The great military leader Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompeo Magno) has returned victorious to Rome after his third campaign and is given a hero’s welcome by the grandees of the realm and by Caesar himself. But this is not the time to rest on his laurels, for a secret war, this time without the strident alarums of battle, is being fought behind closed doors at the Roman court, waged between love, desire, treachery and jealousy: Sesto, Pompeo’s son, desires the beautiful prisoner of war Issicratea, not realising she is the wife of the supposedly dead Mitridate, an adversary of the great Pompeo. But Mitridate is alive and well, living incognito in Rome, where he tests the faithfulness of his wife and the loyalty of his son Farnace. Pompeo himself is in love with Caesar’s daughter Giulia, who has already promised her heart to Servilio. The feared conqueror must now prove himself as a sensitive human being as well …

On the way to fight in the Trojan War the mighty Agamemnon killed a stag belonging to the goddess of the hunt, Diana. The outraged Diana prevents Agamemnon from journeying further unless he offers his daughter Iphigenia as expiatory sacrifice. Under the pretext of a marriage to the hero Achilles, Iphigenia is enticed to Aulis, to the anguish of her mother Clytemnestra. At the moment of sacrifice, Achilles storms in with raised sword, but divine Diana has the last word…

Dramma per musica in three acts by George Frideric Handel. Text by Nicola Francesco Haym.

The Bayreuth Baroque Opera Fesival opens up its fourth edition with George Frideric Handel’s dramma per musica Flavio, Re de’ Longobardi, a piece that has been performed all too rarely until now. As music drama, Handel broke new ground with this work: it is relatively short, and the form of opera seria is creatively and inventively enriched with subtle comedy and elements of satirical parody – forged in highly emotional and powerfully expressive theatre music. It is all the more astonishing that the opera premiered in 1723 in London is among Handel’s least known works, also in the twenty-first century.

Dramma per musica in three acts by Leonardo Vinci. Text by Pietro Metastasio. World Premiere since 1740 with an all-male cast after the model of the first performance.

Carlo il Calvo – Charles the Bald premiered in 1738 at the Teatro delle Dame, Rome’s leading opera house. The cast consisted entirely of men and castrati. Women were not allowed to perform publicly in the Holy City. Porpora’s opera is based on a Venetian libretto from 1699, which was set to music under various titles by composers such as Vinaccesi, Keller, Alessandro Scarlatti, Orlandini and Telemann. The score has been preserved in the Naples Conservatory.

The legends surrounding Polyphemus the Cyclops, one-eyed son of Poseidon and the nymph Thoosa, are a popular theme in music and literature alike. Polifemo was the last work Nicola Antonio Porpora composed for the Opera of Nobility in London, a business in direct competition to Georg Frideric Handel‘s opera company. While Handel had to resort to adding renowned ballet troupes and fulminating choirs to his productions, in order to attract an audience, Porpora relied solely on Farinelli‘s vocal ability. This was especially true for Polifemo.

In February 2019, Max Emanuel Cencic will bring onto stage a new production of Handel’s opera Xerxes. It is going to be a boulevard comedy situated in high society circles – with two Baroque stars as rivals!

The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott greatly inspired the art of the 19th century. It is the dawn of romanticism which can be seen in musical, visual and dramatic creation. The book itself, which is written in a form of a poem is specifically a masterpiece of english language. The play of words and the poetic atmosphere which is created in this book captured the imagination of its readers worldwide.

Described by one contemporary commentator as “a miracle”, and another as “in every respect excellent & vastly pleasing”, Arminio  strangely received only six performances between 12 January and 12 February 1737 at London’s Covent Garden, and was never staged again for almost two hundred years. Also unfairly neglected in more recent times, it is ripe for reappraisal and a new representation for today’s audiences.

The music of Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), perhaps more than that of any other composer, typified the refined, aristocratic taste of the last decades of the European ancien régime. During his lifetime he was famous throughout Europe – the nineteenth-century French musicologist Fétis remarked: “… few artists had such success, or greater renown than Hasse. Few are so forgotten now.” Fortunately, during the last few years this situation has begun to change. It is clear to modern ears that Hasse’s fine music is ripe for re-discovery. Renowned above all for his gifts as a melodist, in Siroe Hasse offers a feast of rare vocal delights in the telling of a vivid story of passion, jealousy and intrigue.