NEWS

Parnassus Arts Productions remains true to its reputation for rediscovering unknown Baroque operas, some of which have not been performed since the 18th century. In this spirit, we present the upcoming revival tour of Nicola Antonio Porpora's opera Polifemo.

Two concert performances of this magnificent opera will be presented on Thursday 4 May 2023 at 19:00 in Hall E of the Museumsquartier Wien, which is the venue of the Musiktheater an der Wien under the new artistic directorship of Stefan Herheim, and on Saturday 6 May 2023 at 13:00 as part of the Zaterdaag series in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. On 27 May 2023 at 19:30, the staged version of Polifemo directed by Max Emanuel Cencic, which was acclaimed by the press and audience in Salzburg, will finally be shown again at the International May Festival at the Hessisches Staatstheater. All information about the Polifemo performance in Wiesbaden and how to order tickets can be found here.

The orchestra is Armonia Atenea and the musical direction is shared between two conductors. George Petrou, resident conductor of the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival 2021 and artistic director of the Göttingen Handel Festival since 2022, will conduct in Vienna and Amsterdam. Markellos Chryssicos, currently conducting the production of Xerxes at Zurich Opera, will lead the Wiesbaden performance.

The title role of Polifemo will be performed by the young Serbian bass-baritone, Sreten Manojlovic, who lives in Vienna. Sreten sang Simon in The Seasons under the direction of William Christie in Paris, Geneva, Bern and Zurich in March 2023 and is currently on tour as Gelone in Cesti's opera L'Orontea at Theater Aachen, where Sreten interpreted Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro until March 2023.
The two most important roles in Polifemo are Aci and Galathea. As Aci in Vienna and Amsterdam we look forward to star countertenor Franco Fagioli. In the staged production in Wiesbaden, as it was at the Salzburg Festival, Yuriy Mynenko, will take over. He previously sang Eliogabalo in Zurich and Cesare in Leipzig.
It's a pleasure to have the unique Julia Lezhneva as Galathea in the cast.

Max Emanuel Cencic, artistic director of Bayreuth Baroque, singer, director, producer and agent, despite his fall in November 2022 and subsequent surgery in March 2023, will stage the production Polifemo in Wiesbaden and will take on the role of Ulisse.

The young Croatian contralto Sonja Runje, who lives in Stuttgart and is currently in Giulio Cesare rehearsals at the Cologne Opera, will thrill as Calipso. The second soprano role of Nerea is in the proven hands of Rinnat Moriah. Rinnat will sing Musetta in La Boheme at Oper Dortmund in autumn 2023, and sang Julia in Der Vetter von Dingsda at Stadttheater Klagenfurt in the winter of 2022/23.

In Wiesbaden there will be an exclusive CD sale of the new Polifemo CD after the performance. In Vienna and Amsterdam the Polifemo CD's can be pre-ordered. You can also order the new recording on the Parnassus webshop at https://www.parnassus-shop.com/shop/polifemo-pre-order/. The pre-sale of the Polifemo CD starts on 20 May 2023, the Polifemo CD will be released in September 2023.

We are very happy to present this production with Armonia Atenea on period instruments.

Here is an overview of the Polifemo cast:

Musical Director: George Petrou (Vienna, Amsterdam) / Markellos Chryssicos (Wiesbaden).
Director: Max Emanuel Cencic
Set design: Ann-Margit Berger
Costumes: Giorgina Germanou
Light designer: Stella Kaltsou
Video: Sarah Scherer
Assistant director: Constantina Psoma

Ulisse: Max Emanuel Cencic
Aci: Franco Fagioli (Vienna, Amsterdam) / Yuriy Mynenko (Wiesbaden)
Galathea: Julia Lezhneva
Polifemo: Sreten Manojlovic
Calipso: Sonja Runje
Nerea: Rinnat Moriah

Orchestra: Armonia Atenea

We wish all the wonderful artists involved every success and the audiences in Vienna, Amsterdam and Wiesbaden a wonderful journey of discovery into the work of the baroque composer Nicola Antonio Porpora and a spectacular evening at the opera with Polifemo.