Ars Minerva‘s Founder and Artistic Director, Céline Ricci, presents a preview of the opera La Flora, composed by Antonio Sartorio and Marc’Antonio Ziani in 1681.
Sopranos Alexa Anderson and Aurélie Veruni will perform excerpts from the opera, accompanied by Arthur Omura.
La Flora is a work of emotional chiaroscuro that ranges from heroic tragedy to slamming-door farce, set in the late Roman Republic under the rule of the fearsome dictator Sulla (here called Silla). Young Flora and Pompeo are impassioned lovers. But Silla and Pompeo’s dad have other plans: Pompeo is to marry Silla’s daughter, Emilia. The only problem is that Emilia is already married to somebody else. And Pompeo (the future Pompey the Great), though a hero on the battlefield, turns out to be a spineless wuss when it comes to standing up to Dad and defending his girlfriend. Flora exerts her seductive superpowers to get her man. But will she succeed?
ARS MINERVA
Ars Minerva is a San Francisco-based, 501(c)3 performing arts organization created in 2013 by Céline Ricci. Its mission is to engage new audiences for classical music through innovative productions of Baroque operas. Ars Minerva is proud to bring forgotten music back to life, in collaboration with artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Reviving Baroque operas is a rare and captivating experience, which we are happy to share with the diverse local community. Since its inception, Ars Minerva has presented the modern world premieres of four long-forgotten Venetian operas in San Francisco.
Céline Ricci, Executive & Artistic Director
Céline is Ars Minerva’s Founder. She stage-directed Ars Minerva’s productions La Cleopatra, The Amazons in the Fortunate Isles, La Circe and Ifigenia in Aulide, Messalina, Ermelinda, Astianatte, Olimpia Vendicata. Céline, born in Florence of Italian and French parents, studied in Paris and continued her post-graduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Selected by renowned conductor William Christie for his academy, Le Jardin des Voix, she was named one of opera’s promising new talents in 2005 by Opernwelt.