Krystian Adam

Thetis, mother of Achilles, disguises her son as a woman to hide him in the court of King Lycomedes of Scyros and prevent him being sent off to the Trojan War. The plan begins to come apart when Achilles, incapable of subduing his virility, falls in love with Princess Deidamia. Disguise and transvestism have been an essential part of opera plots from the Venetian origins of the genre. In line with this tradition, the story of Achilles on the Island of Scyros inspired more than 30 compositions for voice based on Metastasio’s libretto of 1737. The Italian composer Francesco Corselli was a key figure in Spanish opera of the 18th century. As Kapellmeister of the Royal Chapel of Madrid for nearly 30 years, he was the principal supplier of opera to the Spanish court. Some of these were under the artistic direction of the famous castrato Farinelli.

Francesco Cavalli, a natural successor to Monteverdi, was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante (‘Hercules in Love’) was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq.

Le metteur en scène David McVicar fait ressortir les éléments révolutionnaires présents dans le grand opéra-bouffe de Mozart, où se mêlent intrigues, malentendus et pardon.

1764. Dans une Venise libertine, le musicien et compositeur Josef Myslivecek, surnommé "Il Boemo", ne parvient pas à percer malgré son talent. Sa liaison avec une femme de la cour lui permet d’accéder à son rêve et de composer un opéra. Dès lors sa renommée grandit, mais jusqu’où ira-t-il ? La vie, l’œuvre et les frasques d’un compositeur de génie oublié que le jeune Mozart admirait.