“Experience the Mythical World of Orpheus and Opera: The 2023 Salzburg Whitsun Festival Featuring Cecilia Bartoli and Daniel Barenboim”

The audience will be invited to travel to the underworld to relive the birth of opera from Orpheus’ grief over the loss of his beloved Eurydice. In the events of the Pentecost festival, Cecilia Bartoli and her invited artists will focus on the myth of Orpheus, whose song and play are immortalized in the works of Claudio Monteverdi, Christoph Willibald Gluck and Joseph Haydn.

“I believe in the power of music and the human voice. The myth of Orpheus is one of those that fascinates me the most. I am thrilled to read about the miraculous effect of Orpheus’ music: it can calm and reconcile the most terrible enemies – even death – and change lives in unimaginable ways, because he has dared to challenge the eternal laws of the world. Orpheus changes the course of fate with his music – this explains why this hero has always attracted the attention of composers,” emphasizes Cecchilia Bartoli.

Gluck’s opera will be staged at the festival Orfejs un Eiridike (the Parma version of the score, made in 1769, which is played relatively rarely, will be used). The show, created by conductor Gianluca Capuano and directed by Christophe Loy, will feature an orchestra The Prince’s Musicians – Monaco. Cecilia Bartoli herself will make her debut as Orpheus, Melissa Ptee will sing Eurydice. The show will be on view on May 26 and 28 (in August it will complement the program of the big summer Salzburg festival).

Gluka Orfeja un Eiridikes The Paris version (1774) can be seen on May 27 in a production by the choreographer John Neimeier and the Hamburg Ballet, which combines opera with ballet. Orpheus will be played by tenor Maksims Mironovs and dancer Edvins Revazovs, Eurydice – soprano Andriana Chuchmanes and dancer Anna Lauder. “One of Orpheus’ operas, which has long been dear to my heart, is Haydn The soul of the philosopher,” says Cecilia Bartoli. In the concert version of this opera on May 27, Thomas Hampson, Rolando Villason and Melissa Ptee will be heard alongside the hostess of the festival (in this work she is assigned the role of Eurydice).

One of the first great works of the opera genre in the history of music – Monteverdi Orpheus – On May 28, the festival will be presented in an unusual form: it will be staged by the troupe of the Milan puppet theater, which dates back more than 200 years Carlo Colla & Sons. Soloists Renato Dolcini, Carlotta Colombo and Sara Mingardo will join the instrumentalists in the orchestra pit, while on stage puppeteers bring the action to life with marionettes and carefully crafted miniature sets.

On May 29, two events of the festival will honor the conductor, pianist, passionate culture and art promoter and defender Daniels Barenboim, who celebrated his 80th anniversary last year. Tributing to him, Cecilia Bartoli says: “I will always be grateful to Daniel Barenboim for discovering me and giving me advice in the early stages of my career, and for being an endlessly inspiring musical partner and trusted friend for 35 years.” Daniel Barenboim’s career spans seven decades. “People like Daniel Barenboim confirm that great myths are not just created by our ambitious minds. Obviously, they can be completely real, and their beginnings can be traced to personalities like Barenboim,” adds the head of the festival.

In the chamber music program of Franz Schubert on May 29, Daniel Barenboim will perform together with Cecilia Bartoli and his associate, the legendary pianist Marta Argerich. At the end of the same day, not only the reveler himself, Cecilia Bartoli and Marta Argerich, but also pianist Lan Lan and singers Placido Domingo, Sonia Joncheva and Rolando Villason will take part in the concert. Florence Musical May the orchestra will be conducted by patriarch Zubin Meta. Music by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Giordano and Mozart will be played.

Information: salzburgerfestspiele.at