Giustino

Opera seria (1737)

Music by Georg Friedrich Händel

Libretto based on a text by Nicolò Beregan and Pietro Pariati

In Italian with German surtitles

New production Theater an der Wien at the Kammeroper

Premiere: 4 December 2019, 7 pm until 9.45 pm (Intermission: 8.10 pm)

Performances: 7 / 9 / 11 / 14 / 18 / 21 / 28 December 2019 & 2 / 4 January 2020, 7 pm

Synopsis

The goddess Fortuna promises the farmhand Giustino honour, glory and wealth if he has the courage to go out into the world. On his way he protects a woman from a bear, ends up in Byzantium where Emperor Anastasio reigns. The woman Giustino saved is Leocasta, the Emperor’s sister. The Emperor’s wife Arianna has just been kidnapped by the tyrant Vitaliano and he is being threatened by his general Amanzio who wants to be emperor himself. Giustino rescues the Empress, but the thankful behaviour of Arianna causes the jealousy of the Emperor. An intrigue of Amanzio makes him sentence Giustino to death. But Leocasta succeeds in freeing Giustino. Meanwhile Vitaliano plans to take revenge and is about to kill Giustino when he slumbers, but in this moment the two men realise that they are brothers, and together they hurry to Byzantium where they are only just in time to prevent the execution of the Emperor who has been overthrown by Amanzio. All’s well that ends well: Giustino arries Leocasta and is app inted co-regent.

Cast

Conductor	Markellos Chryssicos	Biography
Director & Choreography	James Darrah	Biography
Set & costume design	Adam Rigg	Biography
Light design	Franz Tscheck	Biography
Giustino	Meili Li	Biography
Arianna	Jenna Siladie	Biography
Anastasio	Rafał Tomkiewicz	Biography
Leocasta	Tatiana Kuryatnikova	Biography
Vitaliano	Johannes Bamberger	Biography
Amanzio	Kristján Jóhannesson	Biography
Polidarte	Dumitru Mădăraşăn	Biography
Fortuna	Ilona Revolskaya	Biography
Orchestra	Bach Consort Wien	Biography