OperaHub · Oratorio · Rossi Fest 2023

Esther

European premiere

Monday, 6 February 2023, 7:30 PM · National Theatre in Belgrade, Main Stage

Composer

Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti

Conductor

Stefan Zekić

Director

Ana Grigorović

Date

Monday, 6 February 2023

Time

7:30 PM

Venue

National Theatre in Belgrade, Main Stage

About the production

As the crown of this year’s programme we single out the European premiere of the oratorio Esther on 6 February: for the first time in more than 200 years it will be performed in Europe, on the Main Stage of the National Theatre.

The score of the oratorio “Esther” (1774) by the Italian composer Christian Giuseppe Lidarti was rediscovered only in 1997 and is still considered one of the richest and most monumental works of Jewish art music of the 17th century, and the 18th century.
Saravalo’s libretto, based on the text of the second version of Handel’s oratorio (1732), “remained without music” until November 7, 1997, when Richard Andrews, a librarian at the University of Cambridge, found a handwritten score by Christian Giuseppe Lidarti called oratorio “Esther,” in 1774. He then began to work on the reconstruction of the work, which resulted in the world premiere of the oratorio in May 2000 in Jerusalem, while the Belgrade audience will have the opportunity to attend the European premiere of this work.

Cast

Esther Aneta Ilić
Haman Vuk Zekić
Donna Israelita Sofija Pižurica
Ahasuerus Marko Živković
Mordecai Mladen Prodan

Creative team

Conductor: Stefan Zekić
Director: Ana Grigorović
Set design: Dunja Kostić
Costumes: Sara Blam
Make-up: Marija Todorović and Hana Salom

Stefan Zekić, dirigent

Studirao je na Fakultetu muzičke umetnosti u Beogradu na odsecima za dirigovanje i solo pevanje. Na istom fakultetu zaposlen je na Katedri za dirigovanje od 2022. godine. Od 2009. godine angažovan je kao dirigent, korepetitor i dirigent u Operskom studiju Narodnog pozorišta u Beogradu. Osnivač je i umetnički rukovodilac ansambla za ranu muziku Canticum Novum, dirigent Jevrejskog kamernog orkestra od njegovog osnivanja, glavni dirigent hora Braća Baruh sa kojim je osvojio brojne nacionalne i međunarodne nagrade na prestižnim festivalima i takmičenjima. Osnivač je i direktor Rosi festa.

Ana Grigorović, rediteljka

Diplomirala je i magistrirala pozorišnu i radio režiju na Fakultetu dramskih umetnosti, gde je sada na doktorskim studijama. Režirala je preko dvadeset dramskih i operskih predstava širom zemlje. Od 2013. godine Ana radi kao operska rediteljka u Narodnom pozorištu u Beogradu, gde je režirala nagrađivane operske i dramske produkcije. Osnivač je udruženja „Opera Lab“ čijom se delatnošću zalaže za razvoj operske umetnosti u zemlji.

Performers

Singers

Aneta Ilić

sopran

She is one of Serbia's leading vocal artists. She studied solo singing at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (in the classes of Prof.

Sofija Pižurica

sopran

She was born in Belgrade, where, alongside her studies of literature at the Faculty of Philology, she completed her undergraduate and master's studies at the Faculty of Music …

Marko Živković

tenor

He graduated in solo singing with Prof. Nikola Mijailović at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.

Mladen Prodan

tenor

He was born in 1993 in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He completed his undergraduate studies in solo singing at the Faculty of Music in the class of Prof.

Vuk Zekić, bariton

Diplomirao je solo pevanje na Fakultetu muzičke umetnosti u Beogradu. Tokom studija dobio je Specijalnu nagradu za najboljeg učenika generacije i Specijalnu nagradu na međunarodnom takmičenju za operske pevače – Citta di Alcamo (Sicilija). Od 2011. godine ostvario je više od 15 uloga u Narodnom pozorištu u Beogradu. Vuk je sa velikim uspehom dva puta nastupio na festivalu Operosa u Crnoj Gori i na renomiranom Letnjem festivalu u Varni. Tokom svoje karijere imao je ogromno iskustvo u izvođenju savremenih opera i koncerata savremenih srpskih kompozitora. Uspešno se bavi pedagoškim radom u Muzičkoj školi “Stanković” gde je šef odseka solo pevanja.

Orchestra and choir

Baruch Brothers Choir

The Baruch Brothers Choir from Belgrade was established as the Serbian-Jewish Singers Society in 1879, with the goal of cherishing and performing the cultural and artistic heritage and …

Full line-up

Soprano

Ivana Jovanović
Maša Nedeljković
Tatjana Ivković
Isidora Matić
Anđela Vemić
Marija Todorović
Bojana Stojanović
Atina Gajdoš
Vanja Stevanović
Andrijana Kužet
Žana Krstić
Jelena Ripić Demić
Teodora Trajković

Alto

Milica Anđelković Komatina
Teodora Vasić Tošić
Mina Pavlović
Jelena Jovičin
Ljiljana Marković
Sara Konstantinović
Esmina Nežović
Manda Egić

Tenor

Zoran Stepanović
Andrija Krasojević
Djordje Nenić

Bass / Baritone

Aleksandar Pauković
Danilo Trajković
Ivan Dedić
Jovan Mihajlović

Mixed Choir of the Stanislav Binički Artistic Ensemble of the Ministry of Defence

Mešoviti hor UA MO Stanislav Binički

Our celebrated composer, teacher and founder of military music Stanislav Binički founded the Belgrade Military Orchestra on 26 September 1899. It was the first orchestra in Serbia able …

Full line-up

Soprano

Biljana Vasiljević Mitrović
Marijana Radosavljević
Nevena Tatomirović
Jovana Kovačević

Alto

Jelena Zekić
Jovana Bjelić
Natalija Begović

Tenor

Dragan Milanović
Matija Prodanović
Filip Milivojević
Zoran Knežević

Bass / Baritone

Nikola Nikolovski
Strahinja Tričković
Svetozar Vujić

Jewish Chamber Orchestra

Jewish Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2012 by Ladislav Mezei in cooperation with the B’nei B’rit Lodge of Serbia. The orchestra members are professional musicians of Jewish descent …

Full line-up

First violins

Mina Mendelson, concertmaster
Dušica Blaženović
Vesna Jansens
Ivana Zavišić

Second violins

Martina Miler
Milica Žugić
Violeta Ćirić

Violas

Ena Vaganek
Jovan Muratović
Tijana Dimitrov

Cellos

Ladislav Mezei
Nebojša Janković

Double bass

Boban Stošić

Flutes