George Frideric Handel:
Siroe, Re di Persia HWV 24

Opera in three acts
Libretto by Pietro Metastasio, arranged by Nicola Francesco Haym
First performance: London, Theater am Haymarket, 17 February 1728

Matthias Helm, baritone
Clint van der Linde, countertenor
Nicholas Hariades, countertenor
Amelie Müller, soprano
Annastina Malm, mezzosoprano
Philipp Kranjc, bass

L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Erich Traxler, musical direction
Kobie van Rensburg, direction, staging & video

In coproduction with donauFESTWOCHEN im Strudengau 2021

In 2019, the L’Orfeo Barockorchester was a guest at the Händel-Festspiele Halle for the last time: South African director Kobie van Rensburg brought the opera Atalanta by George Frideric Handel into the present using blue-screen technology and video animation, transporting the enthusiastic audience into imaginary worlds.
Three years later, Siroe, Re di Persia, a rarely heard work by the Halle-born master of baroque opera, now comes to the stage again in an innovative, multimedia form of Kobie van Rensburg’s production: betrayal, revenge, inheritance disputes and forbidden love at the Persian court – this explosive mixture is the theme of Pietro Metastasio’s libretto, which George Frideric Handel colourfully set to music for the Royal Academy of Music’s ninth season in 1728.

George Frideric Handel:
Siroe, Re di Persia HWV 24

Opera in three acts
Libretto by Pietro Metastasio, arranged by Nicola Francesco Haym
First performance: London, Theater am Haymarket, 17 February 1728

Matthias Helm, baritone
Clint van der Linde, countertenor
Nicholas Hariades, countertenor
Amelie Müller, soprano
Annastina Malm, mezzosoprano
Philipp Kranjc, bass

L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Erich Traxler, musical direction
Kobie van Rensburg, direction, staging & video

In coproduction with donauFESTWOCHEN im Strudengau 2021

In 2019, the L’Orfeo Barockorchester was a guest at the Händel-Festspiele Halle for the last time: South African director Kobie van Rensburg brought the opera Atalanta by George Frideric Handel into the present using blue-screen technology and video animation, transporting the enthusiastic audience into imaginary worlds.
Three years later, Siroe, Re di Persia, a rarely heard work by the Halle-born master of baroque opera, now comes to the stage again in an innovative, multimedia form of Kobie van Rensburg’s production: betrayal, revenge, inheritance disputes and forbidden love at the Persian court – this explosive mixture is the theme of Pietro Metastasio’s libretto, which George Frideric Handel colourfully set to music for the Royal Academy of Music’s ninth season in 1728.

Johann Sebastian Bach:
Orchestra Suite No. 1 in C major BWV 1066
Concerto in F major for harpsichord, 2 recorders, strings und b.c. BWV 1057
Concerto in A major for oboe d’amore, strings and b.c. BWV 1055a
Orchestra Suite No. 3 in D major BWV 1068 (reconstructed early version for 2 oboes, strings and b.c.)

Carin van Heerden, recorder & oboe d’amore
Alexander Gergelyfi, harpsichord
L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Michi Gaigg, violin & direction