"ARGIPPO RESURRECTED"
START
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
It's like this there, isn't it?
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(plays a part from Argippo on a harpsichord)
When I started to play the piano,
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NARRATIVE TITLE:
Ondřej Macek
artistic director of the Baroque Music Ensemble Hofmusici
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
in a music school when I was five or six,
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I saw a harpsichord standing in the hall,
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made from plywood, an East-German model.
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My professor let me play it
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and said that it was a harpsichord,
explained how it differed from a piano,
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and that was how it started.
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Then it became my life's ambition
to have a harpsichord.
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ONDŘEJ MACEK (voice over):
If I had found an old chest full of scores
in the loft, that would've been a discovery.
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But this could be done by anybody
who would have had the same idea.
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FRONT CREDIT:
ALPHA PLUS Pro
presents
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MAIN TITLE:
ARGIPPO RESURRECTED
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
Another dream was to have an ensemble
that would play old instruments.
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In the 1980s,
there weren't so many of them.
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I always planned that eventually,
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I wanted to do operas anyway.
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Logically, I had to come to realise
that here in Český Krumlov
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(Český Krumlov – a historic town in the South Bohemia, Czech Republic)
there is this fantastic, forgotten theatre,
the only one that has been preserved.
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As early as when I studied in Prague,
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my colleagues and I
used to go to Český Krumlov.
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We knew there was a unique castle theatre,
but off limits to the public.
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The only person who could let us in
was the castle's director.
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He turned us down at first
saying that it was closed,
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but when he found out
we knew something about it,
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he showed us round all afternoon.
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That was how I met Pavel Slavko.
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(= the director of the Český Krumlov Castle)
Here was suddenly a man who knew
a huge amount about Baroque theatre
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and had an absolutely clear conception
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of how to restore the castle theatre
and what to do with it afterwards.
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He wanted it to work
in conjunction with Baroque music.
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With music which fits this theatre
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and in an interpretation which suits it.
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When a theatre is involved which is
uniquely, authentically preserved
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and restored without any
modifications and modernisations,
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then it is a nonsense to play,
let's say, a Romantic opera there
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or a Baroque opera directed
in a modern or modernist way.
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And this is not a matter of course.
There are theatres like this elsewhere
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in various stages of preservation
or incompleteness.
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They are restored, have some surviving
set pieces or machinery,
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even in operation,
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but then they perform operas there,
perhaps even from the 18th century,
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but directed in a modern way,
which does not suit the theatre at all.
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A kind of half measure.
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Pavel Slavko simply knows this
and feels that we want the same thing:
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we, in our interpretation,
he as a renovator in the theatre.
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At the beginning
we called them acoustic rehearsals.
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When the theatre was in a certain
advanced stage of renovation,
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a natural question arose about
what it would sound like here,
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what it would look like when somebody
stood on the stage and sang,
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what it would sound like when
someone played in the orchestra pit.
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At that time, we had an ensemble that
played Baroque music and Baroque opera
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and so we tried to perform
one aria in the theatre.
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Gradually, the rehearsals grew richer
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and it resulted in the performance
of an opera that lasted almost 3 hours.
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And that has been happening
every year since year 2000.
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Our Hofmusici ensemble actually
originated as early as 1991,
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though under a different name.
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We chose this current name
only recently,
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about a year and a half ago.
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It is based on the name
given to court bands in that era,
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it means in fact "court musicians".
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In this way we also wanted
to acknowledge Český Krumlov
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where we have the honour to work,
where we play in liveries
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that are copies of the original liveries
of court orchestra players.
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In the 18th century
the words "court band",
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"Hofkapelle" in German,
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meant rather the space,
the castle chapel,
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the court chapel,
and there is one in Krumlov too.
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While a musical group,
although the word "band" was also used,
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was rather called "musici"
which, in Latin, means "musicians".
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So that Hofmusici or Hofmusik
meant a court band as an ensemble.
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It is simply a reference
to the custom of the day
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and, at the same time, a nice barbarism
since it is a German/Latin hybrid.
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It isn't only we,
the musicians and singers,
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who have studied and are gradually
learning how to function in the theatre.
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The machinery operators have also
learned how to get the theatre moving,
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how to operate the stage technology.
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At the beginning, in 1995,
we could see how the set pieces jerked,
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from time to time the wings
of a forest scene pulled out,
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against the scenic backdrop
of a temple and so on.
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Today, such things don't happen anymore.
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The changes of set designs
take only a few seconds.
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It took them some time, it was similar
to the process that we musicians experienced.
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In Italy, such theatres
used to be in every village.
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Today, not a single one exists.
Or, if it does, it's only its fragment.
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It's either a building,
or a few winches, set pieces...
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The same applies to Germany.
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But a theatre preserved in this way, that
has an auditorium, a stage, set pieces,
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that is to say complete set designs,
not just single pieces,
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that has the wooden machinery
in a more or less complete condition...
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Not that it would be without
modifications, but they are very small.
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...Only two theatres in the world
are preserved as completely as this today,
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one is in Český Krumlov and the other,
in Drottningholm, Sweden, near Stockholm.
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The Baroque theatre had available
a certain basic set of scene settings,
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set designs,
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with which it is possible to play
almost all Baroque operas.
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When there was something extraordinary
in an opera, it was painted separately.
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They were usually things
like flying machines
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or some other equipment,
for example so-called props,
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that is set pieces that do not form
part of the changeable machinery.
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This is how variable it was,
but the basis,
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i.e. the hall, cathedral, forest,
garden, prison, town, coast, sea,
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plus some other indoor scenes,
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they belonged to any theatre
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and more or less
every opera manages with them.
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Already for an author of Baroque music,
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understanding music through theatre,
art and colours, was a matter of course,
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and I try to see that it's the same for us.
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The Baroque score has its rules.
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Of course, it captures the shape
of a composition as with any other score,
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but when compared e.g. with Romantic
and contemporary music, in a far more...
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...vague way, only as a framework.
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Specific instrumentation is only intimated.
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One must know it from other sources
and from one's experience,
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knowing the structure of the orchestra.
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This also concerns the harpsichord part,
the so-called basso continuo
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that is improvised by the harpsichordist.
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In the case of our score
it is a very beautiful fair copy
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from the hands and the pens
of Viennese court copyists,
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so it is not only easily readable,
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but really nicely and precisely recorded.
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JANA SPÁČILOVÁ – VIOLINIST:
This instrument is incredibly close
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to the instruments
that used to be played then.
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NARRATIVE TITLE:
Jana Spáčilová
baroque violin
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JANA SPÁČILOVÁ – VIOLINIST:
You can see that I do not have
any chinrest, any shoulder rest,
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that are used in violins today.
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There are no fine-tuners,
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the strings are gut strings,
so the pegs are used for tuning,
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I have a short fingerboard,
shorter than exists today.
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Really, it is an instrument adapted
to notes in Baroque parts.
