T.H.A.M.O.S., after Mozart
Carlus Padrissa (stage director), Alondra de la Parra (conductor) — With René Pape (Konig Menes), Fatma Said (Tharsis)
Cast
Carlus Padrissa — Stage director
Roland Olbeter — Stage design
Chu Uroz — Costume designer
Franc Aleu — Lighting
Gaby Barberio — Choreographer
Thomas Bautenbacher — Visual artist
Program notes
Carlus Padrissa draws on the music composed by Mozart for the little-known opera Thamos, King of Egypt, and offers us an exceptional event from the 2019 Mozartwoche (Mozart Week) Festival in Salzburg!
Inspired by Tobias Philipp von Gebler’s play König in Ägypten, this spectacular opera immerses us in a futuristic atmosphere through eye-catching special effects and uncanny lighting design by Franc Aleu. An algorithmic composition recurs like a leitmotif, combining the sounds of robotic instruments and phones with voices of the chorus. As a perfect finishing touch, the characters are suspended in mid-air and magically float above the stage, following Gaby Barberio’s carefully crafted choreography.
In this striking production, Carlus Padrissa explores all facets of his artform, breathing new life into opera by mixing it with literature, as in the projections of poems by Antonin Artaud. In the play itself, Thamos states: “Our nature evolves and art makes it progress, poetry sings about it and music writes its story. It is the same mutation that is present in man!” T.H.A.M.O.S is a beautiful illustration of this sentiment, with this production featuring faultless performances by the Camerata Salzburg and world-class soloists, including René Pape and Fatma Said.
