“Apollo et Hyacinthus” is a new production by La Fenice in collaboration with the Venice Academy of Fine Arts. “Apollo et Hyacinthus” is considered the first operatic work by a barely 11-year-old Mozart. It is a short mythological drama consisting of five arias, two duets, a trio and a chorus, all linked by recitatives. It was inspired by a libretto by the Benedictine monk Rufinus Widl and reworks the love affair of Apollo and Hyacinthus, told in The Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid.
On May 13, 1767 it was staged during intermissions of Wild’s tragedy “Clementia Croesi“, and the singers were his students from the Salzburg Gymnasium, which explains the use of Latin for the text. Despite the small scale and non-professional status of its young first performers, it shows how early the budding composer mastered the latest opera techniques of the eighteenth century.
Conductor of the Teatro La Fenice Orchestra is Giancarlo Andretta, and Cecilia Ligorio is the director. The artistic cast includes Raffaele Pe (Apollo), Kangmin Justin Kim (Hyacinthus), Krystian Adam (Oebalus), Barbara Massaro (Melia), and Luigi Schifano (Zephyrus).
Website: www.teatrolafenice.it
Location: Malibran Theater, Venice
Schedule: October 7 -15, 2022