The "father of German poetry", the most important son of Bunzlaus (today Bolesławiec) was one of the first and like no other to define the foundations for the literature of the German-speaking area and thus achieved great things for the history of this literature. After an initial collaboration with Heinrich Schütz, Martin Opitz began a long and fruitful collaboration with many composers of his time. Heinrich Schütz wrote the first German opera based on his libretto from a translation of the original text (by Rinuncini) of "Daphne". ​ Schütz, a composer best known to us for his outstanding madrigals, set 12 of Opitz's poems to music. But also other composers who worked in Saxony, such as Andreas Hammerschmidt, who came from Bohemia and lived in Zittau, and Constantin Dedekind, who worked in Dresden. This fact led us to name the project of a homage to Martin Opitz "The Silesian Apollo". 

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​A project of the "ACADEMIA Ars Augusta", the institution dedicated by the Ars Augusta association for deepening the art of early music, was dedicated to Martin Opitz in 2021. 10 outstanding musicians (5 instrumentalists and 5 singers) sang a selection of madrigals that are settings of Martin Opitz's poems. We invited Prof. Britta Schwarz (vocals), Enrique Gomez-Cabrero Fernandez (historical performance practice) and Michele Cinquina (lute) as lecturers. After completing the workshop at PEREGRINUS in Görlitz, a concert (in scenic form with stage elements and costumes) was held under the direction of the club chairman and opera singer Eleni Ioannidou in the baroque Rammenau Castle and in the Pearl of Zeliszow (former Protestant church in Giersdforf) near Bunzlau .  The translation of Martin Opitz's poems was carried out by Emil Mendyk. A second product of the project is the first sound recording of 10 Opitzian songs by Constantin Dedekind. ​

 

The project was funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media through the Cultural Department for Silesia at the Silesian Museum in Görlitz and the Central German Baroque Music in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia e.V. ​

 

A production by Eleni Ioannidou and Ars-Augusta e.V. Conductor: Enrique Gómez-Cabrero Fernández

 

Director: Eleni Ioannidou

Costumes: Anna Utko ​

 

The ensemble ​

Shira Miriam Cohen | soprano

Anna Bachleitner | soprano

Ioulia Spanou | alto

Roberto Jachini Virgili | tenor

Nathaniel Kondrat | bass ​

 

Enrique Gómez-Cabrero Fernández  | Lecturer, conductor and first baroque violin

Lukas Hamberger | 2.Baroque violin

Ela Kaluchiewicz | Viola da gamba

Michele Cinquina | Theorbo

Dimitri Dimitrov | organ  ​ ​

 

Partner: Baroque castle Rammenau

PEREGRINUS Youth Hostel Görlitz

Evangelical inner community of Görlitz “Your Heritage” Foundation