Sydney-based opera company The Cooperative is thrilled to present a concert performance of Kaija Saariaho and Amin Maalouf’s gripping monodrama Émilie in its Australian premiere. There will be one performance only of this haunting and evocative work on Saturday July 30 at 7.30pm at Pitt Street Uniting Church, 264 Pitt Street Sydney.
The Cooperative was founded two-and-a-half years ago, in a desire to create change and confront injustices in our society, and to transform an operatic landscape which mirrored these injustices. This company’s fundamental belief is that opera should be accessible to all, and beneficial to all. As such, all productions are open to all to attend on a pay-as-you-are-able scale, whereby patrons contribute as much or as little as they can. After each production’s expenses are covered, all profits are donated to charities pertinent to the issues explored onstage.
First performed in 2010, Saariaho’s dramatically charged monodrama draws inspiration from the life, and the final writings, of Émilie du Châtelet, an extraordinary mathematician, scientist and philosopher. Unfolding as a stream-of-consciousness narrative, a series of vignettes during her ultimately fatal pregnancy, Émilie gives an incisive, haunting voice to women’s experiences of rage, elation, grief and despair in a society unwilling to hear them.
In a concert performance, The Cooperative is delighted to present the Australian premiere of this incredible work, re-envisaged for five singers, and performed by an outstanding cast and orchestral ensemble.
All profits taken from admission will support organisations working for advancement of women’s health and wellbeing, in Australia and globally.
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The Cooperative is assisted by the Australian government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
