’s original musical material, viewing it through a contemporary queer lens in ‘a subversive act of defiance of the great master’. International star mezzo-soprano Jessica Aszodi, one of the “finest actress-singers in the country” (The Age) join us for the virtuosic challenge of Schoenberg’s reimagined vocal lines.

Bowler’s work is co-commissioned by Ensemble Offspring, Red Note Ensemble (Scotland), and Music on Main (Canada).

NB SCO’s Staged version of Pierrot lunaire in Sydney only.