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It has details typical
for an old instrument
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and until one encounters it
and holds it in one's hands,
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one has no chance of understanding it.
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Then one discovers that there is no use
in playing the way people play today
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because it is really, simply...
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It sounds much better this way,
doesn't it...
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...using this Baroque hold,
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whereby the violinist's head
is not attached to the instrument.
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And they can work with space.
Can you hear it?
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
We came to know Claire...
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...a Belgian, Walloon,
without planning it,
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because she ordered a harpsichord
from Jiří Vykoukal,
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my friend who constructs harpsichords.
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She also has her ensemble,
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they played here with us
and we played there
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and that was how our cooperation started.
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She is very skilful. Singers like her,
And and I like her too.
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CLAIRE MEYER – HARPSICHORD PLAYER:
I started to play the harpsichord
when I was thirteen
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NARRATIVE TITLE:
Claire Meyer
harpsichord
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CLAIRE MEYER – HARPSICHORD PLAYER:
and since then,
I have been playing steadily.
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When I was eighteen
I also started to play the organ.
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
It is beneficial.
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These people
we have hooked up with,
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are especially enthusiastic about
being able to play here in Krumlov.
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They don't have any theatre
like it in their countries.
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They realise well what it is,
maybe better than our musicians.
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The Krumlov Express...
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Sarah, who is coming,
is a violinist from Berlin,
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another violinist of ours met her
on some courses.
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Who else will arrive...
An oboist from Austria.
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ONDŘEJ MACEK / VIOLINIST:
-Hi.
-Hi there!
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
She has already spoken with you,
hasn't she?
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Let me take some more from you...
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ONDŘEJ MACEK (voice over):
I had it in my head for a long time that
the opera existed and exists no more,
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that it is the only opera that
Vivaldi wrote specifically for Prague
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and so is interesting for us.
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There are more than twenty Vivaldi operas
that haven’t been preserved...
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It is not that I said:
now I will find Vivaldi.
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That would definitely
have been a recipe for failure.
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
There's a certain honesty in it,
not everybody has that.
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You have to say
that you know nothing in fact,
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that all you know is more
or less good for nothing.
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Later, you find out
it is good for something
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but it can't be somehow grafted on.
You have to start from the beginning.
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One thing is some
kind of feeling and so on
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but in the end it is simply work
and meticulous searching,
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reading, often between the lines,
comparing pictures,
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raking through tons of material.
Simply study.
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As with everything. You don't learn
how to play the piano or the violin
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without deforming your fingers
and practicing many hours a day.
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ZUZANA VRBOVÁ - STAGE DIRECTOR:
Since there are two possibilities...
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
Well, go on.
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ZUZANA VRBOVÁ - STAGE DIRECTOR:
...that is, with the throne,
how to resolve that.
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
When staging a Baroque opera
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we are not interested in making
a reconstruction, an archaeological find,
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even though we use something
like a conservator's method.
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We "excavate" the music, the score
out of old sources,
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the way to interpret it vocally,
instrumentally, in terms of direction.
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We are trying to do
what they were doing then
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because we believe they knew best
how to interpret their music
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and their theatre plays
and their theatre.
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These are wonderful things.
For example this...
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These are simply perfect sculptures.
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You will then have Ivo somewhere
in the position of this grief.
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IVO MICHL - SINGER:
I would say that it is
quite a long-term work...
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NARRATIVE TITLE:
Ivo Michl
bass-baritone
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IVO MICHL - SINGER:
...from the point of view
of how I feel it.
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First I learn some notes
the way they are set on the paper,
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then I have to practice the singing
so that I sing all the notes there...
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ONDŘEJ MACEK / IVO MICHL:
-Do you want to go through it or not?
-Sure.
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ONDŘEJ MACEK:
Kamilka, just a moment, please.
Then I will focus on you.
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And don't make crumbs!
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IVO MICHL - SINGER:
And then it is that fantastic work
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when you look for what's important,
what isn't important,
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how that phrase is built
and what it should really express.
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And I try to impart
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what I feel at that moment
or what I feel in that role
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so that it's clear
directly through the voice
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and through the diction in general
or the way I approach the phrasing.
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For example when there is...
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Like this, it's only an exercise... right?
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And there is absolutely nothing to it.
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But when you want to express
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that the aria is about suffering,
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as if comparing it
to the torment of Tantalus,
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about the suffering they had to experience
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before they met with that Scipione.
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(i.e. Scippione Affricano – main opera character from "Scipione Affricano il Maggiore" by Antonio Caldara)
It is important to make that feeling
resound, to mediate it.
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Because it is written in a brilliant way
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and it was all fantastically elaborated,
everything fitted into everything else.
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Including the fact that there are
candles instead of lights.
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When you are made-up in a Baroque manner
and stand in the candlelight,
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the whole picture is sort of
veiled or opaque,
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at the same time,
incredibly pleasant, mellow...
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The custom was such
that arias have 3 parts:
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part A, part B and then
the A part is repeated.
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They have three parts with the last part
being the same as the first,
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though it was more or less expected
and was permitted
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and even required,
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that it was slightly different
to the first part.
#00:22:55:01-00:22:58:07
Ornamentation was added.
#00:22:58:10-00:23:00:17
Of course, this ornamentation
always had to be in character.
#00:23:00:20-00:23:04:05
The degree of emotional involvement
should be at least a little controllable.
#00:23:20:11-00:23:26:06
There are singers who are
enormously emotionally involved,
#00:23:26:09-00:23:29:18
but that is completely out of place.
#00:23:29:21-00:23:32:08
On the contrary, there are those
who technically sing
#00:23:32:11-00:23:34:23
but do not really communicate much.
#00:23:35:01-00:23:37:11
There are beautiful tones,
#00:23:37:14-00:23:39:13
but the emotion is missing.
#00:23:39:16-00:23:41:17
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
Father Franciscus Lang was a Jesuit
#00:23:41:20-00:23:43:23
who wrote a fantastic
acting manual in Latin.
#00:23:44:01-00:23:47:04
In about 1727, I'm not sure exactly.
It came out in Munich.
#00:23:47:07-00:23:51:13
Jesuits had a very developed theatre
#00:23:51:16-00:23:54:09
and played theatre with their pupils
whenever they could.
#00:23:54:12-00:23:58:08
They had a fantastic school system indeed.
#00:23:58:14-00:24:02:08
Theatre was something
they laid great stress on
#00:24:03:00-00:24:05:18
and they educated their boys to be actors.
#00:24:05:21-00:24:08:17
Lang left us this treatise,
a thick and thorough one.
#00:24:08:20-00:24:12:12
He describes
how to train little boys to be actors.
#00:24:12:15-00:24:17:11
For us it is indispensable
since it is not written in allusions,
#00:24:17:14-00:24:21:24
one doesn't have to read between the lines
as is the case with other treatises.
#00:24:22:02-00:24:25:20
Here it is clear. Simply, this is how
you walk, how you sit, how you kneel...
