(Credit: © Matthias Baus)

The Staatsoper Stuttgart has announced the upcoming premiere of Antonio Vivaldi’s oratorio “Juditha Triumphans.”

The oratorio will star five mezzo-sopranos including Stine Marie Fischer as Holofernes, Diana Haller as Vagaus, Gaia Petrone as Abra, Alexandra Urquiola as Ozias, and Rachael Wilson in the title role. Benjamin Bayl conducts a production by Silvia Costa.

Vivaldi’s oratorio hold a special place in the history of music. The story of the radiantly beautiful Hebrew widow Juditha, who seduces the general Holofernes and cuts off his head with his own sword, has long been a popular European self-defense myth.

Director Silvia Costa studied fine arts and theater in Venice and comes from the artistic environment of the famed director Romeo Castellucci.

Their joint work resulted in productions such as “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher” at the Opéra de Lyon, “Tannhäuser” at the Bayerische Staatsoper, “Das Floß der Medusa” at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, “Salome” at the Salzburg Festival, “Die Zauberflöte” at La Monnaie in Brussels, “Il primo omicidio” at the Opéra national de Paris, and Mozart’s Requiem at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, among others.

The oratorio opens on Jan. 16, and is set to last through March 12, 2022.