0 upcoming performances
This production of Joseph Haydn's rarely performed opera L'isola disabitata premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall on February 9, 2018. The opera is based on Pietro Metastasio's libretto, a distant descendant of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Written in 1752, the libretto tells the story of Europeans on a small island known only to pirates. Haydn was the nineteenth composer to set this text to music, with his premiere taking place on December 6, 1779, at Prince Nikolaus Esterházy's palace. Director Alexei Smirnov notes that Metastasio's libretto allows for both comic and tragic interpretations. While Haydn's score predominantly favors tragic scenes, it also contains ambiguities that permit irony. Smirnov's staging approaches the work as opera seria, where tragic and comic elements are closely intertwined, intensifying both states.
No upcoming performance scheduled.