ARMIDA | JOSEPH HAYDN
The opera Armida takes us into a world of bizarre magic and taxing relationship fights. What will a young woman do when the man she loves tries to impress her with his heroic fantasies? Or if she is promised to the winner of the upcoming battle? Armida counters this state of warmongering and swindling with love and honesty by using magical skills. She forces the self-confident warriors to question their dreams of manly heroism. Then, however, she starts doubting the role she has been given as seductive sorceress.
Joseph Haydn’s last and most popular opera written for the opera house in Esterháza fuels enormous natural phenomena within the orchestra and explores the complex emotional worlds of the characters in touching arias and ensembles. Haydn corresponds to the passionate entanglements by continuously breaking up the traditional order of recitative and aria and moving to upsized scenes of musical drama instead. Brilliant coloraturas and touching musical narration particularly challenge the young singers of the Opera Studio at Bregenz Festival but with conductor Jonathan Brandani they have an experienced partner at their side. Director Jörg Lichtenstein and stage and costume designer Nikolaus Webern, who are acclaimed for their production of La Nozze di Figaro at Bregenz Festival in 2018, will now dedicate themselves to Armida’s magical world.
-bregenzerfestspiele.com
