Music Theater Studio at the Anton Bruckner Private University

Opera in three acts based on an original by Niccolò Minato and Silvio Stampiglia
Production of the music theatre studio
29 and 30 April 2017 at the Redoutensäle in Linz
5 and 6 May 2017 at the Stadttheater Bad Hall
Performance in Italian with German surtitles
Duration 90 minutes

Information about the play

Handel's third-last opera about the amorous entanglements of the ancient King Xerxes became famous not least for the aria "ombra ma fui". George Frideric Handel's late work (premièred in 1738) about the eponymous despot is peppered with electrifying music and its ambivalent characters are astonishingly modern. They explore the abysses between love and hate, between dictatorship and freedom in a rousing dialogue with and against each other.

In its combination of drama and absurdity, of inherited power and personal resistance, Xerxes is thrilling to the last note.

Xerxes, along with Julius Caesar one of the most frequently performed of Handel's 42 operas today, was premiered in London in April 1738 and was a failure despite the now famous Largo "Ombra mai fu".

Audiences at the time missed the great dacapo arias, as many of the arias are in one part and short.

However, Handel's Xerxes is an enduring and cheerful opera that moves between comedy and tragedy, with the music very clearly expressing the emotions of its very human characters.
 

Content:

In his army camp in the hinterland, the emotionally unstable Xerxes raves about the shade-giving loveliness of a tree. When he hears the voice of a stranger singing from afar, he immediately falls in love with the owner of this voice, even though he has never seen her before. At first he wants to make her his lover, but then he prefers to marry her straight away.

This decision causes problems. For one thing, Xerxes is already betrothed to a distant princess called Amastre. Secondly, his brother Arsamenes already has a passionate love affair with the beautiful singer, Romilda.

To complicate matters further, Romilda's sister Atalanta is also in love with Arsamenes and is prepared to use all sorts of tricks to steal him away from her sister.

If that's not intricate enough, you'll be pleased to learn that Xerxes' fiancée Amastre has disguised herself as a man in his army in order to be closer to her lover, whom she rightly doesn't quite trust, without being recognised.

And so all the ingredients are already in place that make up a typical baroque tale of mistaken identity, love and revenge and which inspired Handel to write a wealth of sensational melodies.
 

Conductor

Musical direction & harpsichord, Thomas Kerbl
Musical rehearsals & accompaniment, Sigurd Hennemann, Oksana Kuzo, Yoko Takahashi, Sergey Kim
Staging, Peter Pawlik
Costumes, Susanne Kerbl
Make-up, Anita Bachl
 

Cast

Xerxes, King of Persia Juhyuk Kim (05 May) / Markus Stumpner (06 May)
Arsamenes, Romilda's lover Domen Fajfar
Amastre, Xerxes' bride Mariana Pedrozo (05 May) / Katrin Hubinger (06 May)
Romilda, Ariodate's daughter Makoto Yoshizawa (05 May) / Kie Kanazawa (06 May)
Atalanta, daughter of Ariodate Akine Matsumoto
Ariodate, Captain of Xerxes Navid Taheri (05 May) / Thomas Schneider (06 May)
Elviro, Arsamenes' servant Miroslav Mehandzhiev

Pöstlingberg Quartet of the Anton Bruckner Private University:
Violin 1 Veronika Tief
Violin 2 Maria Elisabeth Köstler
Viola Lucia Schwendinger
Violoncello Gunther Skala, Beatriz González-Crespo

Enjoy!