Jommelli: Il Vologeso
Thursday 28 April 2016, 7.30pm - Cadogan Hall, London
Intro
As part of MOZART 250, we present the UK premiére of Niccolò Jommelli’s Il Vologeso, first performed 250 years ago on 11 February 1766 for the Stuttgart court in Ludwigsburg. Jommelli was born just north of Naples in 1714 (the same year as Gluck) and died there in 1774. He composed over eighty operas, and was particularly renowned for the dramatic intensity and emotional realism of his music.
For this eagerly awaited performance Classical Opera has assembled a superb young cast, headed by the Irish mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly, a recent graduate of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, tenor Stuart Jackson, a current Classical Opera Associate Artist, and soprano Gemma Lois Summerfield, winner of the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Award.
Synopsis
PARTHIA, c.164 AD. King Vologeso has just been defeated in battle by the invading Roman tyrant Lucio Vero, who now has designs on Vologeso’s bride, Princess Berenice. Desperate to save her beloved, Berenice must now choose between Lucio’s hand in marriage and Vologeso’s severed head!