Philippe Jaroussky Completely Unofficial

In the first two centuries of the burgeoning genre of opera, especially, Ovid’s cosmos and many other topics from antiquity provided the sources for an inestimable wealth of music. Breathtakingly virtuoso and grippingly emotional, this new art form also revealed playful lightness, subtle humour and an unbridled zest for transformation; features that led to the emergence of the pasticcio, whereby a new work was assembled from extant pieces by one or more composers. The original plot elements were adapted, or a completely new story was invented around the selected pieces of music. This open and versatile form of opera and oratorio had its heyday in Italy in the first half of the 18th century. Antonio Vivaldi himself combined his own compositions with those of other composers in his pasticcio Il Tamerlano (Il Bajazet). The unique variety of Vivaldi’s arias, ensembles and choruses, music with a particularly powerful emotional charge, forms the basis for Hotel Metamorphosis, a pasticcio for our times recounting individual episodes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The transformations of mythical figures become wondrous events that happen to present-day people. Vivaldi’s orchestral music, frequently foregrounding individual instruments, offers a colourful spectrum through which to transform Ovid’s stories into dance and movement. Traversing these different worlds as the narrator is the figure of Orpheus. With Varduhi Abrahamyan, Lea Desandre and Philippe Jaroussky, Cecilia Bartoli has assembled an outstanding vocal cast for this pasticcio. The singers embody various figures who experience their own transformations and those of others. Sharing the stage with them is actor Angela Winkler. Vivaldi expert Gianluca Capuano, a regular guest in Salzburg for many years, conducts Les Musiciens du Prince — Monaco. Director Barrie Kosky returns to the Festival with this special project, following his acclaimed productions of Orphée aux enfers and Káťa Kabanová.