#00:24:25:23-00:24:29:14
We have a German translation,
It it came out in Germany,
#00:24:30:07-00:24:34:11
but the original is in Latin.
#00:24:34:14-00:24:36:22
And in the back there is a list
of allegories and all kinds of things,
#00:24:37:00-00:24:40:24
how to depict them on stage,
in art, in pageants and so on.
#00:24:41:02-00:24:45:04
They are allegories, senses, elements,
#00:24:45:07-00:24:48:11
continents, characteristics,
#00:24:49:14-00:24:51:22
virtues, vices, you name it...
#00:24:52:00-00:24:54:05
There are dozens of such things.
#00:24:54:08-00:24:57:14
Everything has a detailed description:
it is a woman, she holds this in her hand...
#00:24:57:17-00:25:02:10
And even the colour of the robe or veil.
#00:25:02:13-00:25:06:23
HANA SLAČÁLKOVÁ – DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER:
In the Baroque period
everyone was close to dancing.
#00:25:07:02-00:25:09:24
NARRATIVE TITLE:
Hana Slačálková
choreographer and dancer
#00:25:09:02-00:25:14:01
HANA SLAČÁLKOVÁ – DANCER/CHOREOGRAPHER:
People had to master dancing,
they had to learn it from dancing masters.
#00:25:10:02-00:25:13:01
But even at that time theatrical
dance was starting to branch off,
#00:25:13:04-00:25:17:00
and of course it gradually became
professionalised.
#00:25:17:03-00:25:20:10
It wasn't done
by ordinary courtiers any longer
#00:25:20:13-00:25:23:24
but by the best of them.
#00:25:24:02-00:25:26:03
And theatrical dance was later also
accompanied by an expressive component.
#00:25:26:06-00:25:32:09
In this opera of ours, in the final dance,
we represent virtues.
#00:25:34:24-00:25:40:12
Often, they were only symbolic figures.
#00:25:40:15-00:25:43:24
So I represent the highest virtue,
the girls represent two other virtues.
#00:25:44:02-00:25:48:13
It is with this undertone
that it simply must be danced.
#00:25:48:16-00:25:52:02
The movement of the whole body
#00:25:52:11-00:25:54:18
is supplemented by
an inner, personal dimension,
#00:25:54:21-00:25:57:09
and the outcome then
benefits the whole work.
#00:25:57:12-00:26:00:02
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
That is what in fact
the Baroque era invented,
#00:26:35:17-00:26:39:22
the so-called Gesamtkunstwerk,
Wagner's term from the 19th century,
#00:26:40:00-00:26:45:04
something like a summary
of all the kinds of art.
#00:26:45:07-00:26:48:15
The point is not to put
one layer on top of another
#00:26:48:18-00:26:51:10
so that we get a cream cake.
#00:26:51:13-00:26:53:20
Everything must be interconnected inside
#00:26:53:23-00:26:57:02
and create a functioning whole.
#00:26:57:05-00:27:01:18
All the elements:
music, art and gesture.
#00:27:01:21-00:27:05:22
In our theatre and sets
#00:27:06:00-00:27:09:07
the actors move
according to the same rules
#00:27:09:10-00:27:13:02
and following the same logic or spirit
#00:27:13:05-00:27:17:04
as the painter who painted
those figures on the set pieces.
#00:27:17:07-00:27:23:21
And we play music that used to be
played in such a theatre
#00:27:24:11-00:27:28:10
when the composer, when composing it,
#00:27:28:13-00:27:31:13
had in mind such a theatre
and actors moving in this way.
#00:27:31:16-00:27:34:24
More or less. We of course
cannot know it exactly, unfortunately.
#00:27:35:02-00:27:39:03
But we somehow aspire to achieve it.
#00:27:39:06-00:27:42:08
So what is interesting about the Baroque
and the way of interpreting it
#00:27:42:15-00:27:47:12
is exactly in that one really
has only one elementary idea,
#00:27:47:15-00:27:52:12
whether it is called
the doctrine of the affections
#00:27:52:15-00:27:55:08
or the spirit of the Baroque or whatever,
#00:27:55:11-00:27:58:01
and that is reflected in all
the components of the performance.
#00:27:58:04-00:28:03:23
And we start from what is essential,
from the idea,
#00:28:04:09-00:28:07:23
from, as it were,
the spirit of the thing,
#00:28:08:01-00:28:11:07
and only try to visualise it somehow,
#00:28:11:10-00:28:14:15
make it audible and visible.
#00:28:14:18-00:28:17:03
PAVEL SLAVKO – CASTLE'S DIRECTOR:
And with this I end...
#00:28:17:07-00:28:18:20
...and wish you an absolutely
sparkling performance!
#00:28:18:23-00:28:23:06
ONDŘEJ MACEK (voice over):
I'd have never done it just to become
famous, to have an article in the newspaper.
#00:28:25:04-00:28:29:03
I am interested in the opera itself.
#00:28:29:07-00:28:31:18
I am interested in music.
Otherwise I would not have done it.
#00:28:32:02-00:28:34:17
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
Vivaldi wrote one opera for Prague.
#00:29:20:11-00:29:23:08
In Prague, on the initiative
of Count Sporck,
#00:29:24:01-00:29:28:24
the first Italian
opera company operated.
#00:29:29:02-00:29:32:00
They were Venetians, singers who had
previously cooperated with Vivaldi in Italy.
#00:29:32:03-00:29:37:07
The theatre was in Hybernská Street
in Prague, in Sporck's palace,
#00:29:37:10-00:29:41:08
and it is known that six
Vivaldi's operas were performed there.
#00:29:41:11-00:29:45:01
Five of them had been performed
previously in Italy,
#00:29:45:04-00:29:48:23
and only one was written
directly for Prague.
#00:29:49:01-00:29:53:06
Its name is Argippo
#00:29:53:09-00:29:55:17
and only its libretto has been preserved,
it's stored in the National Library in Prague.
#00:29:55:20-00:30:00:00
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
The history of the
Denzio-Peruzzi company
#00:30:01:02-00:30:04:24
NARRATIVE TITLE:
Stanislav Bohadlo
musicologist
#00:30:02:15-00:30:06:14
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
begins in late summer, 1724,
with its arrival here in Kuks.
#00:30:05:02-00:30:12:14
Denzio was a close colleague
of Antonio Vivaldi.
#00:30:12:17-00:30:18:11
His company came from Venice,
they knew Vivaldi and used his music.
#00:30:18:14-00:30:25:15
Especially, in various adaptations and
pasticcios, the bandmaster, Antonio Bioni.
#00:30:25:18-00:30:33:01
The whole era of Venetian opera
in Kuks and in Prague
#00:30:34:16-00:30:42:22
culminates in 1730
#00:30:43:00-00:30:47:01
when Argippo appeared in Sporck's theatre.
#00:30:47:04-00:30:52:23
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
I managed to track down some clues as to
where this music could be looked for.
#00:30:53:02-00:30:57:12
I found specific arias that are
scattered about in various archives.
