JUAN HIDALGO DE POLANCO
LOVE KILLS
baroque opera in three acts
Libretto by Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Celos, aun del aire matan (1660)
Jealousy, even of the air, kills
Musical Director and Conductor Andrew Lawrence-King (United Kingdom)
Director Georgiy Isaakyan
12+
running time 1 h 45 min
Celos, aun del aire matan is the earliest extant complete Spanish opera with music by Juan Hidalgo de Polanco on a libretto by Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Composed in 1660 for the marriage of Princess Maria Teresa of Spain to Louis XIV of France it strikes with its bright and distinctive palette of refined recitatives, intricate arias and choruses, dynamic Spanish dance rhythms and catchy melodies.
Juan Hidalgo’s setting of Pedro Calderón’s verse drama combines the myths of Cefalo, doomed to kill his own wife, Pocris; and of the goddess Diana, whose temple is burnt down by Erostrato.
“In addition to a truly great music, plenty of humor and affecting drama, this opera explores crucial questions for young people embarking on relationships. How can one manage emotions of love, loss and jealousy? Is revenge noble, or destructive? How can one establish one’s own identity? Do other people see us the same way we see ourselves?” says Andrew Lawrence-King, musical director and conductor of the show, baroque opera and orchestral director, imaginative continuo-player, director of The Harp Consort (international Early Music ensemble), Early Harp virtuoso, specialist in baroque gesture and Historical Action, Grammy, Echo, Gramophone Awards winner, one of the world’s leading performers of Early Music and the most recorded harpist of all time.
Opera “Love Kills “ marks the second collaboration between Natalia Sats Theatre and Andrew Lawrence-King, following “Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo” by Emilio De Cavalieri in 2012 (The Golden Mask Theatre Award Laureate 2013).
Russian Premiere takes place on 14 APRIL 2016 at the Moscow International House of Music in the frame of series “Renaissance and Baroque”.
