Carl Heinrich Graun’s “Adriano in Siria”—set to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio—is a compelling example of mid-18th-century opera seria, a genre that once dominated the European stage. First performed in Berlin in 1746, Graun’s setting was one of more than seventy opera settings of Metastasio’s libretto between 1732 and 1828, attesting to its immense popularity. This new live recording from {…}
(Photo: Stefan Gloede) The three-act opera “Orlando generoso” by Agostino Steffani, conducted by Dorothee Oberlinger and performed by Ensemble 1700 with an outstanding cast, shone as one of the highlights of the 2025 Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci. Premiered in 1691 in Hanover, the opera adapts a segment of Ludovico Ariosto’s “Orlando Furioso.” It is set in a fantasy version of China, {…}
(Photo credit: Stefan Gloede) The world premiere recording of Carl Heinrich Graun’s opera, “Adriano in Siria” is set to be released on June 13. “Adriano in Siria” was presented in a production by the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci and recorded in June 2024. The cast features the countertenor trio of Valer Sabadus, Bruno de Sá, and Federico Fiorio, alongside sopranos Roberta Mameli {…}
(Photo credits: Rial, Lores, & Guryanova) Knechtsteden Early Music Festival announces its 2025 line up. This article only features vocal concerts. The modern world premiere of Francesco Conti’s “La Colpa Originale” (“Original Sin”) stars Timothy Morgan, Jiayu Jin, David Tricou, Alice Lackner, and Luigi di Donato, with Ensemble 1700. Artist in residence Dorothee Oberlinger directs. A pre-concert talk is scheduled. {…}
(Photo: Birgit Gufler) Following on from the previous evening’s heavy and unremittingly dark production of Mattheson’s “Boris Goudenow,” the Innsbruck Early Music Festival continued with a fresh, vibrant, and colorful performance of Telemann’s one-act serenata “Pastorelle en Musique,” written between 1713 – 1716, based on Mollière’s “Les Amants magnifiques.” As with “Boris Goudenow” the work was lost and has only {…}