Name: The duel
Start: 2022-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-05-15T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Government House

Organization

Conductor

Christopher van Tuinen

Stage director

Humphrey Bower

Lighting designer

Matthew Nankivell

Soprano

Prudence Sanders

Madame Herz

Emma Pettemerides

Mademoiselle Silberklang

Singer

Matthew Reardon

Mr Cash

Eleonora

Bass

Jake Bigwood

Il compositore

Lachlann Lawton

Il Poeta

Tonina

West Australian Opera

Italian

The duel

Perth

Australia

Government House

Ballroom

The duel: Der Schauspieldirektor (+1 More)

Public

The Impresario

First the Music and Then the Words

English

Approved

Music's greatest competition? In 1786 a standoff was held in one of the world’s most lavish palaces. Joseph II (Holy Roman Emperor) had set his tame composers a challenge, pitting the Italian opera style against the German ‘singspiel’. With both pieces performed on the same night, more than pride was at stake. The winner would be feted with commissions and patrons; the loser, fighting for scraps.

In one corner, the upstart Wolfgang Mozart flew the nationalistic flag with his comedy Der Schauspieldirektor (The Theatre Director), and in the other corner, the established Antonio Salieri set an opera buffa entitled Prima la musica e poi le parole (First the Music, then the Words)

For this re-creation, we invite you to get up close and personal in the intimate surrounds of Government House Ballroom with stages at either end, dinner with your friends and a time machine back to the eighteenth century. Decide for yourself who wins – Mozart or Salieri?

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew