Mozart's Betulia liberata

Pietro de Metastasio's libretto focuses on the character of Achior (Franz-Josef Selig), prince of the Assyrians, during the siege of the Jewish city of Bethulia. Achior was convinced that the Israelites' faith was far too strong to be defeated. In his fury, his leader Holofernes banished him to Bethulia. Meanwhile in the city, Uzziah (Jeremy Ovenden) is tired of being deprived of food and water, and revolts, calling for surrender. Giuditta (Marijana Mijanovic), a grieving young widow, rises up and urges him not to despair: God's faith and grace always triumph. She devises a plan to prove her belief and instructs the Bethulians to meet her at the city gate that evening. A few hours later, she meets them there, dressed head-to-toe in her finest, and leaves the city accompanied by her maid. She returns the next day with her prize jewel: the head of Holofernes in her bag. Achior, after a theological discussion with Uzziah, repudiates his polytheistic religion.

Betulia liberata belongs to the tradition of oratorios, which are pastoral works similar to opera seria, but characterised by the absence of staging and costumes. The musicians of the Münchener Kammerorchester and the enchanting choir of the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor perform it in an unforgettable show under the baton of Christoph Poppen, and accompanied by the voices of the great Jeremy Ovenden (Ozia), Marijana Mijanovic (Giuditta) and Franz-Josef Selig (Achior).