AMOR VINCITORE (J.Chr. Bach) Schwetzingen 2025 Julia Lezhneva, Maayan Licht
In this video
AMOR VINCITORE by Johann Christian Bach and Patrick Schäfer
Schlosstheater, Schwetzingen, Germany, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele
May 24, 2025
CAST
Julia Lezhneva (Dalisa)
Maayan Licht Alcidoro)
Julia Riedler (Amor)
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Conductor: Jörg Halubek
Orchestra: il Gusto Barocco
Chorus: Alcidoro Projektchor der Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim
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Stage Director: Sebastian Bauer, Lisa Florentine Schmalz
Stage Designer: Sebastian Bauer
Costume Designer: Hanna Roxane Scherwinski
Lighting Designer: Sebastian Alphons
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Amor vincitore is an audio play based on a cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra by Johann Christian Bach. A new composition, “Am Beispiel unserer Hände” (By the Example of Our Hands) by Patrick Schäfer with texts by Pauline Jacob. Live recording of the premiere on May 25, 2025, at the Rokokotheater Schwetzingen as part of the Schwetzingen SWR Festival.
Amor vincitore – back in Schwetzingen
A man who loves a woman; a woman who would rather remain alone; a god who shoots arrows; and then: love. At first glance, the plot of the piece, composed by Bach’s youngest son, Johann Christian, and performed at the Schwetzingen Palace Theater in 1774 after its London premiere, seems quite simple. At second glance, it is not – at least that is the opinion of Pauline Jacob and Lisa Florentine Schmalz from the music theater and radio play collective staatsoper24, who are staging the almost forgotten piece as an audio play together with Sebastian Bauer. Inspired by sculptures in the Schwetzingen Palace gardens, they playfully look behind the facade of the play about Alcidoro, Dalisa, and Cupid, questioning the role models of Amor vincitore and the freedom of desire. The early classical sounds of a piece that, in terms of genre, falls between two stools (namely, cantata and one-act opera), are occasionally contrasted with contemporary sound moments by Patrick Schäfer. Singing is complemented by spoken language. Costumes reflect the imagery of the sculptures in the palace garden. Julia Lezhneva and Maayan Licht, in two virtuoso soprano roles, together with the ensemble il Gusto Barocco under Jörg Halubek, provide seductive sounds. A project choir made up of students from the Mannheim University of Music also participates. Alongside Johann Christian Bach’s colorfully orchestrated music, one hears breath and wind. Perhaps by the end, he will have swept several gods from their pedestals. Will the god of love truly leave the Rococo theater victorious?