Abramo ed Isacco

For the sixth time, Collegium 1704 and Collegium Vocale 1704 under the direction of conductor Václav Luks will appear at the Salzburger Festspiele. The concert takes place on 23 July 2022 at 6 pm in the Mozarteum’s Great Hall. After works by Bach, Biber, Monteverdi, Stradella, and Zelenka, the ensemble will present a masterpiece by Josef Mysliveček in a Salzburg premiere. Mysliveček’s oratorio Abramo ed Isacco (Abraham and Isaac) will be performed with an outstanding international cast of soloists, including Norwegian soprano Mari Eriksmoen (Isacco), French tenor Mathias Vidal (Abramo), Irish mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy (Sara), German soprano Nikola Hillebrand (Angelo), and her compatriot, baritone Matthias Winckhler (Gamari).

Václav Luks, conductor and artistic director of the orchestra, comments on the performance: “I am delighted that after a number of performances with world repertoire, we have managed to introduce a purely Czech programme into the Salzburg Festival’s dramaturgy. The fact that Josef Mysliveček’s most famous oratorio will be performed is also of special significance in relation to the planned premiere of Il Boemo, a film about the life of the composer which was made in close cooperation with Collegium 1704.”

The oratorio Abramo ed Isacco (Abraham and Isaac), originally titled Isacco, figura del redentore (Isaac, figure of the saviour), is Mysliveček’s last oratorio and represents one of the absolute highlights of his entire oeuvre. It premiered in Florence in 1776 and the following year was performed in Munich, at the court of the music-loving Elector Maximilian III. Joseph. At the Salzburg Festival, it will be presented as part of a concert series entitled Ouverture spirituelle.

According to surviving documentation, Mysliveček composed eight oratorios over a period of seven years; complete scores are available for only four of them. Collegium 1704 has so far performed the Easter oratorio La Passione di Gesù Cristo to great acclaim, as part of the Prague Spring Festival in 2013.