OSCAR AND LUCINDA
Opera in two acts
Music by Elliott Gyger
Libretto by Pierce Wilcox
after the Novel by Peter Carey
World Premiere
A co-production and co-commission of Sydney Chamber Opera,
Opera Queensland and Victorian Opera
Peter Carey’s beloved novel is one of our nation’s artistic triumphs, winner of the Booker and Miles Franklin Awards. Elliott Gyger is the composer who gave World War I phantasmagoric life in Fly Away Peter. In May 2019, he reunites with librettist Pierce Wilcox to transform Carey’s kaleidoscopic tale into a new landmark of Australian opera, directed by internationally acclaimed Patrick Nolan.
She is an orphaned proto-feminist industrialist; he believes he is touched by God. They have nothing in common- except their maddening addiction to gambling. She calls it chance; he calls it providence. Oscar and Lucinda find each other in colonial-era Sydney, and nothing will keep them apart. Until they are torn by a wild dream: to build a cathedral of pure glass, and walk it into the Australian outback.
Oscar and Lucinda is a bonfire of the passions within every human soul. It is impossible, romantic, and visionary.
Like a church made of glass.
Conductor
Jack Symonds
Director
Patrick Nolan
Set & Costume Design
Anna Tregloan
Lighting Design
Damien Cooper
Assistant Director
Constantine Costi
Singers
Jessica Aszodi
Brenton Spiteri
Jeremy Kleeman
Simon Lobelson
Mitchell Riley
Jane Sheldon
Instruments
Peter Clark
Veronique Serret
James Wannan
Henry Justo
Judith Hamman
Paul Zabrowarny
Muhamed Mehmedbasic
Ben Opie
Jasper Ly
Jason Noble
Georgina Oakes
Gergely Malyusz
Neil O’Donnell
Ben Kopp
Emily Granger
Claire Edwardes
SCO thanks the Oscar and Lucinda Production Circle for their support of this ambitious work:
Production Partners ($15,000+)
Martin and Susie Dickson, Kim Williams AM
Principal Artist Partners ($10,000- $14,999)
Anonymous (1), Meredith Brooks, Neil Burns,
Penelope Seidler AO, Christine Williams &
The Macquarie Foundation
Artist Partners ($5,000- $9,999)
John Barrer, John Kaldor AO, Jane Mathews AO,
The Russel Mills Foundation, Prof Di Yerbery AO
Gallery
VENUE
Carriageworks
Bay 20, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh
duration
130 minutes
Including one 20 minute interval
Press Reviews
Australian Book Review★★★★★ Read More
“A triumph for Sydney Chamber Opera… a company that has redefined operatic performance in Sydney and Australia”
TimeOut★★★★★ Read More
“Sydney Chamber Opera has proven itself to be an essential company in Sydney’s arts landscape in its decade of operation, and Oscar and Lucinda is another feather in its cap.”
The Guardian★★★★★ Read More
“Musical vignettes that flash and bend like rainbows… setting your heart to new rhythms… a harmonic chase of caramel tones and prayer, and, thankfully, twists of wit and fun”
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