- Conductor: Alessandro De Marchi
- Production: Jan Bosse
With Lilit Davtyan, Stephanie Wake-Edwards, Hye-Young Moon, Hulkar Sabirova, Kangyoon Shine Lee, Omar Mancini, Joel Allison, Artur Garbas, Philipp Jekal, Kyle Miller and others.
The viaggio to Reims
About the work
In the “Hotel zur Goldenen Lily” a colorful group prepares to continue their journey to the coronation of Charles X in Reims. At the last moment, however, it turns out that there are no more horses to be found for the trip - the group is stuck.
In the opera IL VIAGGIO A REIMS, Gioacchino Rossini and his librettist Luigi Balochi use this basic situation of uncertainty and waiting to create a space in which the 14 main roles, which are largely equal, can meet without restriction and present themselves extensively with original and virtuoso arias.
The subject of the opera corresponds to the occasion for which it was commissioned: As part of the coronation festivities of Charles Create celebration.
IL VIAGGIO A REIMS was linked by its plot to the event of the coronation and therefore, from Rossini's point of view, was not intended to last forever. He himself referred to the work as a cantata throughout his life and quickly used musical material from it in one of his French operas, LE COMTE ORY. As a result, the opera was considered lost for a long time and was only performed again in Pesaro in the 1980s under Claudio Abbado.
Luckily - because despite its occasional character, the last of Rossini's Italian-language operas is a gem in which he takes both the musical virtuosity and the absurd humor to the extreme. Rossini created a kind of “best of” Italian opera buffa.
It's worth taking a closer look at the characters in IL VIAGGIO A REIMS. Some of the characters come largely from Madame de Stäel's popular novel, “Corinne ou l’Italie”.
At the same time, they also represent 19th century Europe gathering to pay homage to the French king, and are portrayed in a clichéd manner as clear representatives.
For staging
In his production, director Jan Bosse underlines the absurd basic situation of Europe waiting in a bathing hotel. A mirror room that oscillates between a health clinic, a sanatorium and an insane asylum forms the starting point for the non-journey of the protagonists, who cultivate their national characteristics with devotion, engage in a breathtaking competition for the boldest coloraturas and ultimately decide to have a celebration of their own to put legs.
approx. 2 hours 45 minutes / One intermission