Name: Betulia liberata, KV 118
Start: 2006-08-18T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2006-08-18T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Felsenreitschule

Organization

Singer

Tenor

Rainer Trost

Ozia

Contralto

Marijana Mijanovic

Giuditta

Soprano

Julia Kleiter

Amital

Bass

Franz-Josef Selig

Achior

Irena Bespalovaite

Cabri

Jennifer Johnston

Carmi

Conductor

Christoph Poppen

Chorus master

Andreas Schüller

Stage director

David Hermann

Costume designer

Dorothea Nicolai

Salzburger Festspiele

Others

Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor

Orchestra

Münchener Kammerorchester

Betulia liberata, KV 118 -  (Betulia Liberated)

Salzburg

Austria

Felsenreitschule

Is tyrannicide a legitimate political tool? Mozart dealt with this question as early as 1771 when he created the azione sacra "Betulia liberata", a kind of sacred opera that was to be performed without stage design and costumes.

General Holofernes wants to take the Jewish city of Betulia, he has the place surrounded and the wells sealed. In this hopeless situation, the widow Judith dares to enter the enemy camp, she sneaks up on Holofernes' trust, arouses his desire - and after the joint banquet cuts off his head. A sinner? A saint?

The early reception of Mozart's oratorio is obscure. A noble music lover from Padua is said to have commissioned the work, which uses a text by Metastasio; However, it was not Mozart's score that was performed in Padua, but a colleague's setting of the same name. Mozart must have appreciated the composition, which is one of the most groundbreaking of his Italian period, even in his mature years, because in July 1784, thirteen years after it was composed, he asked in a letter that "the old oratorio Betulia liberata" be sent to him like - "perhaps I could use a little bit of it here and there". And again the traces fizzle out, there are no indications of a Viennese performance or reworking of the original youth work,

Betulia liberata Mozart

Public

Betulia Liberated

Approved

Production booklet

Further reading