Les Oiseleurs by Gassmann, Du (2015/2015), Dirigé par Jean Renshaw, Chef d'orchestre Stefan Gottfried, Theater am Fleischmarkt, Vienne, Autriche

The Bohemian composer Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729-1774) was responsible for the performances at the Vienna Burg and Kärntnertortheater for many years as opera and later court conductor. Gassmann received his training in Venice, where his gli uccellatori were first performed in the Teatro San Moisè in 1759. Our performance is based on the manuscript of the score kept in the Vienna National Library, which corresponds to the Vienna performance in 1768. In adaptation to the voices of the Viennese singers, Gassmann had replaced or newly set numerous arias and expanded the short final chorus to form an ensemble. The instrumentation was also subjected to a revision, in which the woodwinds in particular were given more space for individual development. The opera buffa, based on a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, is one of the typical mixed-up comedies so popular at the time, in which everything ultimately dissolves in favor. The bird catchers (uccellatori) Cecco and Toniolo get their girls Roccolina and Mariannina after countless entanglements, the Contessa turns back to the Marchese, who is jealous of Cecco, appropriately.