Swiss premiere of Domenico Cimarosa's "L'Olimpiade" with the La Cetra Barockorchester Basel under the direction of Andrea Marcon.

Perhaps you remember La Cetra's performances of Vivaldi's opera "L'Olimpiade" a few years ago? And the rather convoluted libretto that Metastasio wrote for Antonio Caldara in Vienna in 1733? It was so successful that seventy other composers set it to music.

Very briefly, it is about a cheating at the Olympic Games, where the athletic Megacle competes for his good friend Licida in order to win him the prize - the hand of the Cretan princess Aristea. Of course, it turns out that Aristea is Megacle's secret lover, while Licida's lost bride Argene suddenly turns up... Although after some turmoil it all comes to an end, may the audience learn that dishonesty in sport has only ever brought problems!

In the latest edition of "L'opera ritrovata" we return to this subject, but this time in one of the other settings, in the classical Neapolitan style of Domenico Cimarosa: today this composer is remembered mainly for his sensitive instrumental compositions - such as the beautiful concerto for two flutes - and as the once famous author of highly successful opere buffe such as "Il matrimonio segreto". However, his totally forgotten opere serie are also of particular interest, and so the "Olimpiade" also contains treasures that can only be adequately mastered by an extremely talented ensemble of singers such as the one we have assembled for you.

Swiss premiere

Jone Martinez - Aristea
Daniela Mack - Megacle
Olivia Vermeulen - Licida
Chelsea Zurflüh - Argene
Emiliano Gonzalez Toro - Clistene
Marcello Nardis - Aminta

La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel
Andrea Marcon - Conductor


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.