Ascanio in Alba
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ascanio, a youthful work by Mozart, already shows all the promising elements of his mature work to come.
Dates
Mélissa Petit | Venere
Alisa Kolosova | Ascanio
Anna El-Khashem | Silvia
Alasdair Kent | Aceste
Rocío Pérez | Fauno
Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset | direction
Le Jeune Chœur de Paris
About
Situated between Mithridate and Lucio Silla, Ascanio in Alba is one of the youthful works written by Mozart at record speed at the age of fourteen. Composed to celebrate the royal wedding of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria to Princess Maria Beatrice d’Este, this is a charming “theatrical serenade”. It tells the story of a husband-to-be whose intended, or rather her virtue, must be put to the test by Venus in order to ensure that it is unblemished before the wedding. This frivolous subject matter already contains all the seeds of the composer’s musical talent, which would later blossom in his mature popular works.
Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Les Talens Lyriques