TANCREDI

In the organizer's words:

It is a gripping opera thriller of emotions that catapulted the 21-year-old Gioacchino Rossini from Venice to the forefront of Italian composers in 1813: Amenaide is to obey her father's will and marry a man she does not love. In doing so, she does her bit to end the power struggle between two feuding families in her home town. Amenaide, meanwhile suspected of being a traitor and threatened with death, loves Tancredi, who returns to his hometown unrecognized, finds out about the forced betrothal and kills his rival. But the trusting relationship with Amenaide is gone, Tancredi is desperate and wants to find death. Although an early work, TANCREDI bears witness to Rossini's musical ingenuity with its lively melodies and roaring finales. It is above all the solo scenes in which the work reaches its climax. With the title character's catchy cabaletta "Di tanti palpiti", the work contains a real operatic hit, which even has the status of a folk song in Italy. Incidentally, the main male character Tancredi is played by a mezzo-soprano, a "trouser role" still characteristic of the early 19th century. Musically, however, TANCREDI has far more to offer than just this one big hit. With his so-called "Rossini Code", Rossini also developed new paths for romantic Italian opera in terms of form - a tempo d'attacco, an adagio, a tempo di mezzo and a cabaletta often follow one another. The successful Bregenz Festival production from 2024, directed by Jan Philipp Gloger, is now being presented in Cologne. Jan Philipp Gloger, who most recently directed EIN MASKENBALL in Cologne, focuses his production on the love of two women who have little chance of self-realization in a clan and macho world. George Petrou is the musical director.