In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was customary for serenatas to be performed on beautiful, moonlit evenings. At the NFM, the ORLEN Main Hall, thanks to its ability to shape sound using “acoustic clouds”, will metaphorically fill the space with a starry sky for this experience. This is especially fitting, as the concert version of Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra, a work by Johann Adolf Hasse, will feature the star-studded voices of Bruno de Sá and Carlo Vistoli, accompanied by Wrocław Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Jarosław Thiel.
Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra is now over three hundred years old. It is one of the earliest works by Johann Adolf Hasse, who would later become Kapellmeister to Augustus II the Strong, and it premiered in 1725 at the summer estate of a banker near Naples. The serenata genre, which sits somewhere between an opera and a cantata, was traditionally performed after dark, illuminated by candles. The original cast might come as a surprise today: at the premiere, the role of the protagonist was sung by none other than Farinelli, while the part of the Roman general was performed by the equally renowned artist Vittoria Tesi. For this evening at the NFM, the role of Cleopatra will be sung by the Brazilian sopranist Bruno de Sá. Although a male soprano matches the vocal range of a castrato, it is not a sonic equivalent to the voice of Farinelli, a voice shaped through forced physical alteration. Meanwhile, the role of Mark Antony will be performed by the Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli; this style of vocal art uses a different register, the falsetto. When singing in this style, the vocal cords open only a small portion of their length.
The plot of the opera, presented here in a concert version, takes place in the aftermath of the famous Battle of Actium, which occurred in the Ionian Sea, north of the Greek island of Lefkada. Its outcome sealed the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the hands of Octavian, who would go on to become the first emperor of Rome. The audience witnesses a dialogue between the lovers as they prepare for their own deaths.