Creonte
Music by Dmitry Bortniansky · libretto by Marco Coltellini · premiered 1776 · at Teatro San Benedetto
Creonte, (Italian Creonte) is the first opera by Dmytro Bortniansky, consisting of two acts (14 and 8 scenes) with a libretto by Marco Coltellini based on Sophocles' tragedy Antigone (441 BCE). The premiere took place in 1776 at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice. After the premiere, for unknown reasons, the score disappeared and was considered lost for almost 250 years. The handwritten score was discovered in the archives of the Ajuda Library (Lisbon, Portugal). In 2023, the manuscript was brought to Ukraine by Ukrainian musicologist Olga Shumilina. The world premiere of the rediscovered and restored opera in a concert production took place on November 11, 2024, at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, conducted by UNESCO Artist for Peace Herman Makarenko.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Creonte (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky (28 October 1751 – 10 October [O.S. 28 September] 1825) was a Russian composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was also a harpsichordist and conductor who served at the court of Catherine the Great. Bortniansky was critical to the musical history of both Russia and Ukraine, with both nations claiming him as their own. Bortniansky, who has been compared to Palestrina, is known today for his liturgical works and prolific contributions to the genre of choral concertos. He was one of the "Golden Three" of his era, alongside Artemy Vedel and Maxim Berezovsky. Bortniansky was so popular in the Russian Empire that his figure was represented in 1862 in the bronze…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Dmitry Bortniansky", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.