Baroque opera in three acts
Music by Francesco Gasparini
Libretto by Apostolo Zeno and Pietro Pariati
In Italian with German and English surtitles

Premiere: May 6, 2025

Director: Ilaria Lanzino

La Lira di Orfeo
Concert mistress: Elisa Citterio

Hamlet is one of the greatest works in the history of culture: its combination of thriller and philosophical drama proved a sure-fire winner. One of the most obscure, and certainly most unusual, opera versions is Francesco Gasparini’s Ambleto, which was first performed in Venice in 1706. This highly virtuoso Baroque opera is based on the Danish chronicles Gesta Danorum, which were also the inspiration for Shakespeare, but the spotlight here is firmly on the tragic tale of revenge. Gasparini, who studied under Arcangelo Corelli and taught Domenico Scarlatti (whose music inspired Johann Sebastian Bach), wrote this work, that proved very popular with contemporary audiences, for Nicolini, a castrato who was also a gifted actor. It was thanks to him that Ambleto was performed in London in 1712 – and the score used at the time has survived to the present day. In Vienna, counter-tenor Raffaele Pe takes on the title role, so rich in coloratura and complexity. Following her successful production of La liberazione, Ilaria Lanzino returns to the MusikTheater an der Wien as a director who has caused a sensation in recent years with her inventive, bold and multi-award-winning stagings.