Judith the Triumphant by Antonio Vivaldi

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Warsaw Chamber Opera Theatre

Antonio Vivaldi
Judith Triumphant
victorious over the barbarians of Holofernes

Libretto | Giacomo Cassetti

Realizers
Directing and staging | Maria Sartova

Music Management | Hugo Reyne

Scenography and animation design | Damian Styrna

Costumes | Anna Chadaj

Choreography | Emil Wesołowski

Lighting design | Paulina Góral

Multimedia | Eliasz Styrna

Cast

Judyta | Aleksandra Opala

Holofernes | Michal Marhold

Vacancies | Małgorzata Panek

Abra | Joanna Moskowicz

Ozias | Jadwiga Postrozna

Dancers

Patrick Rybarski, Anna Pacocha, Zyta Bujacz-Dziel, Sebastian Piotrowicz,

Natalia Jozwiak, Katarzyna Gocal, Jakub Jozwiak, Dominik Skorek

Vocal Ensemble of the Warsaw Chamber Opera
Vocal Band Manager | Alexander Ebert

Orchestra of Early Instruments of the Warsaw Chamber Opera

Musicae Antiquae Collegium Warsaw (MACV)
Conductor | Christopher Moulds

Assyrian troops besiege Israeli Bethulia. The city shares weapons, although its fall seems inevitable. Judith, a beautiful Jewish widow, enters the enemy camp. He seduces Holofernes, the commander of the invading army, and when he falls asleep, he cuts off his head. The enemy is humiliated and defeated!

When composer Antonio Vivaldi set out to musically illustrate the story of fearless Judith in 1716, the Venetian Republic remained at war, defending itself against the overwhelming forces of the Ottoman Empire. In his oratory, in a metaphorical way, the composer referred to the situation of the struggling Serenissima: under the figure of the biblical Judith, he hid the Venetian Republic, while Holofernes was supposed to personify the weakening Turks.

Vivaldi chose the oratorio genre for a reason — the rich instrumentation characteristic of this musical genre allowed him to present the outstanding skills of the Ospedale della Pietà, the girls' orchestra that the composer cared for.

As a talented opera creator, Vivaldi has effectively exploited the narrative potential hidden in the story of a fearless woman. As a result, Judith triumphant combines rich instrumentation with a lively narrative with the amplitude of sensations typical of opera.

The performance is excellent musically and scenically, it is another successful production of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, which staged this oratory on stage for the first time in Poland.
The Orchestra of Early Instruments of the MACV Warsaw Chamber Opera under the baton of Hugo Reyne, a Belgian conductor and musicologist specializing mainly in early music, sounded perfectly. There were great climaxes, especially in scenes of stage tension, but also moments of lyrical despair in Judita's indecision [...]

A wonderful performer of the title role was Aleksandra Opała, with a dark beautiful mezzo-soprano, silky-operating gloom and despair, with a fleshy and well-set pectoral register. The beauty of poisonous coloratura and vocal freedom was presented by Joanna Moskowicz in the role of the insidious Abra, in this staging it is she who is really the heroine of this drama. It is she who covers the eyes of Oziash and Judith during the final execution of Vagaus. Moskovich was wonderful on stage, sweet, fake, steadfast and ready for anything to achieve her goal. It is also a great acting creation.

The revelation for me was the Georgian Nino Yachvadze who created the role of Vagaus, the servant of Holofernes. In her singing there was not only precision, but also vocal madness, this role is very extensive and the artist was able to show the diversity of the technique of the workshop and dazzle with the dramatic expression of coloratura. The mysterious figure is Osiah, who appears in the opera only twice, he is the most important character in the invaded city of Betulia. This role was performed monumentally by Jadwiga Postrozna, with a beautiful long phrase, despair and drama and a sense of the style of this music. Finally, Holofernes — the director entrusted this role to a man, in the score, as we know, all the parts are sung by women. The baritone Kamil Pękala sounded strong and imperious, characteristically the artist was not afraid to present the repulsive vision of his hero, devoid of humanity and heart.

The beautiful plasticity of the production is due to Damian Styrna (scenography and animation projects), Anna Chadaj (costumes), Eliasz Styrna (multimedia), as well as Paulina Góral (light direction). The choreography of Emil Wesołowski is also suggestive, in which the dancers blend in with the artists of the choir.

Tomasz Pasternak, orfeo.com.pl