#00:30:57:15-00:31:02:16
I collected quite a substantial
number of them
#00:31:02:19-00:31:08:13
thinking that in the future
the opera could be reconstructed.
#00:31:08:16-00:31:13:17
Here in Venice at the Vivaldi Institute
on San Giorgio Maggiore island
#00:31:14:09-00:31:19:22
they have collected
all of Vivaldi's manuscripts
#00:31:20:00-00:31:24:02
that were dispersed in European
and American libraries.
#00:31:24:05-00:31:29:17
So here, in a single place, it's possible
to study everything that Vivaldi wrote.
#00:31:29:20-00:31:34:16
It was a stroke of luck.
#00:32:24:13-00:32:26:18
I had it in my head for a long time that
the opera existed and exists no more,
#00:32:26:21-00:32:30:08
that it is the only opera that
Vivaldi wrote specifically for Prague
#00:32:30:11-00:32:33:17
and so is interesting for us.
#00:32:33:20-00:32:37:01
Other than that, there are more than twenty
Vivaldi operas that haven't been preserved.
#00:32:37:04-00:32:41:11
It is not that I said:
now I will find Vivaldi.
#00:32:41:14-00:32:44:24
That would definitely
have been a recipe for failure.
#00:32:45:02-00:32:48:03
But at one point I said that
it wouldn't be bad just to have a look.
#00:32:48:06-00:32:52:21
And I had incredibly good luck,
that it was so easy and quick.
#00:32:52:24-00:32:57:07
It was an idea
that I had somewhere in a pub,
#00:32:59:16-00:33:02:15
or in a coffee bar or who knows where,
#00:33:02:18-00:33:05:15
that I could follow the trail of individual
singers who performed in Argippo.
#00:33:05:18-00:33:10:23
Where they went in Europe and whether
somewhere there the opera could be found
#00:33:11:01-00:33:15:14
among anonymous tomes.
#00:33:15:17-00:33:18:12
This led me to the data in Regensburg
#00:33:18:16-00:33:23:16
and that was all I needed.
Then I only looked into a catalogue.
#00:33:23:19-00:33:28:23
This is the idea.
#00:33:29:04-00:33:30:21
It's a matter of a couple of seconds
to have such an idea.
#00:33:30:24-00:33:34:07
It simply occurred to me
what I could have a look at.
#00:33:34:10-00:33:37:08
As I say, it was a matter of a single
afternoon in the National Library in Prague.
#00:33:37:11-00:33:41:09
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
I think that the discovery
Ondřej Macek made
#00:34:18:16-00:34:23:17
is simply fantastic for several reasons.
#00:34:23:20-00:34:28:08
On the one hand, he plays it down a bit
#00:34:28:11-00:34:31:10
but in that consistency and methodology
#00:34:31:13-00:34:36:03
there is simply
the brilliance of a discoverer.
#00:34:36:06-00:34:40:05
Of course, the pre-requisite is
Ondřej's fantastic musical memory.
#00:34:40:08-00:34:48:15
For example, he copied down
that libretto by hand.
#00:34:49:10-00:34:52:14
He could have had it
photocopied in Prague
#00:34:52:17-00:34:55:10
or ask someone to rewrite it for him
#00:34:55:13-00:35:00:06
but he copied it by hand
in order to remember it.
#00:35:00:09-00:35:03:04
Which is, in itself, a wonderful way
to experience the text.
#00:35:03:07-00:35:09:11
In addition, he created the theory...
#00:35:09:19-00:35:15:10
...of the Denzio ensemble's
stay in Regensburg.
#00:35:17:07-00:35:22:10
And then it seems it was simple
to find those personalities
#00:35:22:13-00:35:29:06
who were sometimes named
on those preserved parts.
#00:35:29:09-00:35:34:07
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
I discovered that at least two singers,
who sang in Argippo in Prague,
#00:35:40:07-00:35:44:16
then sang in Regensburg.
#00:35:44:19-00:35:46:19
Including Antonio Denzio who
performed one of the roles in Argippo
#00:35:46:22-00:35:50:08
and was the so-called impresario,
the head of the company.
#00:35:50:11-00:35:54:06
In the Thurn und Taxis court library
there is also a musical collection.
#00:35:57:10-00:36:01:22
I had already studied
the libretto of Argippo,
#00:36:02:00-00:36:04:20
I knew the incipits of the arias.
#00:36:04:23-00:36:08:05
And there I found an anonymous
volume of nineteen arias.
#00:36:08:08-00:36:12:15
At once I saw that seven incipits
were identical with the text of Argippo!
#00:36:12:18-00:36:20:03
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
And then he can also react very quickly,
#00:36:20:20-00:36:25:12
amidst a huge quantity
of anonymous material,
#00:36:25:15-00:36:31:01
not just in terms of music
but also in terms of the text,
#00:36:31:04-00:36:34:15
to the preserved anonymous arias.
#00:36:34:18-00:36:38:09
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
This is a copy
of that Regensburg manuscript.
#00:36:39:07-00:36:44:10
When I opened it,
this peered out at me.
#00:36:44:13-00:36:47:12
It is the first aria from Argippo
and the first aria of this volume.
#00:36:47:15-00:36:51:18
That was such a joyful moment.
#00:36:51:21-00:36:55:10
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
Ondřej always makes little of it
and slightly downplays it
#00:36:55:13-00:37:00:12
saying that anybody could find it
and that it was down to luck.
#00:37:00:15-00:37:05:10
But it isn't true
since he's the only one
#00:37:05:13-00:37:09:11
in whom the talents are united
in an ideal proportion.
#00:37:09:14-00:37:15:06
Especially that of a practical
musician, an interpreter.
#00:37:15:09-00:37:19:15
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
This jumped out at me
immediately as the first aria.
#00:37:20:13-00:37:23:17
And that was very pleasant,
because it is pure Vivaldi.
#00:37:23:20-00:37:27:16
I made my own transcription
and it is this kind of music.
#00:37:28:07-00:37:31:20
(plays a sample from Argippo)
For this, even knowing
the silly Four Seasons is enough
#00:37:59:11-00:38:02:24
for one to hear Vivaldi in it.
#00:38:03:02-00:38:05:02
Thanks to the finding of this manuscript
#00:39:02:17-00:39:06:11
I had, let's say,
one half of the opera complete.
#00:39:06:14-00:39:11:21
And then, what was necessary was to find
in Vivaldi's surrounding operas,
#00:39:11:24-00:39:16:13
that is the two or three operas
before and after,
#00:39:16:16-00:39:19:07
at a time when Vivaldi himself was
transferring arias from one opera to another,
#00:39:19:10-00:39:23:07
music for the rest according to the texts.
#00:39:23:10-00:39:27:06
And I worked on that
for the rest of the year.
#00:39:27:09-00:39:31:09
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
He is perhaps the only one in our country
#00:39:32:03-00:39:35:21
who has, to such a degree, felt,
#00:39:35:24-00:39:40:15
thought over
#00:39:40:18-00:39:43:19
and played Vivaldi.
