Solo Horn in Handel Julius Caesar with Pinchgut Opera

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posted on 2025-04-01, 05:52 authored by Carla BlackwoodCarla Blackwood, Erin Helyard, Tim Mead, Pinchgut Opera, The Orchestra of the Antipodes

Carla Blackwood performed Solo baroque horn in Pinchgut Opera's 2024 production of Handel's Julius Caesar, including the famous aria for solo baroque horn and counter-tenor Va Tacito.

History

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NTRO Output Type

Live Performance of Creative Work

NTRO Output Category

Live Performance of Creative Work : Music

Place

Sydney, Australia

Venue

City Recital Hall, Angel Place

NTRO Publisher

Pinchgut Opera

Start Date

2024-11-21

End Date

2024-11-27

Medium

Music Performance

Research Statement

The field of research is music performance, specifically the rendering of a canonic work on historical instruments. The purposes was to present 5 performances of the highest possible musicianship, to answer the question of how a contemporary horn payer can bring historically informed performance practice to the performance of a technically challenging solo, and bring it to the highest level of mastery, musicianship and personal interpretation. It also looked at how applying modern approaches to performance psychology can lead to the highest levels of musical mastery in high pressure performance situations. The performance of Va Tacito from Handel’s Julius Caesar on baroque horn with Pinchgut Opera were a significant contribution to historically informed performance practice in Australia. The performances showed that it is possible to apply a scholarly approach and to strive for the utmost musicianship, creativity and joy in performance. The research applied contemporary approaches from performance psychology to show that a focus on joy and musicianship can lead optimal skill execution and musicianship. The performances received glowing reviews and five star accolades from numerous publications, including Limelight, the Sydney Morning Herald, Opera Wire, Stage Whispers, Classikon and more. All mentioned the horn solos. "Carla Blackwood played a horn obligato of velvety burnished smoothness, impeccably controlled from the gallery." "“Va tacito,” also featured a remarkably virtuosic solo horn accompagnato... with the soloist being even more eloquent in the da capo section’s almost obligatory ornamentations than the voice." "...brilliant horn playing of Carla Blackwood" "Carla Blackwood...was simply magnificant."

Size or Duration of Work

5 Performances, each 3 hours Duration, and a radio broadcast of the performance.

Affiliation

Carla Blackwood, University of Melbourne