Issipile

With the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture and Media and the company "Kaufhaus Görlitz", the first performance in modern times of the only existing opera by the Venetian composer Antonio Bioni (1698-1741) could succeed. The composer of the Opera of  Wroclaw during the times of the Habsburg rule in Silesia wrote 24 operas for this theater, almost all of which have been lost. 

We could find one of them in the archive of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna and create an edition of the score. In partnership with the Opera in the Castle in Szczecin and with the participation of the Lusatian Baroque Ensemble, this opera could now be recorded (OP ENHEIM in Wroclaw beginning of October 2021) and filmed in the impressive ambience of Willa Lentza in Szczecin (14-17 October 2021).

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ONLINE PREMIERE OCTOBER 24, 2021, AT 8:00 PM

The Opera at the Castle in Szczecin invites you to an online spectacle!

There is a fee to access the performance, but you can choose between PLN 10 (€ 2), € 20 (€ 4.5) or PLN 50 (€ 11).

 

The baroque opera "Issipile" was composed in 1732 by Antonio Bioni - an Italian composer and singer who worked in Silesia and the Czech Republic. The libretto is by Pietro Metastasio - an Italian writer, librettist and poet at the Viennese court.

The composer spent part of his life in Wroclaw, where he created many works, including "Issipile". His work and artistic achievements fell into oblivion for several centuries. The premiere of the opera is an attempt to revive a valuable and unique cultural heritage and introduce the work of the Venetian composer to the Polish audience.

 

The plot of the opera is based on Greek mythology and takes place on the ancient island of Limnos. Issipile, the king's daughter, discovers a conspiracy plotted by the wives of the royal soldiers. Jealous, insulted and scorned, the women plan revenge and murder their husbands during the Bacchanal - a festival in honor of the god Bacchus. Issipile destroys these plans and saves her father's life, but that is not the end of the heroine's tragic fate.

Bioni's composition is a compelling story modeled on Greek dramas about love, vengeance, betrayal and pirates. The opera's beautiful libretto was often set to music by contemporary composers such as Scarlatti, Hasse and Gluck.

 

Antonio Bioni was a key figure in the development of baroque music in Wroclaw. After an impressive singing career in Venice, he was hired as a composer for the up-and-coming opera group in Prague. The team was extremely successful and expanded its activities in Wroclaw. In the years 1725-1734 Antonio Bioni was conductor of the Italian opera group in Breslau, for which he composed and staged 25 operas. Among the singers he worked with were the most famous musicians of the time, who also sang for operas by Vivaldi, Scarlatti or Handel. Although Bioni was one of the most important personalities of baroque music in Poland, none of the scores of his numerous operas composed in Wroclaw have survived. Now one of them has been able to be re-staged since its premiere almost 300 years ago.

 

The sound recording was carried out from September 29th to October 2nd, 2021 in OP ENHEIM in Wrocław.

This was followed by the staging as a video project on October 16, 2021 in the Willa Lentz in Stettin.

(from the website of the Opera at the Castle in Stettin)

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production

Opera na Zamku w Szczecinie in partnership with Ars-Augusta eV

Director: Piotr Jedrzejas

Costumes: Anna Adamiak

Conductor: Enrique Gómez-Cabrero Fernández

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Cast:

ISSIPILE        Merlind Pohl

RODOPE       Georgia Tryfona

EURINOMES     Małgorzata Przybysz

LEARCO       Roberto Jachini Virgili

GIASONE     Jakub Borowczyk

TOANTE      Jakub Borgiel

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The Lusatian baroque ensemble

Baroque violin: Helmut Riebl, Christophe  Mourault, Mateusz Janus, Katarzyna Cendlak

Viola: Karolina Janik, Dominika Garncarz

Baroque cello: Szczepan Dembiński

Double bass: Marcin Bajon

Theorbo: Maria Wilgos

Harpsichord: Adam Piotr Rorat

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