Mozart: Il re pastore (A pásztorkirály) - koncertszerű előadás by Mozart, mar 16 apr 2024, Da (2024/2024), Direttore d'orchestra Christina Pluhar, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest, Ungheria

How does a 19 year old boy spend his time? Usually, he has passed his high school graduation exams and is in his first year at university - or has already plunged into adult life and work. And if we hear of one who is writing his tenth opera? The answer: "Never happens!” Today, indeed it does not - but it did once. Performed by Christina Pluhar and her ensemble L'Arpeggiata, along with international star singers, including tenor Rolando Villazón, who is increasingly delving into the early music repertoire, and soprano Emőke Baráth, who is busy conquering the world's leading opera houses and concert halls as she has Hungary's, Mozart's Il re pastore promises to be an exceptional experience, as this unique early music ensemble always comes up with unique productions of rarely performed works. Young Wolfgang Amadeus was ten years old in 1766 when he began composing musical drama, thus allowing him to create his tenth such work by the age of 19. This tale of the ‘shepherd king' is a two-act composition designated, in terms of genre, as a serenade. Analysts place it in the category of ‘serious opera' (opera seria), noting that the plot revolving around a quartet composed of two pairs of lovers and a moment of questionable loyalty will inevitably remind the listener of one of the composer's late masterpieces: Così fan tutte. In addition to the amazingly versatile Villazón, with his special affinity for Mozart, the cast includes Emőke Baráth, an internationally admired performer of early music, as well as some other highly accomplished singers: Spanish soprano Elena Sancho Pereg, American tenor Zachary Wilder and Croatian soprano Tamara Ivanis. The European early music ensemble L'Arpeggiata, comprised of an international group of musicians, was founded in 2000 under the leadership of Graz-born theorbist, harpist and conductor Christina Pluhar. Always seeking out the unknown, they specialise in the excitement of discovering the unique. The concert will be preceded from 6.00 pm by an introductory presentation entitled Prologue. For more information, please consult the Müpa Budapest website in the weeks leading up to the concert.