Organization

Singer

Tenor

Maximilian Kiener

Oebalus

Soprano

Aki Hashimoto

Melia

Katerina Estrada Tretyakova

Hyacinthus

Contralto

Anja Schlosser

Apollo

Astrid Hofer

Zephyrus

Conductor

Josef Wallnig

Stage director

John Dew

Costume designer

José-Manuel Vázquez

Set designer

Heinz Balthes

Bass

Norbert Steidl

1. Priest

Salzburger Festspiele

Orchestra

Mozarteumorchester Salzburg

Apollo et Hyacinthus -  (Apollo and Hyacinth)

Salzburg

Austria

Große Universitätsaula

On May 13, 1767, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's first opera "Apollo et Hyacinthus" celebrated its premiere in Salzburg. At that time, the students always performed a Latin drama at the end of the school year, including the tragedy "Clementia Croesi" by the Benedictine Father Rufinus Widl. The eleven-year-old Mozart created "Apollo et Hyacinthus" as an intermediary to this piece. The individual scenes were played before the prologue and between the acts of the spoken drama. But the opera can also exist on its own. The title roles in this performance from the 2006 Salzburg Festival are sung by Ekaterina Tretjakova and Anja Schlosser. The symphony orchestra of the Mozarteum University plays. The musical director is Josef Wallnig. John Dew directed.

Discover Apollo et Hyacinthus, Mozart’s first opera, composed when he was only 11 years old! The plot contains several themes that recur in Mozart's later operas: disguise, transformation, self-discovery… Zephyr, in love with Melia, decides to accuse Apollo of murdering Hyacinth because the god was about to marry his beloved. However, Hyacinth reveals the truth before dying: it was Zephyr who killed him by throwing a disc. Apollo saves his friend by transforming him into a flower and marries Melia, as was planned.

John Dew staged the opera at the 2006 Salzburg Festival. He chose prestigious soloists: Christiane Karg as Melia, Jekaterina Tretjakova as Hyacinthe, and Astrid Monika Hofer as Zephir. The costumes by José-Manuel Vázquez and décor by Michael Veits immerse us in a fantastical, mythological universe, while the Mozarteum University Symphony Orchestra—conducted by maestro Josef Wallnig—performs the Mozart score to perfection in the Great Hall of the University of Salzburg!

Photos