The Project: ‘Masterworks of Baroque Opera – George Frideric Handel and his Contemporaries’

A long-term joint venture with Ondřej Macek's Cappella Accademica Praha period instrument ensemble and the Czech Handel Society. The goal of the project was the successive introduction of operas by G. F. Handel and his distinguished contemporaries: Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), Agostino Steffani (1654-1728), Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Giovanni Bononcini (1670-1747). The compositions were performed according to today's aim for historically informed performance - in concerts, semi- or fully staged, by Cappella Academica Praha, in the attractive settings of Czech and Moravian castles, stately homes and theatres. The project began on 18 May 1996, with a concert performance of Handel's 'Rodrigo' in the Ancestors' Hall of Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou stately home. It was terminated on 31 July 2004.

In the frame of the 'Masterworks of Baroque Opera - George Frideric Handel and his Contemporaries' project, Cappella Accademica has performed the following works, all of them operas, with the exception of Bencini's oratorio 'Il Sacrifitio d'Abramo' and Marcello's oratorio 'La Giuditta':

• G. F. Handel: Rodrigo - 18. & 19. 5. 1996, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou stately home (concert performances; 'Míčovo hudební léto 1996' - Czech premiere); 27. 9. 1997, Dobříš stately home (concert performance).
• G. F. Handel: Lucio Cornelio Silla - 23. & 24. 11. 1996, Dobříš stately home (concert performances; Czech premiere).
• Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas - 27. (twice) & 28. 6. 1997, theatre of Litomyšl stately home (staged performances; festival 'Smetanova Litomyšl 1997').
• G. F. Handel: Il Pastor fido (first version) - 20. 7. 1997, Český Krumlov castle (concert performance; 'Early Music Festival' - Czech premiere); 24. 7. 1997, German Embassy in Prague (concert performance); 26. 7. 1997, Telč na Moravě stately home (concert performance; festival 'Krajina hudby'); 2. 8. 1997, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou stately home (concert performance; 'Míčovo hudební léto 1997').
• G. F. Handel: Imeneo - 21. & 22. 2. 1998, Dobříš stately home (concert performances); 17. 5. 1998, Wladislaw Hall, Prague Castle (semi-staged; 'Prague Spring 1998'); 28. 6. 1998, Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Moravský Beroun (concert performance); 24. 9. 1998, Kroměříž stately home (concert performance; 'Kroměřížské hudební léto').
• G. F. Handel: Flavio, Re de' Longobardi - 20. & 21. 3. 1999, Dobříš stately home (concert performances; Czech premiere)); 29. 8. 1999, the former Prelate's House, Český Krumlov (concert performance); 18. 9. 1999, Náměšť nad Oslavou stately home (concert performance; 'IX. Zámecký koncert').
• Pietro Paolo Bencini (1670-1755): Il Sacrifitio d'Abramo - 21. 9. 1999, Dr. Josef Čížek's Municipal Theatre, Náchod (concert performance; Czech premiere); 19. 11. 1999, Municipal Theatre, Děčín (staged; modern world premiere); 20. 11. 1999, theatre of Mnichovo Hradiště stately home (staged); 16. 4. 2000, Frauenkirche, Nuremberg/FRG (concert performance).
• Benedetto Marcello: La Giuditta - 27. 5. 2000, theatre of Český Krumlov castle (staged; modern world premiere).
• Antonio Vivaldi: Orlando finto pazzo - 8. & 9. & 10. & 11. 9. 2000, theatre of Mnichovo Hradiště stately home (staged; modern world premiere); 19. & 21. 9. 2000, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice/Italy (semi-staged; 'Feste Musicali per San Rocco'); 21. 10. 2000, theatre of Český Krumlov castle (staged).
• Alessandro Scarlatti: L'Amor Generoso - 3. & 27. 3. 2002, Chamber Opera Studio of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, Brno (staged; educational performances); 25. 4. 2002, Pardubice stately home (concert performance; 'Pardubické hudební jaro 2002' - modern world premiere); 31. 5. & 1. 6. & 2. 6. & 7. 9. & 8. 9. 2002, theatre of Mnichovo Hradiště stately home (staged; modern world premiere); 14. 6. 2002, theatre of Český Krumlov castle (staged).
• Alessandro Scarlatti: Despina e Niso - 24. 8. 2002, stately home and hospital Kuks (semi-staged; festival 'Theatrum' - modern world premiere).
• G. F. Handel: Sosarme, Re di Media - 23. 5. + 24. 5. + 5. 9. + 6. 9. + 7. 9. 2003, theatre of Mnichovo Hradiště stately home (staged; Czech premiere); 6. 6. 2003, theatre of Český Krumlov castle (staged); 17. 9. 2003, stately home Gottesaue, Karlsruhe/Germany (concert performance); 28. 5. 2004, Great Hall of the University at Göttingen/Germany (semi-staged; 'International Handel Festival Göttingen 2004'); 4. 6. 2004, theatre of Český Krumlov castle (staged).

A 2-CD recording of 'Flavio', made at the Dobříš stately home (20. & 21. 3. 1999), was issued in August 1999.