From 19 to 21 September 2024, the ERC project ‘Opera and the Politics of Empire in Habsburg Europe’ organised an international and interdisciplinary conference at Leipzig University. Over the course of three days, the social and political role of opera in the dynastic representation of the Habsburg monarchy was discussed. The conference was opened with a new performance of a rediscovered cantata.
New performance of a cantata by Nicola Vaccaj
A previously unknown Cantata composed by Nicola Vaccaj has been rediscovered and edited by Leipzig ERC researcher Riccardo Mandelli. Written for the Milanese coronation of Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I in 1838, the Cantata was found in the Ricordi Archive in Milan. The piece was performed at the Teatro alla Scala in the presence of the Emperor as part of the celebrations preceding the coronation.
After nearly two centuries, an arrangement of excerpts from the work was performed at the Alte Senatssaal of Leipzig University on 19 September 2024, during a conference organized by the Leipzig-based ERC project “Opera and the Politics of Empire in Habsburg Europe.” Contralto Monika Jägerová performed the piece together with Annette Fischer (clarinet), Yuri Demetz (piano), and Axel Körner (violoncello).
