Organization

Soprano

Emily Birsan

Giuditta

Tenor

Sophie Michaux

Oloferne

Mezzo-soprano

Sarah Brailey

Ozia

William Dwyer

Achiorre

Singer

David Govertsen

Sacerdote

Conductor

Craig Trompeter

Orchestra

Haymarket’s acclaimed orchestra

Haymarket Opera Company

La Giuditta -  (Judith)

Chicago

United States

La Giuditta Scarlatti,A

Public

Private

Judith

Approved

The gory violence of the biblical Judith’s beheading of Holofernes was depicted with vivid realism and chiaroscuro by painters including Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Rubens. The drama and sharp colors in the paintings find their musical equivalent in Alessandro Scarlatti’s oratorio, La Giuditta. The story of Judith offered a comforting lesson about divine protection, especially relevant while the Catholic alliance was frequently in conflict with the Ottoman empire, an enemy easily identified with Holofernes. While operas were typically performed during carnival, oratorios were Lenten entertainments designed to encourage devotion. In Rome both operas and oratorios featured all-male casts, with soprano and alto castrati taking roles as male and female characters. 

The Patron


Naples, A Festival with a Cuccagna at the Largo di Palazzo by Antonio Joli (1756–58)

The five-voiced La Giuditta was composed in Naples in 1693 on commission from Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, author of the libretto. As vice-chancellor of the Church in Rome, Ottoboni lived and entertained in the huge Roman palace known as the Palazzo della Cancelleria. He enjoyed a plentiful income, many pleasures, and many mistresses (it is estimated that he fathered some 60 children). Scarlatti’s oratorio was just one among many excellent musical events he sponsored

English

Judith by Scarlatti, Alessandro, De (2023/2023), Director musical Craig Trompeter

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