A Cavalli opera for our times?
mainFrom Dutch National Opera:
The young French director Thomas Jolly will stage Eliogabalo, Francesco Cavalli’s last surviving opera, at Dutch National Opera in October 2017.
The spoilt teenage emperor Elagabalus made a complete farce of his four years (218—222 AD) as master of Rome.
Ring any bells?
An anti-Trudeau piece, is it?
Rene Jacobs in 2004 did Eliogabalo during Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, I recall it was quite long 3 1/2 hours with two pauses. The libretto supplied with detailed history etc is 282 pages about 3/4 inch thick! I enjoyed the music, despite the singing as Mark Twain said at Bayreuth.
Here is a link to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apu1TvZWvzo
Absolutely wonder, Father. Is that festival on at the same time every year as we’re thinking of returning to Austria next year.
Sue yes its 3 weeks of August, since 1963, they have Schloss concerts in July before it up at Schloss Ambras, where the only painting of Vlad Tepesh exists! I have been for the last 10 years staying in the same place Gasthof Engl in the Altstadt, run by Frau Gassner. There is a funny place called Nepomuks which is in the centre of Innsbruck which caters for backpackers, I prefer Gasthof Engl, quiet location near a laundrette and Im Preis supermarket for beer etc!
If you join the Friends circle you get a hefty discount. The bookings are earlier for friends just contact Frau Silvia Kehl who does the tickets. The festwochen is baroque although they did some Mozart and Schubert lieder one year, to fill in a blank. Innsbruck is more relaxing than Salzburg you can book the lot impossible in Salzburg, which is a real tourist trap. You can do Salzburg for liederabend etc on the spare days during Innsbrucker Festwochen get the train or drive. The hey day was when Rene Jacobs was muic director now its Alessandra di Marchi funny fellow on a scooter no helmet!. I highly recommend it also the festival in May at Melk. Book early, accommodation in April for Innsbruck email the Engl.
http://www.hotel-engl.at/
Now when will someone stage and record Déodat de Séverac’s wonderful opera Héliogabale? There was a staging in Barcelona in the 70s, that’s the last I know of.
In the work Séverac uses the Catalan Cobla.
I saw this production with counter-tenor Fagioli when it first appeared at Paris- Garnier, last October. It was long but the director had an interesting take on it and used lighting, usually reserved for pop concerts , to good effect.
Mad emperors and presidents are all the rage, at the moment!