Musica Venezia Presents Rossini’s “Moses in Egypt” for Holocaust Remembrance Day (Giorno della Memoria) 2021 at Ateneo Veneto in Venice

Moses and Aaron come before Pharaoh, from the Golden Haggadah, c. 1320, Northern Spain, probably Barcelona (British Library, MS. 27210, fol. 1o verso)

(Venice, Italy) Musica Venezia has been entertaining and educating Venice for decades with its distinct, top-quality events in some of the city's most impressive venues. Roberta Reeder, the Artistic Director of Associazione Culturale Musica Venezia and long-term resident of Venice, brings her rich background as a scholar and producer of culture events to focus attention on rarely performed works of great composers. From sacred music selections on Assumption Day in front of Titian's Assunta at the Frari, to outdoor sound and light projections on the facade of Palazzo Zenobio to celebrate Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, the events produced by Musica Venezia are exceptional, with spoken narration in both English and Italian. 

Venezia Musica always commemorates the Giorno della Memoria, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a special event. This year the performance will be arias from Gioachino Rossini's Moses in Egypt at the Ateneo Veneto, a distinguished cultural institution in Venice that just celebrated its 209th birthday. Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year there will not be a public performance -- the concert will be available on Ateneo Veneto's YouTube channel starting on Sunday, January 24 at 5PM. It is available on demand, so you can watch it whenever you like from that time on.

 

Roberta Reeder, Artistic Director of Associazione Culturale Musica Venezia

 

Here is a description of the event written by Roberta Reeder, the Artistic Director:

Associazione Culturale Musica Venezia

presents

GIORNO DELLA MEMORIA DI VENEZIA 2021

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

MOSES IN EGYPT: A SACRED TRAGIC ACTION

Arias from the opera by Gioachino Rossini 

Piano version – streaming

ATENEO VENETO – 24 January, 2021 at 5 p.m.

Contact:  Ateneo Veneto.  041 522 4459

Every year Musica Venezia presents a special event to commemorate the Holocaust.

 

This year they will perform “Moses in Egypt,” an opera by Rossini dedicated to a concrete event with a universal theme relevant at this time in history –  the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt —  symbolizing the deliverance of oppressed peoples all over the world.  This performance is part of the events of the City of Venice to commemorate the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust (Giorno della Memoria).

This performance is composed of beautiful arias from the original Italian version of the work with piano accompaniment.  It was written as a “sacred tragic action” (azione tragico-sacra) for Lent, the solemn period before Easter when it was not allowed to perform operas in Italy.  Later, when living in France, Rossini wrote Moise, Opera en quatre actes, a much longer grand opera version of this work in French.  The Italian libretto is by Andrea Leone Tottola and is based on an 18th century play by Francesco Ringhieri.  It premiered in March 1818 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, but it is usually performed in the 1820 third version.  It has recently been performed in Pesaro 2011 and Naples in 2018.  Balzac said this work reflects the genius of Italy and Stendahl praised it highly.

The opera is about Exodus, when Moses was chosen by God to lead the Jews, his people, out of slavery in Egypt. The work ends as they cross the Red Sea on the way to the Promised Land.  However, the librettist transformed the Biblical story to include a romantic theme — Osiride, the Pharaoh’s son, is in love with Elcìa, a young Jewish girl, which is why he convinces his father to rescind his promise of liberation of the Jews and keep them in Egypt. 

In the end, Osiride dies by the last plague, death of the first-born Egyptian sons.  The Pharaoh then again makes a false promise to free the Jews, but this time they escape when the Red Sea parts to let them through. As the waves close in behind them, the Pharaoh and his army drown in their chase after the Jews. At the end the Jewish chorus sing one of Italian opera’s most famous choral works, “The Prayer” (Dal tuo stellato soglio), praising God for their delivery. 

The opera will be performed by Nabila Dandara (Elcìa), soprano, Sara Cortolezzis (Almatea) soprano, Alessio Zenetti, (Osiride) tenor, and Stepan Polishchuk, (Pharaoh and Moses, bass), Alexandra Bochkareva, pianist.  Roberta Reeder (English) and Federica Zagatti (Italian) will be the narrators for a recitation based on the Biblical text.  

Due to the conditions of the Codiv virus in Italy, which precludes a live performance, the work will be available on the Ateneo Veneto YouTube channel starting on Sunday 24 January, 2021 at 5 p.m. 

Ciao from Venezia

Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog