Altre Stelle is an unusual performance, at the frontier between concert, recital and opera, and centred around a larger-than-life personality, Anna Caterina Antonacci.

“L’amor che more il sole e l’ altre stelle” (Dante, The Divine Comedy) – Loves that moves the sun and other stars. Altre stelle – the other stars – are here Phedra, Armide, Dido and Ophelia.

Anna Caterina Antonacci is an exceptional artist, first because of her remarkable timbre, but also because of her ability to take on the great soprano roles of the 17th and 18th centuries as masterfully as the works of Rossini for which she is justly acclaimed. She is as masterful in opera buffa as in opera seria, as well as in the dramatic roles for mezzo, from Cassandra of Troy to Carmen… all with equal critical and public success.

After a first collaboration staged by Juliette Deschamps, the two artists decide to work together again to create Altre Stelle, a story of tragic destiny put to music by, among others, Rameau, Gluck, Cherubini and Berlioz.

These are the leading Romantic heroines of the stage. They have long been at the heart of Anna Caterina Antonacci’s repertoire. This a deep emotional journey, that of an anti-heroine who loves but also kills her children, of a woman who betrays against her will and comes to detest love, that of the jealous and destructive sorceress.

François-Xavier Roth is always avid to contrast musical genres, joyfully shifting from the 17th century repertoire to the most Romantic works. Here he directs the orchestra Les Siècles (he is also musical director of the Liege Philharmonic Orchestra and associate conductor of the Radio France Philharmonic). This new type of ensemble, able to switch from historical to modern instruments, is perhaps best able to put into perspective several centuries of musical creation.

A major event with which to conclude the 2009/2010 season.

Musical Direction François-Xavier Roth
Stage Direction Juliette Deschamps
Sets Nelson Wilmotte
Lights Joël Hourbeigt
Costumes Macha Makeïeff

With
Anna Caterina Antonacci Soprano
Les Siècles Orchestra