This recording of Fredegunda was made live at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, Germany, in February 2007.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Keiser's contemporary, Johann Adolph Scheibe, praised his music as 'galant, much loved and display[ing] all the passions to the power of which the human heart is most subjected,' noting his prolific and varied output.
Historical Context
Unlike court operas, the Hamburg Opera was open to all paying visitors, attracting a diverse audience from the sophisticated middle classes to nobility.
Composition History
Reinhard Keiser's opera Fredegunda, premiered in 1715, is based on an Italian libretto by Francesco Silvani and sung in both German and Italian.
Historical Context
The Hamburg Opera at the Goose-market, where Fredegunda premiered, was unique for its time, operating for over six decades as a municipal opera house.
Composer Biography
Reinhard Keiser, the composer of Fredegunda, took complete control of the Hamburg Opera house for four years and his works dominated its schedules for two decades.
Interpretation
The Munich Neue Hofkapelle, the orchestra on this recording, specializes in historically informed performance practice and researches lost treasures of Bavarian palaces and monasteries.
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