With miserly impresarios, egocentric dancers and capricious singers
Florian Leopold Gassmann: this name hardly rings a bell nowadays, even though this Bohemian composer could count Mozart and Salieri among his greatest fans. Gassmann worked in Vienna and was one of the exponents of the dramma giocoso in the period of transition between baroque and classical music. Together with the brilliant librettist Calzabigi, he wrote an irresistible opera in which nothing is what it seems. L’Opera Seria (1769) presents a portrait of an opera house feverishly preparing for an imminent production. With its affected libretti, miserly impresarios, egocentric dancers and capricious singers, this disguised opera buffa skilfully parodies the waning seria genre. René Jacobs explores Gassmann’s lyrical talent and the production is directed by the Anglo-Irish uomo universale Patrick Kinmonth. The musicians of B’Rock and a superb cast of soloists step into the shoes of their fictional 18th-century predecessors.
Production: De Munt/La Monnaie