Hasse's opera Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
About the Event
The Accademia Bizantina, under the baton of Ottavio Dantone, invites two of today’s most outstanding voices to perform the roles of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra: French contralto Delphine Galou, with a low, velvety timbre, and the renowned young Valer Barna‐Sabadus.
The Accademia Bizantina is one of the best Italian chamber orchestras on the scene at present. Specialising in repertoires from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it has been directed by the harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone since 1996. Under his expert guidance, the Accademia Bizantina has carried out important research work and an aesthetic approach to Baroque music, specialising in the rediscovery and performance of operas. Their Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra project runs along these lines, rediscovering the original idea of the opera by Johann Adolph Hasse, one of the most important and successful operatic composers of the 18th century. For the roles of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, the Accademia Bizantina invites two of the most outstanding voices of the moment to perform: French contralto Delphine Galou, with a low, velvety timbre and gifted with a technique that allows her to perform the most virtuoso roles and the young Valer Barna‐Sabadus, whose voice is crystal clear and with an androgynous quality that ranks him amongst the world’s top countertenors. Just like in its premiere in Naples in 1725, the two soloists will perform the opera with their roles reversed: Galou will be Marc Antony and Barna‐Sabadus, Cleopatra.
Cast / Production
Accademia Bizantina
Delphine Galou, contralto
Valer Barna‐Sabadus, countertenor
Ottavio Dantone, conductor
