Niccolò Jommelli Demofoonte
Dramma per musica in three acts
New production
In Italian with German and English surtitles
Coproduction with Ravenna Festival and Opéra National de Paris
Stage right: Ut Orpheus Edizioni, Bologna
Print programme (PDF)
Riccardo Muti, Conductor
Cesare Lievi, Stage director
Margherita Palli, Set designs
Marina Luxardo, Costumes
Gigi Saccomandi, Lighting
Dmitry Korchak, Demofoonte, King of Thrace
Josè Maria Lo Monaco, Timante, Demofoonte's supposed son
Maria Grazia Schiavo, Dircea, Timante's secret wife
Antonio Giovannini, Matusio, Dircea's supposed father
Eleonora Buratto, Creusa, Princess of Phrygia
Valentina Coladonato, Cherinto, Demofoonte's son
Valer Barna-Sabadus, Adrasto, commander of the royal guard
Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini
Niccolò Jommelli (1714–1774) is considered one of the founders of the classical style, and an early precursor of Haydn and Mozart. Early on, Jommelli, trained in Naples, made a name for himself as an opera composer, was recommended by Johann Adolph Hasse as a conductor in Venice and finally moved to Rome. During a sojourn in Vienna, he met Pietro Metastasio. Jommelli spent his most important years as maestro di cappella at the court of Württemberg in Stuttgart.
Riccardo Muti presents the Opera seria Demofoonte in the version first performed in Naples in 1770, a setting of a libretto by Pietro Metastasio which is one of the most frequently set libretti of all times and describes the family conflicts surrounding King Demofoonte of Thrace.