MUSIC

On Saturday, November 20th at 8:00pm Mercury Baroque will perform Montezuma, an opera by Vivaldi set during the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs that has been lost for over 250 years. This special concert-version of Montezuma will take place in the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater and features an incredible cast of singers and the Mercury Baroque orchestra directed by Antoine Plante.

Though Vivaldi wrote over 100 operas in his lifetime, few are performed today, having been mostly overshadowed by his famed instrumental works. Montezuma is set during the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. Vivaldi, however, fictionalized many of the events in his opera for dramatic effect.

The story follows Hernando Cortés as he matches wit and might with Montezuma, the ruler of the Aztecs. In a twist on the Romeo and Juliet theme, Montezuma’s daughter Teutile falls in love with Cortés’ brother Ramiro. Montezuma is forced by tradition to order the death of his beloved daughter for her betrayal of the Aztec people, but her mother, Mitrena, comes to the rescue. The opera highlights Enlightenment ideals that regardless of their culture, people can share the same emotional depths.

The survival of Montezuma’s score is almost as dramatic as the opera’s story itself. Part of a collection of music stolen by the Russian Army after WWII and brought to Kiev, Montezuma’s fragmented score was only recently discovered in 2002 by musicologist Steffen Voss. Though the first seven scenes of the opera are still missing, scholars have successfully reconstructed the missing pieces from other works by Vivaldi.

Featuring:
Kiri Deonaraine, soprano
Shannon Mercer, soprano
Michael Maniaci, soprano
Monica Whicher, soprano
Meg Bragle, alto
Sumner Thompson, baritone

Our popular, free pre-concert lecture with Dr. Yvonne Kendall begins at 7:15pm in the Wortham's Green Room.

Support for Montezuma is provided by the Consulate General of Mexico in Houston and Bank of America, as part of Houston Celebrates Mexico 2010, a year of events marking the Bicentennial of Mexico’s Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution.

Now in its 10th Season, Mercury Baroque has charmed audiences and critics the world over with its passionate and exciting performances of Baroque music on period accurate instruments. Originally founded as a chamber ensemble, Mercury has since grown into a full orchestra of young, dynamic musicians, performing a subscription series of concerts in downtown Houston, other Houston-area communities and touring both domestically and internationally. In addition to frequent performances, Mercury Baroque is also dedicated to educating future audiences and training the city’s future musicians. Mercury’s educational outreach programs have reached more than 15,000 children in the past 5 years alone.