The new season will continue the series of chamber operas performed in the Sir Georg Solti Hall at the Liszt Music Academy. This time, we pursue the theme of love in classical Greece, and in an unusual format as well: two operas by different composers – Gluck and Bertoni – will treat the myth of Orpheus in two different ways. Premiere: 5 Februray, 2016.
The first part will feature Gluck's most popular opera, Orfeo ed Euridice. The opera also deeply influenced the greatest composers of later eras, including Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner. Twelve years after its first performance in Vienna in 1762, the composer revised the work, also renaming it Orfée et Eurydice, to suit the tastes of Parisian audiences. What we'll be presenting at the Music Academy is the Viennese version, as directed by Zita Szenteczki. The tragic couple are portrayed by Zoltán Daragó and Ágnes Molnár, the role of Amor is sung by Rita Rácz.
The second half of the evening will feature Ferdinando Bertoni's version of the Orpheus myth from 1776. Writing at the specific request of famed castrato Gaetano Guadagni, who had also sung the title role in Gluck's similarly titled opera 12 years earlier, the composer made no secret about working with Gluck's score as a reference point, and also used the same libretto as his predecessor did. For lovers of opera history, it will be a true treat to discover small differences amidst all the atmospheric and melodic features that are similar and even identical: the result of Bertoni's reactionary compositional technique based around the opera seria tradition and disregard for Gluck's reforms. The work is being performed in a production directed by Helga Lázár. The title role is sung by Éva Várhelyi, famous for her wide repertoire. Euridice is sung by the versatile Eszter Wierdl, Hymen is originated by popular soprano, Ingrid Kertesi.
Musical director and conductor: László Bartal.
Further performances: 6, 19, 20 February 2016, 9 p.m., Music Academy, Sir Georg Solti Hall