#00:39:43:22-00:39:48:09
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
Here I have the Regensburg materials,
some photocopies from Venice,
#00:39:48:15-00:39:51:10
I put down some things in Dresden by hand...
#00:39:51:13-00:39:54:04
Here I have all those original versions.
#00:39:54:07-00:39:57:24
When you look at it
it's something of a shorthand record,
#00:39:59:19-00:40:03:05
because I had just two afternoons
to do it somewhere in Dresden.
#00:40:03:08-00:40:06:12
At home, I had to rewrite it so that
I could later understand it properly.
#00:40:06:15-00:40:09:23
From Krumlov we have moved
to the San Giorgio Maggiore island
#00:40:10:02-00:40:13:18
right opposite
St. Mark's Square in Venice.
#00:40:13:21-00:40:15:23
We are here because of the international
conference on Antonio Vivaldi:
#00:40:16:12-00:40:20:21
"Convenio internazionale
Antonio Vivaldi: Passato e futuro".
#00:40:20:24-00:40:24:22
That is "Vivaldi: Past and Future".
#00:40:25:00-00:40:27:17
It's a topic that concerns me too
#00:40:27:20-00:40:31:03
since part of the opera I found
is a matter of the past
#00:40:31:06-00:40:37:19
and the fact that I want to perform it
is already a matter of the future.
#00:40:37:22-00:40:42:03
So the topic is fitting.
#00:40:42:06-00:40:44:15
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
With him, everything
really worked, in fact,
#00:40:44:18-00:40:48:12
this is how big discoveries
are always made.
#00:40:48:15-00:40:53:04
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
When I spoke about it
at the conference in Venice,
#00:40:53:14-00:40:56:20
I played those motifs
to the musicologists.
#00:40:56:23-00:41:00:09
In the end, the most convincing proof
of the authorship is the music itself.
#00:41:00:12-00:41:05:04
The lecture took place,
the reactions were basically good,
#00:41:39:18-00:41:44:03
of course, some of them were
also surprising, on the part of...
#00:41:44:06-00:41:48:06
...the more ancient of the musicologists.
#00:41:49:14-00:41:52:18
But the resulting feeling is pleasant.
#00:41:52:21-00:41:55:23
In front of us,
there is the La Pietà church,
#00:41:56:19-00:42:00:02
part of the famous institution,
Ospedale della Pietà,
#00:42:00:05-00:42:04:08
where Vivaldi worked most of his life.
#00:42:04:11-00:42:06:21
Across the bridge,
#00:42:07:05-00:42:08:18
we find ourselves in the parish
of the San Giovanni in Bragora church,
#00:42:08:21-00:42:12:02
which is Antonio Vivaldi's native parish.
#00:42:12:05-00:42:14:17
This square is connected with
the beginning of Antonio Vivaldi's life
#00:42:31:13-00:42:34:22
because in this church,
San Giovanni in Bragora,
#00:42:35:00-00:42:37:06
the outstanding musician called
"il Prete rosso", i.e. the Red Priest,
#00:42:37:09-00:42:41:15
was baptised.
#00:42:41:18-00:42:43:08
The beginning of Vivaldi's musical career,
as with all Venetian musicians,
#00:43:19:06-00:43:24:09
is linked to St. Mark's cathedral
where his father was a violinist.
#00:43:24:12-00:43:28:04
His father was,
according to sources, a barber
#00:43:28:07-00:43:32:17
and a violinist at St. Mark's.
That was a prestigious institution.
#00:43:32:20-00:43:35:24
He was thus a professional violinist
and, at the same time, a barber.
#00:43:36:02-00:43:39:02
It is assumed that he also
introduced his son, Antonio,
#00:43:39:20-00:43:43:07
to the beginnings of violin playing.
#00:43:43:10-00:43:45:15
Vivaldi was a famous violinist and
it seems that he was taught by his father.
#00:43:45:18-00:43:50:02
Not many things are known about Vivaldi.
#00:43:50:05-00:43:52:10
Whoever was his teacher of composition,
is all just a matter of speculation.
#00:43:52:15-00:43:56:14
But here it's logical
that it was his father.
#00:43:56:17-00:43:59:04
Vivaldi and Venice are two words
that seem to belong to each other.
#00:44:18:23-00:44:22:03
As we are standing here now
I should be pointing and saying:
#00:44:22:06-00:44:25:06
he went for lunch here,
he went to school there,
#00:44:25:09-00:44:28:09
he lived in this house
and then he moved here...
#00:44:28:12-00:44:33:07
This may be done, for example, with Mozart
in Salzburg, in Vienna, even in Prague.
#00:44:33:10-00:44:37:24
But in Vivaldi's case it is not possible.
There is simply too little information.
#00:44:38:02-00:44:42:20
We may say that we visited
all the places Vivaldi used to go
#00:44:42:23-00:44:47:17
when he was one or two days old
and then, definitely, also later on.
#00:44:47:20-00:44:54:02
For example he really used to go
to the La Pietà church to work.
#00:44:54:11-00:44:58:02
Here was the famous
Ospedale della Pietà.
#00:44:58:05-00:45:00:24
Ospedale in today's Italian
means a hospital, a sick house.
#00:45:01:02-00:45:04:13
In those days, it was a refuge
for abandoned girls,
#00:45:04:16-00:45:08:18
however, one of the main criteria
for being accepted in this institution
#00:45:08:21-00:45:12:12
was musical talent. The female inmates
formed a choir and an orchestra.
#00:45:12:15-00:45:17:04
They were excellent singers,
instrumentalists,
#00:45:17:07-00:45:19:21
they even played such instruments
as trumpets and contrabasses
#00:45:19:24-00:45:24:07
because no man was allowed
in their company.
#00:45:24:10-00:45:26:18
The priest Vivaldi
was "maestro dei concerti" here,
#00:45:26:21-00:45:29:12
the teacher of violin playing.
#00:45:29:15-00:45:31:05
It would be interesting
to have a look at the local theatres,
#00:45:31:08-00:45:35:03
first of all Teatro San Angelo
#00:45:35:06-00:45:37:15
in which most of Vivaldi's operas
had their premieres.
#00:45:37:18-00:45:41:01
In addition, it was his theatre.
He worked there as an impresario.
#00:45:41:04-00:45:45:09
He participated in the organisational
operation of the theatre,
#00:45:45:12-00:45:48:11
he shared the profits as well as the risks
related to the opera performances.
#00:45:48:14-00:45:51:18
That of course has disappeared, like all
the other Venetian Baroque theatres.
#00:45:52:03-00:45:55:23
The theatres in which operas were staged
have disappeared for all time.
#00:45:57:14-00:46:01:10
One could understand
if they had burnt down.
#00:46:01:13-00:46:03:20
But during the 1950s and 1960s a number
of them were turned into cinemas, galleries,
#00:46:03:23-00:46:08:01
or were modernised.
