During the 1813–14 carnival season in Naples, Simon Mayr wrote a much-admired opera semiseria called Elena. The post-revolutionary Napoleonic era saw great enthusiasm for the rescue opera genre and Elena is a perfect example, in which a complex plot, based on French models, sees an innocent falsely accused of a capital offence. Mayr’s subtle accommodation of Neapolitan opera and Viennese Classicism ensures a series of choruses and recitatives that drive the actionforward, punctuated with arias, romances, ensembles, lyric richness and moments of witty buffo colour.

Johann Simon MAYR (1763–1845)ElenaLibretto by Andrea Leone TottolaSung in ItalianJulia Sophie Wagner, Mira Graczyk and Anna Feith, SopranosAnna-Doris Capitelli, Mezzo-sopranoMarkus Schäfer, Fang Zhi and Harald Thum, TenorsDaniel Ochoa, Niklas Mallmann and Andreas Mattersberger, BassesSimon Mayr Chorus • Concerto de BassusFranz Hauk