The 2025 New College Opera Performance in Aid of The Garden and Arboretum
This year’s opera is La Scuola de Gelosi (The School of Jealousy) by Antonio Salieri
The opera itself and a bit about Antonio Salieri
La Scuola was first performed in Vienna on 27th December 1778. Salieri revised the score for the 1783 performances creating new arias and expanding the roles of the woodwind and brass. At that time the opera was much performed: a huge box office hit. And as one critic has commented they were ‘Amazed that it had sunk into obscurity’.
A clip of an orchestral section of the opera can be found on You Tube.
The Plot: has interwoven patterns of love intrigues, attempted seductions and provocations to jealousy between three social strata: the aristocrats, the bourgeoise and the working class. The cast list demonstrates this perfectly: Count and Countess Bandiera, Blasio (A Grain Dealer) and his wife, Ernestina, Lumaca (Blasio’s Servant), Carlotta (A Chambermaid) and The Lieutenant (Blasio’s Cousin and the Count’s Friend).
Salieri was an Italian composer, who spent his life as a subject of the Hapsburg Empire. There he helped develop and shape many aspects of how opera was composed and was a powerful influence on his contemporaries. The strong suggestion is that contrary to the image of Salieri as portrayed in the film Amadeus, there is no real evidence that he was passionately jealous of Mozart or that he was in any way responsible for Mozart’s death.
The Arrangements for the Evening
The opera will be performed in the Warden’s delightful secluded garden (or in the chapel if it is wet). The performance starts at 6.30 pm and the garden will be open from 6pm.
At 5pm there will be a Pre Performance talk by Professor Michael Burden, Director of the New Chamber Opera.
The New College cloisters will be open from 5pm where you will be offered a complimentary glass of fizzy.
There will be a 75 minute interval half way through the performance for you to enjoy your picnic in the candle lit cloisters. Please bring your own picnic, cutlery, glasses and plates.
