Benjamin is thrilled to join Elaine Armstrong’s Emblem Artists for representation in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. https://www.emblemartists.com/roster/benjamin-bayl
Benjamin’s 23/24 season will include conducting four new opera productions: Mozart’s “Idomeneo” for Victorian Opera, Handel’s “Flavio” for Bayreuth Baroque Festival, a special new pasticcio for Staatsoper Stuttgart, Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” for Staatsoper Hannover, and finally a new work based around the music of Purcell for MusikTheater an der Wien. More details to come!
Over the summer Benjamin made his conducting debut in Finland at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, held in the beautiful Olavinlinna castle. Directing Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” in an acclaimed production of Marin Blazevic, he made history leading the first baroque opera production in over 100 years of Savonlinna Opera Festival’s history.
Benjamin recently conducted the premiere of Staatsoper Stuttgart’s new production of Vivaldi’s masterful and dramatic oratorio “Juditha Triumphans”. Following his musical work in the house, Benjamin was immediately reinvited to conduct future productions of Don Giovanni, Platée, Johannes Passion and L’incoronazione di Poppea over the next two seasons in Stuttgart.
Benjamin is in Melbourne and will conduct the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Saturday 6th February in a fantastic program of Bernstein, de Falla, Rameau, Chindamo and Stanhope. Titled “Mambo - Dancing across the Centuries” the concert will be live streamed on Youtube.
Following the unfortunate but inevitable cancellation of The Hanover Band’s live, double Beethoven Symphony Cycle in 2020 - not only the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth but the 40th anniversary of the ensemble - the first 8 Symphonies were recorded as live concert films, to be streamed on Wednesday evenings throughout the Autumn, one per week. You can read about this remarkably ambitious project here.
After a great critical success of Bernstein’s Candide at the Theater an der Wien / Wiener Kammeroper in 2019, Benjamin will conduct a new production of Cavalli’s “Il Giasone” in the 20/21 Season, with the Bach Consort Wien in the pit. You can read about the production here.
Benjamin just wrapped up a 14-performance tour of the Netherlands with Opera Zuid and Philharmonie Zuidnederland. Whilst the modern and unconventional scenic aspects of the production divided the critics, the musical results were very warmly received throughout the country, with Pamina (Lilian Farahani) nominated for the country’s Schaunard Awards. You can read reviews here and here.