MUSIC AT THE COURT OF MARIE CASIMIRE

Marie Casimire d’Arquien, or Queen Marysieńka, left Poland after the death of her beloved husband John III Sobieski. She went to Rome, where at the beginning of the 18th century, in the Palazzetto Zuccari, she founded a cultural center with a small private musical theater. In the residence, whose façade was decorated with the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland, one could hear the music of such great masters as Alessandro Scarlatti and his son Domenico. The latter, when working as maestro di capella, wrote seven operas for the court of the Polish queen in the years 1710-1714. Only some of them have survived to this day: Tolomeo et Alessandro, Tetide in Sciro and Amor d’un ombra in its revised version, known as Il Narciso.

The soloists of the Polish Royal Opera and the Period Instruments Ensemble Capella Regia Polona conducted by Lilianna Stawarz will evoke the atmosphere of the Baroque opera house. Iwona Lubowicz and Sylwester Smulczyński will evoke the mythological characters: the competing brothers – Ptolemy and Alexander, the intriguer Elisa, and the famed hero Achilles, to depict the adventures and emotions of the characters with the use of sophisticated musical means. A charming instrumental composition – Alessandro Scarlatti’s Quartettino for three violins and basso continuo – will act as a kind of intermezzo for the operatic repertoire.

PROGRAM

Domenico Scarlatti
Ouverture to the opera Tolomeo et Alessandro (1711)
Aria (Alessandro) Pur sento oh dio from the opera Tolomeo et Alessandro
Aria (Elisa) Voglio amore o pur vendetta from the opera Tolomeo et Alessandro
Ouverture to the opera Tetide in Sciro (1712)
Aria (Achilles) Digli ch’ho un’alma in petto from the opera Tetide in Sciro

Alessandro Scarlatti
Quartettino for three violins and basso continuo

Domenico Scarlatti
Aria (Achilles) Alla pendola prigione from the opera Tetide in Sciro
Aria (Tolomeo) Torna sol from the opera Tolomeo et Alessandro
Ouverture to the opera Narciso (1714)
Aria (Elisa) Su, su, mio core from the opera Tolomeo et Alessandro

PERFORMERS

IWONA LUBOWICZ SOPRANO (ALESSANDRO/ELISA)

SYLWESTER SMULCZYŃSKI TENOR  (ACHILLES/TOLOMEO)

THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA

LILIANNA STAWARZ HARPSICHORD, CONDUCTOR

Duration: approx. 1 h

The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.