(Photo: Eva Werner) In 1753, Niccolò Jommelli moved to Stuttgart under Duke Karl Eugen. Collaborating with court poet Mattia Verazi, Jommelli modified Pietro Metastasio’s famous libretto to pioneer bold dramatic reforms. Utilizing the city’s elite singers and virtuosic orchestra, this creative hub culminated in the February 1763 Stuttgart premiere of Jommelli’s third version of “Didone abbandonata.” It is clear that {…}
(Photo: Viktoria Kühne) The 2026 biennial Magdeburg Telemann Festival reached its zenith this week, offering a rewarding musical marathon that spanned centuries of political and musical history. Over the course of a single day, the festival presented two contrasting faces of Georg Philipp Telemann: the celebratory architect of Habsburg dynastic splendor and the pragmatic, experimental operatic bridge-builder. From the daylight {…}
(Photo: Szofi Raffay) Domènec Terradellas, a composer born in 1711 in Catalonia, remains a somewhat elusive figure in the case of 18th-century opera. Following training at the prestigious Naples conservatory, his music flourished in Italy and London prior to his untimely death in suspicious circumstances in 1751. His “La Merope,” a testament to the abiding popularity of Merope’s tragic tale, {…}
(Photo: Studio B12) The advertising poster for the Cremona Monteverdi Festival’s production of “L’Orfeo” included the picture “Happy Hours” by Jean Lecointre. It depicts a woman with continuous streams of tears pouring from her eyes into a glass of wine, or does it? Could it be the reverse situation? Maybe the streams are moving in the opposite direction from the {…}