Orest

Exile, xenophobia, and dictatorship are the central themes of Handel’s opera, which premiered in 1734. It tells the story of Orestes, drawn from Greek mythology. Orestes murdered his mother, Clytemnestra, to avenge his father, Agamemnon. Haunted by delusions, the matricide flees to Tauris. There he encounters his sister Iphigenia, whom he believed to be dead. She is forced by the tyrant Thoas to kill all strangers. The siblings do not recognize each other until late in the story, but together with their companions, they manage to overthrow Thoas’s tyranny and escape.

For this opera, Handel compiled a pastiche of the most beautiful arias from nine of his operas composed between 1720 and 1732, creating a musical delight. This fast-paced and dense opera highlights the composer’s artistry, as he allows his characters to experiment with musical expression with sensitivity and intuition. Composer and sound designer Albrecht Ziepert, together with director Mirella Weingarten, will reinterpret Handel’s pastiche, thereby revealing the piece’s contemporary themes. Through the relevance of both the subject matter and the form, Handel’s remarkable modernity can be experienced anew.