#00:46:08:04-00:46:10:13
So there is not a single theatre
like the one we have in Krumlov.
#00:46:10:16-00:46:17:00
Our musical ensemble has undergone
a transformation in the last two years.
#00:47:24:02-00:47:28:10
Today we have a much
higher proportion of foreigners
#00:47:28:13-00:47:32:01
or let's say musicians from elsewhere
than from Bohemia and Moravia.
#00:47:32:04-00:47:36:00
We have Austrians there,
#00:47:36:03-00:47:38:10
a Polish woman, a Hungarian
#00:47:38:13-00:47:41:04
two Americans, one of whom
lives in Vienna and the other in Leipzig.
#00:47:41:07-00:47:44:07
All of them are today
specialists in Baroque music.
#00:47:44:10-00:47:48:19
They mostly do not even play modern
instruments, which is important for technique.
#00:47:48:22-00:47:54:13
Baroque instruments
do not only have different sounds
#00:47:54:16-00:47:57:12
but also different playing techniques.
#00:47:57:15-00:47:59:20
The notation of pre-Romantic music
#00:48:47:23-00:48:51:21
is, to a certain extent, a framework,
#00:48:51:24-00:48:55:17
it is not so detailed
as in later composers.
#00:48:55:20-00:49:00:03
Tempo regulations,
#00:49:00:06-00:49:02:09
dynamics, phrasing, articulation,
#00:49:02:12-00:49:05:14
in short all the components
of which an interpretation consists,
#00:49:05:17-00:49:09:08
were either just hinted at
or were not mentioned at all.
#00:49:09:11-00:49:13:21
SZABOLCS ILLÉS – CONCERTMASTER/VIOLINIST:
(please note: NO SUBTITLING IN ENGLISH SPEAKING TERRITORIES)
Yes, improvisation makes quite a big part.
#00:49:22:17-00:49:25:19
NARRATIVE TITLE:
Szabolcs Illés
concertmaster
#00:49:23:11-00:49:28:10
SZABOLCS ILLÉS – CONCERTMASTER/VIOLINIST:
(please note: NO SUBTITLING IN ENGLISH SPEAKING TERRITORIES)
Fortunately, we have a freedom,
which was a habit of that time.
#00:49:25:22-00:49:31:19
They used intelligence of musicians.
The score wasn't really fixed.
#00:49:31:22-00:49:37:16
They asked for improvisation
and we try to use it as well.
#00:49:37:19-00:49:40:23
There is a lot of places, cadencies,
#00:49:41:01-00:49:43:19
to give chance to the singer
and partly to the orchestra as well.
#00:49:43:22-00:49:47:14
We should discuss about, of course,
because it's a bigger group of people.
#00:49:47:17-00:49:53:04
It's a different thinking,
it's not fixed on the score.
#00:49:54:16-00:50:00:12
Improvisation is part of our life.
#00:50:00:15-00:50:02:20
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
When selecting singers
several aspects are involved.
#00:50:28:19-00:50:32:12
I try to choose people with whom
I have cooperated for a longer period,
#00:50:32:15-00:50:38:02
we are already used to each other,
and, hopefully, mutually satisfied.
#00:50:38:05-00:50:42:07
That's a general rule.
#00:50:42:10-00:50:45:01
Then, an important thing is to find people
who correspond to the type of role.
#00:50:45:04-00:50:51:22
We have woman singers singing male roles
since we don't have castratos.
#00:50:52:00-00:50:57:11
It requires a different
type of voice and figure,
#00:50:57:14-00:51:01:10
than that of a delicate girl.
#00:51:01:15-00:51:03:23
And there are also two more aspects:
one is musical, the voice type,
#00:51:05:06-00:51:09:10
and then the type of the figure
as far as the looks are concerned,
#00:51:09:13-00:51:13:06
the way the person makes
an impression on stage.
#00:51:13:09-00:51:15:16
A lot has been spoken and written about
Baroque singing or technique
#00:51:25:23-00:51:30:07
but it's very dodgy.
#00:51:30:10-00:51:33:00
Singing is still taught only based on
a method of feelings and impressions.
#00:51:33:03-00:51:38:23
The pianist or a trumpeter learns
#00:51:39:01-00:51:41:13
where to press this or that
key, button or valve,
#00:51:41:16-00:51:45:02
while in a singer
something like that is not possible.
#00:51:45:05-00:51:49:01
Basically, the human voice is always the same
but there are various types of voice.
#00:51:50:04-00:51:54:23
A singer who is suitable,
for example, for Wagner
#00:51:55:01-00:51:57:24
will be hardly "usable"
for Baroque music
#00:51:58:02-00:52:01:02
and may not have
any interest in it either.
#00:52:01:05-00:52:04:03
They are rather stylistic matters.
#00:52:06:14-00:52:09:00
Every young singer with a nice voice
and above all with an interest
#00:52:09:03-00:52:14:08
and a good technique in general,
#00:52:14:11-00:52:16:18
may sing Baroque music if they accept
certain stylistic principles.
#00:52:16:21-00:52:23:04
In a big opera,
there are about thirty arias.
#00:54:48:15-00:54:51:12
They have the same form: A-B-A,
the so-called "Da capo aria",
#00:54:51:15-00:54:56:00
with orchestral entr'actes.
#00:54:56:03-00:54:58:20
The plot halts and a character
suddenly sings an aria
#00:54:58:23-00:55:02:14
reflecting the plot but
with no significance for the plot itself.
#00:55:02:17-00:55:06:15
If you want to stage it as a drama,
#00:55:06:18-00:55:08:18
you cut out the arias, leave only
the recitatives and it becomes a drama.
#00:55:08:21-00:55:12:05
The aria in fact stops things
for five to ten minutes.
#00:55:12:08-00:55:15:10
This depiction of emotions
is new for us, interesting.
#00:55:17:02-00:55:21:04
A similar motif is in the Winter concerto
from the Four Seasons.
#00:56:46:03-00:56:50:19
And it is not by chance.
#00:56:50:22-00:56:52:20
The singing is about how the blood
in Argippo's veins gels,
#00:56:52:23-00:56:56:09
literally freezes with terror,
#00:56:56:12-00:57:00:07
since he thought
that his wife had gone to her death,
#00:57:00:10-00:57:05:06
which eventually proves to be untrue.
#00:57:05:09-00:57:09:00
One brings a visual experience
from such a theatre.
#00:57:09:16-00:57:12:19
One looks at the beautiful scenery,
the costumes,
#00:57:12:22-00:57:16:14
all in the candlelight.
#00:57:16:17-00:57:18:11
It is a style that works
and worked in the past.
#00:57:18:18-00:57:21:19
And if there is a part of the audience
that likes it,
#00:57:21:22-00:57:24:15
or musicians who are willing to
play it, we are of course glad.
#00:57:24:18-00:57:28:07
While knowing that it will never be
as popular as a musical.
