Gloires Romaines

Ancient Rome was a bottomless well of inspiration for the creators of Baroque opera, whether themes were drawn from the fates of historical rulers or from the mythological stories in which the Romans had believed. Baroque Rome then attracted musicians from various parts of Europe who were eager to get acquainted with the secrets of Italian music. Among them was Georg Frideric Handel, who spent more than two years in Rome on his Italian study tour and began a successful career there as a composer of Italian vocal music. At Easter 1708, his new oratorio La Resurrezione was performed there, directly under the baton of the famous Corelli. In his later works, especially for London theatres, Handel drew heavily on his personal experience of Italian music and can rightly be called one of the most important composers of Italian opera seria. Arias and duets from his operas will be complemented by the works of an equally successful opera composer, this time in a French environment, Jean-Philippe Rameau, who briefly lived in Italy in his youth. He became acquainted with Italian music mainly in his native France, where one of its promoters was the Neapolitan Michele Mascitti.
 
This colourful Italian-French programme will be presented by Chantal Santon Jeffery and Vojtěch Semerád, accompanied by the Collegium Marianum ensemble under the direction of Jana Semerádová.