IL GIUSTINO Vivaldi – Drottningholm Court Theatre

Il Giustino relates the appearance of the goddess Fortune to the peasant Giustino, his rise to leadership of the Byzantine army and the defeat of a Scythian army under Vitaliano, and the jealousy of the emperor Anastasio, who suspects Giustino of having designs on his wife Arianna and on the throne itself. Will all the intrigues be foiled, the misunderstandings straightened out for a peasant to be proclaimed emperor?

Il Giustino was originally composed for the 1724 Rome carnevale by Antonio Vivaldi to a libretto by Nicolò Beregan. Vivaldi's score is full of picturesque detail; a sinfonia accompanying the descent of Fortune in a chariot emphasises the rustic nature of the setting by borrowing the refrain theme of the Spring concerto from his own Four Seasons. The final chorus, an extended chaconne, is the most elaborate piece of its kind in any Vivaldi opera. Staged for the first time in Sweden, Drottningholm’s production is directed for the stage and from the pit by George Petrou with Ukrainian countertenor Yuriy Mynenko in the title rôle. Drottningholms Slottsteater was built in 1766 and is the only theatre in the world that still uses original hand operated stage machinery. The theatre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the Drottningholm Royal Court.

Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 26 December 2023 at 19:00 CET to 26 June 2024 at 12:00 CET: https://operavision.eu/performance/il-giustino

CAST

Anastasio
Raffaele Pe

Arianna
Sofie Asplund

Giustino
Yuriy Mynenko

Leocasta
Johanna Wallroth

Vitaliano
Juan Sancho

Andronico
Linnea Andreassen

Amanzio
Federico Fiorio

Polidarte
Jihan Shin

Fortuna, ghost
Elin Skorup

Dancers
Stacey Aung
Pontus Sundset

Extras
Felix Hägg
Ruben Lundström
Mawlawi Rahem

Orchestra
Drottningholm Theatre Orchestra

Music
Antonio Vivaldi

Text
Nicolò Beregan

Conductor & Director
George Petrou

Sets & Costumes
Paris Mexis

Lighting
Stella Kaltsou

Choreography
Jenny Nilson

Make-up & Wigs
Rebecka Andersson

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