One interval, end about 9.30 p.m.

Introductory talk by Dr. David Treffinger at 6.30 p.m. (duration max. 30 minutes) in the Iwalewa House (opposite, Wölfelstr. 2)

The Early Music scene is no longer conceivable today without the Romanian-German counter tenor Valer Sabadus. With his precisely intoned, crystal-clear and lyrically emotional voice capable of mastering the most dizzying heights and coloratura with apparent ease, he breathes new life into the old masters, portraying figures on stage in a way that touches the heart.

In this concert he dedicates himself to the stage works of Carl Heinrich Graun, most of which have fallen into oblivion.

Born 1704 in Brandenburg, the composer attracted attention already during his studies; by 1724 he was engaged at the Court in Brunswick as successor to Johann Adolph Hasse. The Prussian Crown Prince Frederick – later the Great – was so affected by his talent that he engaged him at his court in Rheinsberg. Here, under Frederick, Graun composed his most distinguished stage works, including Cleopatra e Cesare, which opened the Königliche Hofoper – today the Berlin Staatsoper ­– also Montezuma, for which the Prussian king himself wrote the libretto.

Accompanied by the Bayreuth “legionaires”, the oh!} Orkiestra under Martyna Pastuszka, Valer Sabadus will astound us with Graun’s musical character studies – in the hope that in future we shall hear more of one of the greats of eighteenth-century music.