People-watching in a hotel lobby recalls the comedic scenarios of Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, where stranded characters create amusing situations. The plot of the opera, the first that the composer wrote for Paris, is exceedingly flimsy: a group of distinguished European guests are attempting to reach Reims to attend the coronation but find themselves stranded at the spa resort Il Giglio d’Oro because they cannot procure horses for their carriages. Director Barrie Kosky leverages the opera’s minimal action to invent new stories, with the guests speaking of “La Ceci” instead of “Re Carlo” when referring to the protagonist Cecilia Bartoli (Corinna, the self-aware poetess). She leads a cast that brings together some of the finest Rossinian singers of today. Edgardo Rocha as the comedic Cavalier Belfiore, Mélissa Petit as the talented Contessa di Folleville, and Marina Viotti as the femme fatale Marchesa Melibea. These performers deliver humorous and emotionally rich performances, an international parade of characters caught in a web of sympathies and antipathies, flirting and jealousy, enthusiasm and vanity, ideals and eccentricities… Conductor Gianluca Capuano, leading Les Musiciens du Prince– Monaco, captures Rossini’ s style with a transparent sound and rhythmic vitality, with the use of period instruments deeply enriching the performance.
Hotel Metamorphosis
As an endless source of inspiration, Ovid’s Metamorphoses have left a lasting mark on our culture for over two thousand years. Combining some of its episodes with music by Antonio Vivaldi, Stage Director Barrie Kosky creates a pasticcio for our times, a fascinating new work of rich imagination and breathless narratives. With a leading cast of singers assembled by Cecilia Bartoli, and with the participation of actor Angela Winkler, Hotel Metamorphosis stands out as “a panopticon of human emotions”. Vivaldi expert Gianluca Capuano conducts Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco, presenting a unique variety of Vivaldi’s arias, ensembles and choruses, music with a particularly powerful emotional charge. “What a brilliant evening of theatre.” (BR Klassik) / “Checking into this hotel guarantees a luxury stay.” (Kurier) / “…the musical Champions League.” (Deutschlandfunk Kultur)
Ariodante
At Salzburg Festival, Cecilia Bartoli shines as Ariodante with her dazzling coloratura in a highly acclaimed new production by the German director Christoph Loy, who is known for his clever psychological stagings. Loy turns Handel’s splendid baroque opera into an exciting and differentiated reflection on gender roles. A high-class ensemble, first and foremost a brilliant Cecilia Bartoli in the trouser role of the knight Ariodante who effortlessly switches between cheerful and lamenting virtuoso singing makes the production a true triumph. At her side perform audience favourite Rolando Villazón as Lurcano and young American soprano Kathryn Lewek, praised by critics as a „true discovery“ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Gianluca Capuano at the podium of the Musiciens du Prince – Monaco „provides for elegance, richness of colour and a sensitive, stirring realisation of the ingenious score.“ (Kurier). „Cecilia Bartoli is a league of her own!” (Der Standard). “The singing was sensational” (LA Times)
Salzburg Festival 2025: Mozart – Mass in C minor
The Salzburg Festival brings Mozart’s monumental, unfinished Great Mass in C minor to St. Peter’s Abbey Church – the beautiful church for which the piece was composed and where it was probably also premiered. Gianluca Capuano conducts the orchestra Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco and the vocal ensemble Il Canto di Orfeo. Mélissa Petit and Patricia Nolz are an “outstanding female duo” (Die Presse): Pétit’s coloraturas “sparkle like precious gems” and Nolz’s “darkly-shaded, slender soprano blends beautifully” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
Salzburg Festival 2020: Mozarteum Orchestra & Capuano
“Julia Lezhneva shone….she is cut like a precious diamond with inclusions of ruby red brilliance” Salzburger Nachrichten. PROGRAM Mozart: Symphonies K. 201 & K. 183; “Quel nocchier che in gran procella” from La Betulia liberata, K. 118; “Voi avete un cor fedele” Aria for soprano and orchestra, K. 217; “Ch’io mi scordi di te?” Recitative and rondo for
soprano with piano and orchestra, K. 505; “Exsultate, jubilate” Motet for soprano and orchestra, K. 165
Salzburg Festival 2025: Hotel Metamorphosis
A panopticon of human emotions”: Barrie Kosky combines episodes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses with music by Antonio Vivaldi for the Salzburg Festival, reflecting the full spectrum of Ovid’s narrative art and Vivaldi’s musical work. Cecilia Bartoli has assembled a “world-class” (Kleine Zeitung) cast, and Gianluca Capuano and Les Musiciens du Prince deliver a “highly precise, colourful and exciting performance” (APA). “What a brilliant evening of theatre” (BR Klassik)
L’Elisir d’amore
“A soothing love potion for the ears and eyes that you’ll want to sip again and again.” (onlinemerker.de) In his iconic production of L’elisir d’amore for the Wiener Staatsoper, legendary director Otto Schenk works with a great attention to detail. Together with his congenial set designer Jürgen Rose, they bathe the stage in a warm, southern light and create a Mediterranean flair. Bogdan Volkov in the role of Nemorino “is not only an outstanding singer with a bright, ingratiating tenor voice, finely audible in his parade aria “Una furtiva Lacrima”, but also a pleasure to perform”. Maria Nazarova “is an enchanting and charming Adina and captivates with her crystal-clear soprano, sparkling coloratura and some inlaid high notes.” (onlinemerker.de)
Salzburg Festival 2019: Alcina
At Salzburg Festival, Handel‘s Alcina is a true celebration of singing: Cecilia Bartoli shines in the title role of the sorceress Alcina as does Philippe Jaroussky in the role of Ruggiero.
At their side, Sandrine Piau as Morgana and Kristina Hammerström as Bradamante are “ravishing“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Director Damiano Michielietto stages his first baroque opera and creates a convincing mixture of psychological interpretation and associative imagery. Unlike the libretto, which is based on Ludovico Ariosto‘s epic “Orlando furioso”, the Venetian Michieletto moves the setting of Alcina’s magic island to a mysterious hotel with a mirror wall. The look in the mirror of an aging woman, who has an oppressive fear of no longer being desired, is the obvious core of the production. Gianluca Capuano conducts the Musiciens du Prince – Monaco prudently and with a slim orchestral sound, the Bachchor Salzburg is excellently rehearsed. Capuano “perfectly combines drama with precision and poetry“ raves Süddeutsche Zeitung. “An extraordinary show“ (The New York Times)
Salzburg Festival 2019: Ariodante
At Salzburg Festival, Cecilia Bartoli shines as Ariodante with her dazzling coloratura in a highly acclaimed new production by the German director Christoph Loy, who is known for his clever psychological stagings. Loy turns Handel’s splendid baroque opera into an exciting and differentiated reflection on gender roles. A high-class ensemble, first and foremost a brilliant Cecilia Bartoli in the trouser role of the knight Ariodante who effortlessly switches between cheerful and lamenting virtuoso singing makes the production a true triumph. At her side perform audience favourite Rolando Villazón as Lurcano and young American soprano Kathryn Lewek, praised by critics as a „true discovery“ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Gianluca Capuano at the podium of the Musiciens du Prince – Monaco „provides for elegance, richness of colour and a sensitive, stirring realisation of the ingenious score.“ (Kurier). “Cecilia Bartoli is a league of her own!” (Der Standard). “The singing was sensational” (LA Times)