Mozart Opera Institute (Austria)
13, 14/10 (Sunday, Monday) ;3 pm (13/10), 8 pm
Dom Pedro V Theatre
Tickets: MOP 250, 200
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Librettists: Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern, Johann Heinrich Müller and Johann Andreas Schachtner
Production: Mozart Opera Institute (Austria)
Conductor: Josef Wallnig
Director and General Administrator: Eike Gramss
Stage and Costumes Design: Thilo Ullrich
Orchestra Musicacosi
Characters and Cast:
Bastienne, a shepherdess Claire Elizabeth Craig, Soprano
Bastien, her lover Karin Torbjörnsdóttir, Mezzo-soprano
Colas, a quack magician Peter Kellner, Bass
Bastien und Bastienne is a comic opera,written in 1768 when Mozart was only twelve years old, and one of the composer’s earliest operas. A satire of the 'pastoral' genre then prevalent, it is also specifically a parody of the opera Le devin du village by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It is, as it so often is, about love, betrayal, a little intrigue and a happy ending. Bastienne pines for her sweetheart Bastien who has has left for the city. While she has been tending her sheep, Bastien has been seduced by the shine and glamour of both the city and a wealthy lady. Upon the recommendation of Colas, the village quack and magician, Bastienne plays hard-to-get so cruelly when Bastien returns that, distraught and lovesick, he is brought to the brink of suicide. Finally realizing their transcendent affection for each other, the two shepherds discard pretence and reaffirm their mutual love. It remains only for the ”Magician” to strike up the final terzetto with the happy couple, singing about the magic of love. A 12-year-old Mozart displays naïve but precocious talent in this opera, which has charmed generations over and over again since its discovery.
Performed in German with surtitles in Chinese, Portuguese and English
Duration: approximately 1 hour, with no interval
Macao International Music Festival Outreach Programme
TALKS: Enter the world of German and Italian opera*