#00:57:28:10-00:57:31:12
SZABOLCS ILLÉS – CONCERTMASTER/VIOLINIST:
(please note: NO SUBTITLING IN ENGLISH SPEAKING TERRITORIES)
Vivaldi's music is always
very nice, of course.
#00:57:41:01-00:57:44:00
Especially the one written for violins.
#00:57:44:03-00:57:47:19
Vivaldi was a very good violinist
#00:57:47:22-00:57:51:00
and this opera was greatly composed directly
for violin groups. It is amazingly nice.
#00:57:51:03-00:57:55:03
Vivaldi wrote it in the middle of his career.
He was already a famous composer.
#00:57:55:06-00:57:59:21
He was asked to come to Prague to compose
operas. This is a very good example of it.
#00:57:59:24-00:58:05:03
He made it very, very well
and for us it's a pleasure to play.
#00:58:06:19-00:58:09:19
It is a very easily playable
and very violinistic.
#00:58:09:22-00:58:12:21
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
A Czech listener will also definitely
be captivated by the final opera chorus,
#00:58:13:07-00:58:19:06
the so-called "lieto fine",
the happy end in Italian.
#00:58:20:12-00:58:25:19
Which, in a Baroque opera,
is a more or less obligatory...
#00:58:25:22-00:58:30:01
...conclusion.
#00:58:31:08-00:58:32:18
The final chorus...
#00:58:33:08-00:58:34:23
The Czech Christmas carol "Hark, Hark,
oh Shepherds" is clearly heard here.
#00:58:37:15-00:58:41:11
There was a similarly sounding text.
#00:58:41:14-00:58:44:07
"Se d'inganno Amor si pasce".
#00:58:46:22-00:58:50:06
Pascere means "to graze".
It is a relatively striking coincidence.
#00:58:50:09-00:58:56:00
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
It is very likely that Vivaldi
directly composed Argippo in Prague,
#00:58:57:02-00:59:03:04
that he participated in the first night
#00:59:03:07-00:59:06:13
and that he directed the performance,
as used to be the habit.
#00:59:06:16-00:59:10:22
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
A newly-found and reconstructed
opera from such a composer
#00:59:31:19-00:59:34:14
is not a thing that happens every day.
#00:59:34:17-00:59:37:13
In addition,
it is a specifically Czech thing,
#00:59:37:16-00:59:40:07
we may say that it is the most important
opera before Don Giovanni.
#00:59:40:10-00:59:44:06
I would not like to get into
some kind of spooky explanation,
#00:59:46:00-00:59:49:18
that's not my thing at all,
#00:59:49:21-00:59:52:10
but I really do not know
of another composer
#00:59:52:13-00:59:56:00
for whom the genius loci of the town
with which he was so connected
#00:59:56:03-01:00:00:12
would be so close to his music
#01:00:00:15-01:00:02:19
as is the case
of Venice and Vivaldi.
#01:00:02:22-01:00:06:00
In the music of Antonio Vivaldi...
#01:00:06:05-01:00:08:01
and this is a purely personal thing,
I'm not making any theory out of it,
#01:00:08:04-01:00:12:08
...I can hear those canals
#01:00:12:11-01:00:15:18
and can see the colour of the sea here,
of that lagoon and those canals,
#01:00:15:21-01:00:20:23
I can see those little streets, the
washing hanging over those streets.
#01:00:21:01-01:00:26:00
Vivaldi wouldn't have composed as he did
if he were not a Venetian
#01:00:26:15-01:00:31:17
and Venice would be equally beautiful
even without Vivaldi's music
#01:00:31:20-01:00:36:03
but it would lack something all the same.
#01:00:36:06-01:00:38:08
STANISLAV BOHADLO – MUSICOLOGIST:
The importance of that discovery
is fantastic.
#01:00:40:02-01:00:43:15
If no other argument had any impact,
#01:00:43:18-01:00:49:10
then the reaction it caused
in Vivaldian scholarship was enormous.
#01:00:49:13-01:00:55:21
I think that it is one
of the biggest discoveries,
#01:00:55:24-01:00:58:22
definitely the biggest Vivaldian
discovery in the 21st century.
#01:00:59:00-01:01:02:18
ONDŘEJ MACEK:
I am interested in it
as in the Gesamtkunstwerk.
#01:01:04:23-01:01:08:04
As an interplay
of all components together,
#01:01:08:07-01:01:10:20
without any of them being cut away from
the whole and elevated to a specific art.
#01:01:10:23-01:01:15:20
Today, a director is often understood
as the person who interprets the opera.
#01:01:18:10-01:01:25:14
I think that the interpretation must
be rooted in the libretto and the score,
#01:01:26:00-01:01:29:16
not in the head of some crazy person,
which is often the case.
#01:01:29:19-01:01:34:01
No, I am absolutely uncompromising.
I don't appreciate so-called modernisations.
#01:01:35:11-01:01:40:10
Some of them are witty,
not so stupid, even interesting,
#01:01:40:13-01:01:43:21
but it is always just an exhibition,
#01:01:43:24-01:01:47:07
something extra added to the work
#01:01:47:10-01:01:51:12
from above.
#01:01:51:15-01:01:53:15
It also demonstrates a lack of respect
for the text and unfamiliarity and ignorance.
#01:01:57:14-01:02:01:22
The ordinary audience doesn't understand
Italian and the director doesn't either,
#01:02:02:00-01:02:05:13
so it really doesn't matter
if it makes no sense.
#01:02:05:16-01:02:09:06
For example, in the Marriage of Figaro
the whole ensemble sings about
#01:02:09:09-01:02:12:17
Figaro jumping out of the window
and trampling the gardener's flowers.
#01:02:12:20-01:02:15:08
But when the staging takes place on the
25th floor of a New York skyscraper,
#01:02:15:11-01:02:18:24
it's witty on the one hand, but it isn't
possible to sing in Italian about how
#01:02:19:02-01:02:23:16
Figaro jumped out of the window
and trampled the flowers.
#01:02:23:19-01:02:27:05
Then, of course, the director and the
singers intentionally ignore the text.
#01:02:27:08-01:02:31:16
The same applies to a Rigoletto that takes
place in the milieu of the Italian mafia.
#01:02:31:19-01:02:36:02
Rigoletto is a barman
and the count is a mafioso.
#01:02:36:05-01:02:39:13
That's all right, since the situation
with the seduced daughter could happen.
#01:02:39:16-01:02:43:20
But at the moment when the murderer rips
up Gilda and takes her away in a bag,
#01:02:43:23-01:02:49:09
and it's supposed to be happening
in the nineties of the 20th century,
#01:02:49:12-01:02:53:13
why doesn't Rigoletto call an ambulance
on his mobile phone and save his daughter?
#01:02:53:16-01:02:58:13
Instead, he sings a duet with her.
That's simply a nonsense.
#01:02:58:16-01:03:02:21
If it is a historical text, no matter
whether from the 17th, 18th or 19th centuries,
#01:03:03:06-01:03:07:18
it somehow interplays with that music.
