Opera

Il Primo Omicidio overo Cain

Like a flower of disease

Alessandro Scarlatti
Il Primo Omicidio overo Cain
René Jacobs
Conductor
Romeo Castellucci
Director
Kristina Hammarström
Caino
Olivia Vermeulen
Abel
Birgitte Christensen
Eva
Thomas Walker
Adamo
Benno Schachtner
Voce di Dio
Robert Gleadow
Voce de Lucifero
Sylvia Costa
Artistic collaboration
Christian Longchamp
Dramaturgy

The murder of Abel by his brother Cain is one of those subjects that fascinated a century preoccupied by theological matters. That first murder was to engender all humanity and cast the ambiguous figure of Cain in the role of the father of civilisation.

Scarlatti’s music evokes the fratricide with great gentleness, ‘like a flower of disease’. Master of the baroque repertoire, René Jacobs contributed to the rediscovery of unknown treasures, among which this rare Primo Omicidio, presented for the first time at the Paris Opera in direction of Romeo Castellucci.

A co-production with the Staatsoper Unter Den Linden, Berlin and the Teatro Massimo, Palermo.

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This production was realized with the support of the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, in collaboration with Casa Kafka Pictures Tax Shelter empowered by Belfius.

"René Jacobs und das ungemein mild und farbenreich musizierende Genter B’Rock Orchestra intensivieren diesen Blick paradoxerweise gerade durch die Schönheit der Musik bis an die Schmerzgrenze – Abels Abschiedsarie an Adam und Eva «Miei genitori, addio», begleitet von zwei obligaten Soloviolinen, wirdzum Höhepunkt des Abends"
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
"The musical star of the evening is the young B'Rock Orchestra from Belgium. Sweetness, refinement, dept of sound and range of colour. For them alone this is an evening worth hearing."
Financial Times
"Het was een uitermate ontroerende voorstelling, magnifiek gedragen door het Belgische B’Rock onder leiding van René Jacobs."
Trouw
"Normally I would be skeptical of expanding an orchestra simply for volume; it risks sacrificing the score’s details and texture. But, under Mr. Jacobs’s baton, B’Rock still sounded like a small chamber orchestra: nimble, clear, precise. And restrained, reserving its most powerful sound for dramatic effect, which added a sense of theater to a piece whose plot often verges on inertia."
New York Times
"B'Rock en René Jacobs zijn een match made in heaven."
Klara
Past shows
March 2, 2019 Saturday 13:30
Amsterdam, NL Concertgebouw
February 23, 2019 Saturday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 20, 2019 Wednesday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 17, 2019 Sunday 14:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 14, 2019 Thursday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 12, 2019 Tuesday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 9, 2019 Saturday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 6, 2019 Wednesday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
February 3, 2019 Sunday 14:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
January 31, 2019 Thursday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
January 26, 2019 Saturday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris
January 24, 2019 Thursday 19:30
Paris, FR Opéra de Paris