“When I had to approach the figure and the theme of Ariodante, I felt challenged with the fact that Ariodante is a real warrior. He is a brave vassal, integrated within the social structures of his time and a reasonable man. But he becomes vulnerable and weak as he believes that his love Ginevera, the daughter of Scotland’s king, cheated on him. It is a story of deep and honest love – a universal theme that can be transposed to our present time. It deals with the vulnerability and sensitivity of men. The story is full of contrasts: nocturnal intrigues and daylight happiness. It is a transition from endless joy to endless heartbreak. It is a game between love and power. Fortunately, in the end, truth and love triumph, and the lovers live happily ever after”, says Cecilia Bartoli, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and protagonist of the opera Ariodante.
Cecilia Bartoli as Ariodante, Photos Salzburg Festival/Monika Rittershaus
Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler is looking forward to the Whitsun Festival: “Thanks to the personality of our artistic director Cecilia Bartoli, the festival has developed a very special radiance. Her energy, her imagination and her musicological pioneering spirit turn these four days into a special experience every time. It is, in short, a total work of art – exactly what one longs for.”
Cecilia Bartoli
The 2017 Salzburg Whitsun Festival takes the audience to Scotland – to a mythical, romantic world of enchantment. In her sixth Whitsun Festival programme, Cecilia Bartoli juxtaposes the view of Romanticism wide-spread in the German-language region with the Italian perspective.
For the first time, Cecilia Bartoli takes on a trouser role: the Nordic hero Ariodante, giving her a chance to portray the emotional states and feelings of a loving man. Handel’s opera is directed by Christof Loy, whom Bartoli calls “a magician who knows how to translate the inner workings of the characters’ souls into stage action, and how to fascinate the audience with his gentle, never obvious manner.” The new production is prefaced by a quotation from Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.
In addition to Cecilia Bartoli, the cast includes Nathan Berg, Kathryn Lewek, Norman Reinhardt, Christophe Dumaux, Sandrine Piau, Kristofer Lundin and the Salzburg Bach Choir.
Gianluca Capuano conducts Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco.
Cecilia Bartoli
Why has Cecilia Bartoli founded a new orchestra: “During my project ‘St. Petersburg’ I got inspired by the tradition of European court music of the 17th and 18th century, when every European court, every prince or tsar (or tsarina) engaged and maintained their own chapels and orchestras. I thought it would be wonderful to recreate such an orchestra. One day we were discussing new projects with the Opera of Monte-Carlo and there was the click: why not create a new orchestra with period instruments, under the protection of the Prince of Monaco? – We presented the idea to Prince Albert II, and he and Princess Carolina of Hanover were immediately supporting the project. We brought together the best musicians from all over the world I have met along my career and created “Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco” – an ensemble of excellent and enthusiastic musicians, all of them highly recognized professionals and specialists. Last year, we already started with a brilliant European tour with a Handel program and got fantastic reviews. And this year we celebrate the debut of the Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. I am very excited!”
After the premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante, Saturday offers an orchestral concert: Antonio Pappano conducts works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. Tatiana Serjan and Bryn Terfel are the soloists.
Cecilia Bartoli
That evening, the stage at the Großes Festspielhaus is taken over by the dancers of the ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg. Moonlight, mysterious creatures on a forest clearing, weightless pointe dancing and delicate tutus – such are the ingredients of romantic ballet, a genre that was born with La Sylphide.
On Whitsunday, the programme goes beyond the Scotland theme to pay tribute to Anne-Sophie Mutter’s debut exactly 40 years ago at Whitsun in Salzburg, when Herbert von Karajan first engaged the 13-year-old violinist. In her anniversary concert, Anne-Sophie Mutter plays works by Franz Schubert and Antonio Vivaldi. She, in turn, thereby gives talented young artists the chance to make their Salzburg debuts by appearing with the string ensemble Mutter’s Virtuosi, which unites fellows of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
After the anniversary concert by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Cecilia Bartoli hosts a Charity Lunch at the Karl-Böhm-Saal. The award-winning chef Johanna Maier and her sons have created a special early-summer menu for the Festival and its guests. The net revenue of the lunch will benefit the Salzburg Festival’s youth programmes and the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
In the evening, a concert performance of Gioachino Rossini’s opera La donna del lago follows at the Haus für Mozart. With this work, Rossini initiated the heyday of operas with Scottish themes. Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco are conducted by Gianluca Capuano. In addition to Cecilia Bartoli, the cast includes Edgardo Rocha, Vivica Genaux, Norman Reinhardt, Nathan Berg, Laura Verena Incko, Reinaldo Macias, Daniel Giulianini and the Salzburg Bach Choir.
The matinee of arias on Whitsun Monday features settings of texts about Orlando by Nicola Porpora, Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel. Max Emanuel Cencic, one of the leading countertenors of our time, makes his Salzburg Festival debut.
The Salzburg Whitsun Festival ends with a second performance of Handel’s Ariodante on Whitsun Monday, 05 June 2017. (from Press Release)
Marijan Zlobec