Stage Direction

Stage Direction

 

Flavio, re de’ Longobardi
Leonardo Vinci

Flavio, re de’ Longobardi, 2023


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STAGE PERFORMANCES OF FLAVIO, RE DE LONGOBARDI
directed by Max Emanuel Cencic:

September 7, 9, 15 and 17, 2023:
BAYREUTH BAROQUE OPERA FESTIVAL
Markgräfliches Opernhaus, Bayreuth (DE)
(4 performances)

WATCH:
Interview Max Emanuel Cencic & Helmut Stürmer (work in progress)
FLAVIO, RE DE’ LONGOBARDI ⎜ Interview Max Emanuel Cencic
FLAVIO RE DE’ LONGOBARDI (arte.tv)

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.
The plot takes us into the court of the Lombard king Flavio, who plays off his counsellors Ugone and Lotario one against the other in order to assuage his passion for Ugone’s daughter Teodata. The elders’ conflict is a problem first and foremost for the younger generation: Ugone’s son Guido, who wants to marry Lotario’ daughter Emilia, and Teodata herself, who is involved in a secret relationship with the adjutant Vitige.
With stage direction by Max Emanuel Cencic – who also takes on the role of Guido – we can look forward to brilliant performances by the Bayreuth debutant Rémy Brés-Feuillet in the title role, besides fixed stars of the Festival including Julia Lezhneva, Yuriy Mynenko, Monika Jägerova and Sreten Manojlović. They are accompanied by this year’s Orchestra in Residence, Concerto Köln under Benjamin Bayl.

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Alessandro nell'Indie
Leonardo Vinci

Alessandro nell'Indie, 2022


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STAGE PERFORMANCES OF ALESSANDRO NELL'INDIE
directed by Max Emanuel Cencic:

September 7, 9 and 11, 2022:
BAYREUTH BAROQUE OPERA FESTIVAL
Markgräfliches Opernhaus, Bayreuth (DE)
(3 performances)

WATCH:
Making of (1/3)
Making of (2/3)
Making of (3/3)

Alessandro nell'Indie broadcast

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.

The plot of Alessandro nell’Indie revolves around love affairs: Alexander the Great (Alessandro) loves the Indian queen Cleofide, who, however, has promised her heart to King Poro, who had been defeated by Alexander – an emotionally charged drama is spun out interwoven with love, intrigue, jealously and forgiveness. Since women were prohibited from the stage in the church-state, Vinci composed Alessandro nell’Indie exclusively for male singers. The premiere of Vinci’s penultimate opera marked up a huge success particularly for the star castrati Farfellino, in the role of Cleofide, and Giuseppe Appiani in the role of Poro’s sister Erissena.

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Carlo il Calvo
N. A. Porpora

Carlo il Calvo, 14 April 2020


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STAGE PERFORMANCE OF CARLO IL CALVO
directed by Max Emanuel Cencic:

September 3 - 8, 2020:
BAYREUTH BAROQUE OPERA FESTIVAL
Bayreuth (DE)
(3 performances)

September 1-5, 2021:
BAYREUTH BAROQUE OPERA FESTIVAL
Bayreuth (DE)
(3 performances)

WATCH:
Max Emanuel Cencic, Se tu la reggi al volo
Carlo il Calvo - Sinfonia
Duet - Julia Lezhneva & Franco Fagioli
Julia Lezhneva - Come nave in mezzo all onde
Nian Wang - Quelle che sente il core

 
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 plot takes us back to the early Middle Ages, when Charlemagne's Europe fell apart at the hands of his quarreling heirs. The peculiarity is that the title role is a child. In contrast to his colleagues, Porpora even lets it sing a few verses. Lothar the German, his stepbrother, grandson of Charlemagne, kidnaps the rightful heir to the throne in order to wrest his rule from him. This gives Karl's mother the opportunity to experience heartbreaking scenes of despair and breathtaking outbursts of emotion. A prime role for the Russian star soprano Julia Lezhneva. Max Emanuel Cencic incarnates Lothar who has been seduced to evil by a false adviser into pathological hysteria. Franco Fagioli, as the noble knight Adalgiso, has what it takes to put a stop to the tyrant and restore the divine order.

 

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Polifemo
N. A. Porpora

Polifemo, 20 August 2018

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.

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Xerxes
G. F. Handel

Xerxes, 15 August 2018

A boulevard comedy situated in high society circles - with two Baroque stars as rivals!
King Xerxes of Persia is excentric - he sings about a tree and loves women. He is acceptably engaged, yet desires his brother's mistress.


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STAGE PERFORMANCES OF XERXES
directed by Max Emanuel Cencic:

February 15 - 26, 2019:
BADISCHES STAATSTHEATER
Karlsruhe (DE)
(5 performances)

February 21 - 28, 2020:
BADISCHES STAATSTHEATER
Karlsruhe (DE)
(4 performances)

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La Donna del Lago
G. Rossini

La Donna del Lago – this production constitutes Max Emanuel Cencic's third opportunity to show his skills as stage director.


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STAGE PERFORMANCES OF LA DONNA DEL LAGO
directed by Max Emanuel Cencic:

April 22, 25, 27 and 29, 2018:
OPERA DE LAUSANNE
Lausanne (CH)
(4 performances)

April 12, 16, 18, 20, 23 and 25, 2019:
HRVATSKO NARODNO KAZALISTE U ZAGREBU
Zagreb (HR)
(6 performances)


Videos:
La Donna Del Lago - Max Emanuel Cencic (Malcolm)
La Donna Del Lago - Duett M. E. Cencic (Malcolm), Lena Belkina (Elena)
La Donna Del Lago, complete, on ArteTV (expired)
La Donna Del Lago excerpt (Duett M. E. Cencic (Malcolm), Lena Belkina (Elena)

Reviews:
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 20 april 2018
Luzerner Zeitung, 23 april 2018

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Arminio
G. F. Händel

Arminio – a heroic story, based on historical events occurring on the Germanic fringes of the Roman Empire, revived in a new and ravishing production by Parnassus Arts under their artistic director Max Emanuel Cencic.

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Ezio

Siroe
J. A. Hasse

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...

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