A Roman oratorio at the imperial court in Vienna
Alessandro Scarlatti: La Maddalena pentita
(Rome 1686/Vienna 1693 and 1703)
Alessandro Scarlatti died 300 years ago in Naples. He is also known as “the Italian Bach” due to the universal significance and exemplary effect of his music.
As a composer, he was a European celebrity, so it is hardly surprising that his music was highly appreciated at the Austrian Habsburg courts, which were closely networked with the Italian cultural centres. In Innsbruck, for example, his opera “Tigrane” was performed for the first time outside Italy, while operas, oratorios and church works by Scarlatti were received at the imperial court in Vienna. There is evidence that the oratorio “La Maddalena pentita”, which Scarlatti wrote for Rome in 1686, was performed in Vienna in 1693 and 1703. Until now
material relating to the Viennese performances of Scarlatti’s oratorios was considered lost. Recently, Franz Gratl discovered a copy of “La Maddalena penitente” in an Austrian archive and was able to attribute it to the Viennese court – a scholarly article on this will be published in the Scarlatti Year 2025. We are taking this important discovery as an opportunity to perform Scarlatti’s oratorio about the penitent Mary Magdalene in Innsbruck’s Hofkirche – in keeping with the rich Innsbruck and Viennese oratorio tradition.
BONUS: 3.00 pm, Tyrolean Folk Art Museum, Stubenforum
“Scarlatti’s La Maddalena” – colloquium with international experts