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 round 1704/05 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.