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Afternoon Concert: Thursday Opera Matinee: Rossini - Aureliano in Palmira

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Music: Classical: Opera

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23/10/2014

Rossini - Aureliano in Palmira

BBC Radio 3 - Afternoon Concert

From the 2014 Pesaro Festival, Act 1 of Rossini's opera Aureliano in Palmira.

From the 2014 Pesaro Festival, Act 1 of Rossini's opera Aureliano in Palmira, in a rare performance. Plus the BBC Philharmonic performing Schubert's Symphony No 4 in C minor.

Today's Opera Matinee is by Rossini, his opera seria "Aureliano in Palmira" a historical tale of Love and War between the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (Aureliano), and Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, a city in Syria.

For such a rarity (Aureliano in Palmira was a flop at its first outing, never re-staged in Rossini's lifetime and disappearing almost without trace), a great deal of the music sounds familiar - very familiar in fact. From the Overture there is more than a nagging sense that you've heard this before somewhere and that is because Rossini re-cycled his forlorn historical drama into one of his comic masterpieces "The Barber of Seville" (which also flopped on its first outing, but history has been kinder to it). So the quality of the music is assured.

And the setting of the Rossini Festival Pesaro is the most sympathetic place to hear again this original score with the outstanding pairing of tenor Michael Spyres as the Roman emperor Aureliano and soprano Jessica Pratt as the Palmyran queen Zenobia.

We hear Act 1 today and Act 2 is tomorrow


2pm Opera Matinee 
Rossini: Aureliano in Palmira - opera seria in 2 Acts

From the 2014 Pesaro Festival

Act 1
Act 1 begins in the temple in Palmyra. Queen Zenobia, her lover Arsace, Prince of Persia, and the citizens of Palmyra are praying for deliverance from the Romans, led by the emperor Marcus Aurelius (Aureliano), who are approaching the city gates.

Battle is joined outside the city and the Romans defeat the Palmyrans and capture Arsace, who declares his love for Zenobia to Aureliano. Zenobia tries to negotiate the release of her captured citizens, but Aureliano is adamant and prepares to enter Palmyra itself.

Zenobia prepares the city for one last desperate defence, knowing that her lover Arsace is already in the hands of Aureliano.

Aureliano ..... Michael Spyres (tenor)
Zenobia ..... Jessica Pratt (soprano)
Arsace ..... Lena Belkina (mezzo-soprano)
Publia ..... Raffaella Lupinacci (mezzo-soprano)
Oraspe ..... Dempsey C'Rivera (tenor)
High Priest ..... Dimitri Pkhaladze (bass)
Priest ..... Raffaele Constantini (bass)
Licinio ..... Sergio Vitale (baritone)

Chorus of the Teatro Comunale, Bologna
Gioachino Rossini Symphony Orchestra/
Will Crutchfield (conductor)

(Act 2 tomorrow at 2pm)

3.50pm
Schubert
Symphony No.4 in C minor (D.417) "Tragic"
BBC Philharmonic.

Afternoon Concert: Thursday Opera Matinee

Thursday Opera Matinee

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