Hot on the heels of Lyric Opera’s multi-award-winning hit production Iphis, the Victorian premiere of Biographica will take place at Theatre Works this September.
This 2017 Australian opera is composed by Mary Finsterer with libretto by Tom Wright was the winner of the 2018 APRA|AMCOS Art Music Award for Vocal Work.
Scored for eleven musicians, five singers, and one actor, Biographica blends spoken and sung text with shimmering orchestral colours in a contemporary reinterpretation of the essence of the Italian Renaissance.
Centred on the real life of Gerolamo Cardano, a sixteenth-century scientist, mathematician, linguist and gambler, this opera is a poignant exploration of the psyche of a man whose brilliance and ‘self destructive’ nature coexisted in a captivating and devastating dance.
Cardano’s ground-breaking contributions to the realm of probability, innovations in sign language and the invention of the combination lock, have left an indelible mark on history.
Beneath the surface of his profound achievements lay an enigmatic and often tormented soul. This opera interrogates the question of what really made a ‘renaissance man’.
Biographica is a new production created by the multi-award-winning team of Heather Fairbairn (Director), Nathan Burmeister (Designer), Niklas Pajanti (Lighting Designer) and Lyric’s Artistic Director, Patrick Burns (Conductor).
Biographica
Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
Season: 23 September – 1 October 2023 (preview: 22 September)
Information and Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au
Image: Lyric Opera presents Biographica (supplied)