Columbia Collegium Musicum and new campus company, OperaRepo and staging Hasse's and Metastasio's opera titled Hercules at the Crossroads
In 1760, the renowned librettist Pietro Metastasio and composer Johann Adolf Hasse put pleasure on trial; on April 4, 2009 , we will reopen the case.
The Columbia Collegium Musicum and a new opera company on campus, OperaRepo, have joined forces to stage Hasse's and Metastasio's allegorical opera Alcide al bivio (Hercules at the Crossroads). An aesthetic battle between Virtue and Pleasure, Alcide al bivio combines over-the-top musical extravagance with severe morality, composed by the most important Italian librettist in history and a German composer (affectionately nicknamed “il caro sassone” or beloved Saxon”) considered in his time to be the master of the Italian operatic style.
Metastasian opera is a pillar of Italian culture too often neglected on the stage; through innovative staging, design and performance by professionals and members of the Columbia community, we hope to make this work relevant and exciting to modern audiences.
Musical Director: Mark Seto
Stage Director: Sarah Meyers
Director, OperaRepo: Annie Holt