Details

Carl Heinrich Graun's opera Montezuma bears witness to a clash of civilisations of epic proportions. In a devastating contest between old and new worlds, Montezuma becomes a battle for domination of one great empire over another. The ornately gilded temples and palaces of the Aztec empire provide a magnificent backdrop for a spectacular welcome to the adventurer Fernando Cortes and his Spanish Conquistadors. But it does not take long for these unscrupulous Europeans to vanquish and brutally slaughter their Aztec hosts and ruthlessly plunder and lay waste to their extraordinary wealth and culture. It was a brutal subjugation of a people seen as heathen and barely human by an invading colonising power. How did it happen? And why did Aztec King Montezuma appear to allow it to happen? Was Montezuma a hero, a traitor or a visionary? Written in 1755. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Duration 2hrs 35mins

Cast/Performers

Flavio Oliver (Montezuma), Lourdes Ambriz (Eupaforice), Rogelio Marin (Tezeuco), Lucia Salas (Pilpatoe), Lina Lopez (Erissena), Adrian George Popescu (Fernando Cortes), Christophe Carre (Navres)

Creatives/Company

Music: Carl Heinrich Graun
Lyrics: Frederick II (King of Prussia)
Producer(s): Theater der Welt, Edinburgh International Festival, Teatro Real de Madrid, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Festival Internacional Cervantino, Anglo Mexican Foundation
Director: Claudio Valdes Kuri
Musical Director: Gabriel Garrido
Design: Herman Sorgeloos
Lighting: Carsten Sander
Costume: Ximena Fernandez