Opera productions
Treasures from the cultural heritage of the region and Europe
Ars Augusta eV is based in the European city of Görlitz-Zgorzelec, between Poland and Germany and in a cultural region of Europe with a rich past: Bohemia, Silesia and above all Saxony. Many of these treasures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but also from the 19th and 20th centuries, have been lost or forgotten. These works connect us with the the rest of Europe through fascinating connections and have a unifying effect. In the past few years we have had the pleasure of rediscovering some of these operas and presenting them, mostly as first performances, with international casts. The journey continues: in 2023 the association creates a "Company" inspired by the Italian and English comedy troupes of the 17th-18th centuries.
Antonio Lotti | GIOVE IN ARGO
The first performance of the opera took place in 2019 (300 years after the premiere during the Planetary Festival (Planetenfeste, Dresden 1719) in the Theater "Henryk Wieniawski" in Szczawno Zdrój in Polen and in the Palais im Großer Garten in Dresden (September 2019). The opera was performed again in 2020 in Gerhart Hauptmann Theater, sponsored by Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik eV, Kaufhaus Görlitz, Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Lower Silesia. More:
Antonio Bioni | ISSIPILE
The first performance in modern times of the opera in three acts "Issipile" (libretto: Pietro Metastasio) by the Venetian Antonio Bioni (1698-1741), court composer of the opera in Wroclaw, took place in 2021 in collaboration with the opera in the castle of Szczecin. Eleni Ioannidou is responsible for transcribing the score from the archive of the Association of Friends of Music in Vienna and selecting the artists. The opera was filmed in Willa Lentz in Stettin. The project was mainly funded by the Polish Ministry of Culture. More:
Max Marshalk | THE ELF
The mono-act by Max Marschalk (1863-1940) "Das Wichtelchen" was written in 1900 and combines the elements of naturalism and fairytale theater. It is the first and only performance of a work by the composer from among the brothers Carl and Gerhart Hauptmann. The opera was performed and filmed with piano accompaniment in the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus Municipal Museum in the Giant Mountains. The project was funded by the representative for culture and media in the Silesian Museum in Görlitz (cultural department for Silesia).
Johann Christoph Richter & J.A. Hasse
IL RE PASTORE
In search of material that could promote cultural understanding in the region, we discovered two settings of Metastasio's libretto "il Re Pastore": one by JAHasse premiered in Hubertusburg 1955 and Warsaw 1762. In the same year the unknown Dresden composer Johann Christoph Richter wrote the same opera in German. Funded by the Performing Arts Fund from funds provided by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR , we researched Richter and theater culture in Dresden around 1762. As part of a workshop for young musicians, we presented in September (as part of of the 33rd Silesian Music Festival) scenes from the opera. The "Country Music" project of the German Music Council was gFunded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media based on a resolution of the German Bundestag.
current project
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
LA SERVA PADRONA
After many successful opera projects with young musicians, the association will found a Campania di opera in 2023. "Impresario" will be Eleni Ioannidou. The singers are usually selected as part of the "Bolko von Hochberg" song competition, and they are then hired for the company's projects for two years. The Lusatian Baroque Ensemble becomes the official ensemble of the troupe. The first project presented is Gian Battista Pergolesi's intermezzo "La serva padrona" in the Zeliszow Pearl. Time: Pentecost 2023. More information soon.