David Robertson And The SSO To Perform Operatic Psychodrama BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE

Chief Conductor and Artistic Director David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra are set to round out the 2017 season this month with two choral blockbusters and Bartók's rarely performed one-act opera Bluebeard's Castle.

Robertson, who recently renewed his contract with the SSO to the end of 2019, says Bartók's masterpiece uses thrilling music and symbolism to explore the differences between the sexes.

"Bluebeard's Castle looks at the confusing dynamics that exist in male-female relationships and illustrates how difficult it can be to find a mate for life," Robertson says. "Bartok traverses the territory of love, fear, idealism and reality in intensely chromatic colour before the opera reaches the final moment of passion and tragedy in a union that was really doomed from the start."

Canadian bass John Relyea will sing the monumental role of Duke Bluebeard and celebrated American mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung will take the role of his new bride Judith, opening the seven doors to his past, symbolic of all his inner secrets, in a gripping tale that culminates in a brilliant, blinding climax. In the same program, DeYoung will also feature as soloist in Brahms's Alto Rhapsody.