L'Anima del Filosofo

Haydn's great masterpiece and last opera L'anima del filosofo (or the Soul of the Philosopher) was never performed in his lifetime. Haydn travelled to London in 1790 where he had been commissioned to write several symphonies, and this opera. Due to a dispute between the theatre and King George III the opera was never performed. In fact the first ever performance was in 1951 with Maria Callas and Boris Christoff!

A re-telling of the Orpheus story, this opera contains much amazing music with a remarkable storm scene with its very lifelike depiction of the forces of nature. There is no happy ending with Orpheus torn apart by the Maenads. Soprano Elena Xanthoudakis takes on the challenging task of singing both Euridice and the Genio, with brilliancy and beauty.