#01:03:07:21-01:03:10:20
It is credible within the period
from which the text originated
#01:03:10:23-01:03:16:04
and listeners must understand it in
that way. When they don't understand it
#01:03:16:07-01:03:20:11
they must learn about it
or don't have to go to see it.
#01:03:20:14-01:03:24:06
People are usually not enthusiastic
about modernisations.
#01:03:24:24-01:03:28:15
Of course, a critic will write
that it was avant-garde and progressive.
#01:03:28:18-01:03:32:06
And when the audience boos the director
off the stage, for example in Germany,
#01:03:32:09-01:03:36:05
it is explained as
the ignorance of the audience.
#01:03:36:08-01:03:39:19
But I wouldn't underestimate
the spectator.
#01:03:39:22-01:03:43:11
Even today's spectator
has an historical awareness.
#01:03:43:14-01:03:46:21
Crowds of tourists
do not visit Baroque castles
#01:03:46:24-01:03:50:11
to look at IKEA furniture there.
#01:03:50:14-01:03:53:21
They want to see Baroque beds.
#01:03:53:24-01:03:57:08
So why should it be otherwise
in music and opera?
#01:03:57:11-01:04:00:11
FINAL CREDITS - SUBTITLES:
ARGIPPO RESURRECTED
#01:04:19:12-01:04:23:05
written by
#01:04:23:15-01:04:26:01
reconstruction of the opera
stage director
#01:04:36:04-01:04:39:24
soloists
#01:04:40:06-01:04:45:05
choir
#01:04:45:12-01:04:48:08
artistic director
violin
#01:04:48:15-01:04:53:14
oboe, bassoon, harpsichord
#01:04:59:02-01:05:04:01
special thanks
#01:05:21:05-01:05:24:12
editor, director of photography,
directed by
#01:05:43:07-01:05:46:02
produced by
#01:05:47:04-01:05:50:15
ARGIPPO ZNOVUZROZENÝ / ARGIPPO RESURRECTED
námět a scénář / subject-matter and screenplay
Dan Krameš
dramaturgie / dramaturgist
Natálie Nádassy
záznam operního představení / recorded opera performance
Antonio Vivaldi:
Argippo (1730)
novodobá světová premiéra / modern world premiere
3. 5. 2008
Španělský sál Praského hradu / Prague Castle, Spanish Hall
reprízy / subsequent performances
6. 6. 2008, Zámecké divadlo Český Krumlov
18. 10. 2008, Zámecké divadlo Český Krumlov
23. 10. 2008, Teatro Goldoni, Venezia, Italia
rekonstrukce opery / reconstruction of the opera
Ondřej Macek
hraje / featuring
Soubor barokní hudby Hofmusici / Baroque Music Ensemble Hofmusici
umělecký vedoucí / artistic director
Ondřej Macek
reie a barokní gestika / stage director and baroque gestures
Zuzana Vrbová
sólisté / soloists
Argippo: Veronika Mráčková Fučíková (mezzosoprán / Mezzo-soprano)
Osira: Jana Bínová-Koucká (soprán / Soprano)
Zanaida: Pavla Štěpničková (mezzosoprán / Mezzo-soprano)
Silvero: Olga Krumpholzová / Barbora Sojková (soprán / Soprano)
Tisifaro: Zdeněk Kapl (baryton / Baritone)
sbor / choir
Alena Máčová, Zuzana Veverková, Lenka Jakubcová, Markéta Růičková
Pavel Valenta, Václav Číek, Ivo Michl, Jan Honek
Hofmusici
umělecký vedoucí / artistic director
Ondřej Macek
housle / violin
Szabolcs Illés, Jana Spáčilová, Martin Flašar,
Eva Kalová, Sarah Flögel, Christopher Roth,
Danuta Zawada, Gunda Hagmüller
viola
Zdeňka Procházková, Zita Vinklerová
violoncello
Věra Kousalíková, Dalibor Pimek
violone
František Dvořák, Florian Wieninger
hoboj / oboe
Andrea Strassberger, Aviad Gershoni
fagot / bassoon
Eva Nováková
cembalo / harpsichord
Ondřej Macek, Filip Dvořák
ukázky z děl / extracts from:
ANTONIO CALDARA:
SCIPIONE AFFRICANO IL MAGGIORE (1735)
hudební nastudování Ondřej Macek
choreografie Helena Kazárová a Hana Slačálková
reie Zuzana Vrbová
hraje soubor barokní hudby Hofmusici
tančí soubor barokního tance Hartig
sólisté
Scipione Affricano: Martina Kučerová (mezzosoprán)
Emilia: Jana Koucká (soprán)
Pubblio Scipione Figlio: Kamila Zbořilová (soprán)
Arbace: Zdeněk Kapl (baryton)
Annone: Ivo Michl (bas)
(2006)
JOHANN JOSEPH FUX:
GIUNONE PLACATA
hudební nastudování Ondřej Macek
choreografie Helena Kazárová
reie Zuzana Vrbová
hraje soubor barokní hudby Hofmusici
tančí soubor barokního tance Hartig
(2005)
hlavní poděkování / special thanks
PhDr. Pavel Slavko
ředitel správy Státního hradu a zámku Český Krumlov
za umonění natáčení
v Zámeckém divadle Český Krumlov
(for permition to shoot in the Baroque Castle Theatre in Český Krumlov)
obsluha barokní jevištní techniky
soubor mašinistů barokního divadla zámku Český Krumlov
vedoucí Jan Pilný
Richard Křenek, Richard Křenek ml., Martin Švamberg, Miroslav Wolák, Jiří Olšan, Jan Olšan, Vladimír Hlušička, Josef Masaryk, Jaroslav Pelikán, Petr Slavětínský, Lukáš Opekar, Petr Poláček, Lukáš Hajný, Andrea Schneiderová, Jiřina Pelikánová, Klára Brichcínová, Stanislava Slavková
koordinace scénických výměn
Martin Voříšek, Martin Horyna
spolupracovali / additional co-operation
Marta Nádassy
Ondřej Macek
Zuzana Vrbová
Tomáš Míka
Bernie Higgins
poděkování / thanks for their assistance
Národní knihovna ČR
Oddělení rukopisů a starých tisků
Mgr. Kateřina Cibulková
SYNTEX s.r.o.
Michal Jenča, Jan Vodráka
Věra Kramešová
Jan Kastner
titulky a grafika / graphics
Oto Kolečko
záznam představení / opera performance camera units
1. kamera / 1st camera
Dan Krameš
2. kamera / 2nd camera
Natálie Nádassy
3. kamera / 3rd camera
Matyáš Nádassy
výroba / executive producer
ALPHA PLUS Pro
šéfdramaturg, šéfproducent
Nat Schemark
scénář, střih, kamera, reie / editor, director of photography, written and directed by
Dan Krameš
Copyright © ALPHA PLUS Pro, 2009
All rights reserved.
END OF FILM
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