Fabio Biondi directs Les Arts Vivica Genaux in the opera 'Piramo e Tisbe', by Hasse
13.06.2017
Fabio Biondi conducts the mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux in 'Piramo e Tisbe', by Johann Adolph Hasse, which the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía will offer in a concert-spectacle version on June 15 at the Auditori.
The director Palermo introduces this 'raresa' of the last Baroque into the Les Arts repertoire, which he will present in 2010 with the second Europa Galante formation at the prestigious Pentecost Festival in Salzburg.
'Piramo e Tisbe' is a 'Tragic Intermezzo' in two acts, based on one of the stories from 'Les Metamorfosis' by Ovidi, with music by Johann Adolf Hasse on a poem, in Italian, by Marco Coltellini. The rich orchestration and elegant 'vocalità' make the 1768 score one of the most appreciated works of the German composer.
The opera narrates the last day of life of the young lovers Pyramus and Thisbe, inhabitants of Babylon and family of two rival families, who are soon going to be friends. Ovidi tells that, after the prohibition of their loves, Pyramus and Thisbe will only be able to communicate through a narrow gap in a wall that separates their seus cossos and their seus desitjos.
William Shakespeare is the author of the most famous version of the story of the misfortunes of lovers, performed - in the form of a comedy - by a group of rustics in 'The Sleep of a Summer Night'. Later, Benjamin Britten would also perform the passage of 'Piramo e Tisbe' in the second operatic adaptation of the Shakespearean comedy, which Les Arts will premiere in 2016.
Stars of the repertoire
Vivica Genaux debuts at Les Arts with the role of Píramo, who has previously sung in Salzburg, Vienna and Cracovia under the direction of Fabio Biondi. The North American mezzo-soprano is one of the great dives of the baroque and bel canto repertoire, thanks to her extraordinary timbre and formidable technique.
In her more than 20 years of career, both in recording and in major theaters and auditoriums, Vivica Genaux has performed more than 60 papers, with leading directors such as Alan Curtis, René Jacobs, Kurt Masur and the mate Fabio Biondi.
The soprano Valentina Farcas sings the role of Thisbe. The Bucharest performer, who also made her debut at Les Arts, has worked with the most prominent directors on the scene: Riccardo Chailly, Nikolas Harnoncourt, Kurt Masur, Kiril Petrenko and Christian Thielemann. Among his most recent successes, the recording, under the baton of Fabio Biondi, of 'I Capuleti and Montecchi', by Bellini, together with the mate Vivica Genaux, stands out.
There is the cast Emanuele d'Aguanno, who appears next to Thisbe, a role that the Italian tenor has previously sung in Salzburg and Vienna with Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante.
Emilio López signs the scenic concept of this concert-spectacle. The young stage director, who has performed work in Valencia for 'Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher', by Honegger, or the spectacle homage to Lucrezia Bori, has recently premiered a new production of 'La malquerida', by Manuel Penella, and will return to Les Arts in the 2017-2018 Season to present a new production from 'Madama Butterfly', by Puccini, October 11.
The arts center reminds that the prices of the locations for 'Piramo e Tisbe' range between 30 and 45 euros.
