Thetis, mother of Achilles, disguises her son as a woman to hide him in the court of King Lycomedes of Scyros and prevent him being sent off to the Trojan War. The plan begins to come apart when Achilles, incapable of subduing his virility, falls in love with Princess Deidamia. Disguise and transvestism have been an essential part of opera plots from the Venetian origins of the genre. In line with this tradition, the story of Achilles on the Island of Scyros inspired more than 30 compositions for voice based on Metastasio’s libretto of 1737. The Italian composer Francesco Corselli was a key figure in Spanish opera of the 18th century. As Kapellmeister of the Royal Chapel of Madrid for nearly 30 years, he was the principal supplier of opera to the Spanish court. Some of these were under the artistic direction of the famous castrato Farinelli.
The work was given its first performance in Rome in 1812. It is still unclear whether Rossini was 14 or 18 when he wrote it; what is beyond doubt, however, is the anticipation of great things to come. The libretto is a far-fetched tale of feuding kings, mistaken identities, disguises and cruel fates typical of the late 18th-century opera seria. Young stage director Davide Livermore, heading a production of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino, turns the libretto into a ghost story, setting the action behind the stage of an opera house, when everyone has left and all that remains are the spirits of an opera that yearns for the breath of life much like the practically forgotten Demetrio e Polibio itself.
Zambri
The Biblical story of Belshazzar's hubristic arrogance, set against the valour of the young warrrior-leader Cyrus, provided the 20-year-old Rossini with a dramatic story enriched by West-Eastern implications which still speak to us today. For the title role of Cyrus, Rossini wrote what would be his longest-ever contralto role, to which the great Rossini singer Ewa Podles´ is both naturally attracted and ideally suited. She is partnered by two young stars of Rossini singing, Jessica Pratt and Michael Spyres, and a conductor-scholar, Will Crutchfield, of great experience and sympathy. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound.
Leucippo
Juan Diego Flórez protagoniza la única versión disponible en DVD de Zelmira, filmada en el célebre Festival Rossini en la ciudad natal del compositor, Pesaro. La última ópera que Rossini escribió para Nápoles es un tour de force dramático y musical y un escaparate magnífico para la superestrella del bel canto de nuestro tiempo. Grabado en alta definición en el Festival de 2009, la producción de Giorgio Barberio Corsettis sitúa el cuento clásico, ambientado en la Guerra de Troya, en los tiempos modernos y en el vestir actual Junto a Juan Diego Flórez se encuentra un importante elenco internacional, descrito como casi milagroso por Opera Today y encabezado por la mezzosoprano estadounidense Kate Aldrich en el virtuoso papel principal. Pero la velada siguió siendo otro triunfo distinguido de Juan Diego Flórez como Príncipe Ilo, cuya llegada a su patria, para rescatar a Zelmira, estuvo marcada por un deslumbrante espectáculo tenorial que suscitó una ovación de casi veinte minutos.
Raimondo
Live from the Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova 2003
