VALLETTA EARLY OPERA FESTIVAL PRESENTS
MOZART'S FIRST OPERA
APOLLO ET
HYACINTHUS
IN COLLABORATION WITH
MOZART'S FIRST OPERA
APOLLO ET
HYACINTHUS
VALLETTA EARLY OPERA FESTIVAL PRESENTS
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Date
10 & 11 November 2023
Time
7:00pm
Duration
1 hr 15 minutes
Language
Latin
Venue
Teatru Manoel, Valletta
Price
€20 - €50
Apollo et Hyacinthus
Apollo et Hyacinthus is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) first venture into opera and was composed when Mozart was merely 11 years old.
Despite his young age, this opera already showed evident signs of mastery with the musical form. Rarely performed, this opera is based on the story of Hyacinth and Apollo from Greek mythology which tells the tale of the love between Apollo and the young Spartan prince Hyacinth, as well as the murder of Hyacinth due to Zephyrus’ jealousy.
In this interpretation of Apollo et Hyacinthus, Director Fabio Ceresa gives a new flavour to Mozart’s piece through an opulent rendition of the opera complemented by set and costume design by Giuseppe Palella.
CREATIVE TEAM
Giulio Prandi
Conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Music
Rufinus Widl (1731-1798)
Libretto
Fabio Ceresa
Director
Giuseppe Palella
Costume & Set Designer
CAST
SUPPORTED BY
This rendition of Mozart’s first opera will be performed at the Teatru Manoel, one of the undisputed jewels of Baroque architecture in the Maltese Islands. This historic venue which also holds the title of Europe’s oldest fully functioning theatre has been operating since 1731 and has been home to events of significant importance within Malta’s cultural and political history.
TICKETS
Standard Ticket Prices
Concession Prices
Category 1
€50
€25
Category 2
€30
€15
Category 3
€20
€10
Concessions are applicable to senior citizens (over 60 years), persons with a disability* (on presentation of a valid disability card), students (on presentation of student card), European Youth Card holders (on presentation of card), and minors (between 11 -16 years).
*Persons with a disability can send an email to christian.debono.2@festivals.mt for a complimentary companion ticket (on presentation of a valid disability card).
FOREWORDS
FRANS AGIUS
Apollo et Hyacinthus is yet another performance produced by Festivals Malta– this time under the umbrella of the Valletta Early Opera Festival. For this first edition of the Valletta Early Opera Festival, we are proud to be producing Apollo et Hyacinthus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s first opera.
Since it was first shown to an audience in Salzburg in 1767, Apollo et Hyacinthus has rarely been performed, with it often being left by the wayside in favour of his later masterpieces such as Le Nozze Di Figaro and Così Fan Tutte. It is for this reason that the festival’s Artistic Director Kenneth Zammit Tabona selected this particular production to be the first performance of the festival; to expose local audiences and people visiting the Maltese Islands to a work which is somewhat unfamiliar to even the most seasoned of opera-goers.
This interpretation of Apollo et Hyacinthus which is directed by renowned Italian Opera Director Fabio Ceresa promises to give a new spin on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s first opera. This year, we are happy to be partnering up with our long-term collaborators Teatru Manoel to bring this opera to their stage with local and foreign opera performers and musicians who have shared their talents on some of the most renowned stages in the world of opera.
As the national government body dedicated to the nurturing and growth of festivals and cultural events in Malta and Gozo, Festivals Malta is proud to be providing a platform for audiences to experience some of opera’s finest, as well as promoting cross-cultural collaboration. Without further ado, enjoy the hard work and creativity that is bringing you this unique performance of Apollo et Hyacinthus.
FESTIVALS MALTA CEO
KENNETH ZAMMIT TABONA
After Monteverdi patented the operatic form that we still recognize today in the 18th century, the genre took the civilized world by storm and composers and librettists were working round the clock to keep their aristocratic patrons happy with fabulous stories mostly taken from mythology.
This year, the Valletta Early Opera Festival is proud to be presenting Mozart’s first opera Apollo et Hyacinthus. The work was composed to a Latin libretto by Rufinus Widl is more of an intermezzo inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphosis and deals with love and jealousy leading to the accidental death of the handsome Hyacinth and his metamorphosis into the eponymous flower.
Mozart was just eleven years old when he composed this lovely work. Apollo et Hyacinthus is a rare, but very beautiful piece written by a child prodigy whose works have enchanted their listeners for over two centuries. Even though the work was composed when Mozart was so young, it still contains baroque musical elements and references.
It is an ideal production for a theatre such as the Teatru Manoel which, despite its subsequent history, still displays strong references to the architectural maxims established by the Galli-Bibiena family whose name is still synonymous with operatic architecture till this day.
As Apollo et Hyacinthus takes the Teatru Manoel stage with a team with a visual and conceptual direction that puts an emphasis on expounding beauty with a capital ‘B’, I invite you to sit down and marvel at the opera that paved the way for The Marriage of Figaro (1786) and Don Giovanni (1787).
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Apollo
Filippo Mineccia
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Hyacinthus
Federico Fiorio
Melia
Claire Debono
Zephyrus
Danilo Pastore
Oebalus
Raffaele Giordani
Sacerdos
Albert Buttigieg
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Ensemble