Italian carnival music from the seventeenth century

Fully staged performance

Fetters are loosened. Rules suddenly lose their effectiveness. A brightly coloured imagination triumphs over the quotidian. Order and reason lay aside their masks. The enjoyment of the pleasures of life and a sheer delight in the events going on in the world reign supreme whenever turbulent depictions of the legendary Carnival come to vibrant life onstage in Florence, Mantua, Naples and Venice. The influence of the Carnival on music was huge. Thomas Hengelbrock has been inspired by the Carnival music of the seventeenth century to create a fascinating spectacle filled with an ebullient love of life and contemplative understatement. Together with the director and stage designer Petra Weikert, he has produced a feast for eye and ear. The musicians of the Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble appear in lavish costumes modelled on those worn during the historical Carnival in Venice. As figures from the commedia dell’arte and as a visualization of allegory and myth, they turn the high spirits and melancholy of the seicento into a living present.


“With what vocal and histrionic talent the members of the Balthasar Neumann Choir act as they slip effortlessly into this burlesque atmosphere. With colourfully spontaneous musicality, flawless vocalization and a sonorous tone.” MUSIK UND THEATER

“This is how excitingly new early music can be. The balletti fly past, filled with tremendous verve, and the dance rhythms have a swing to them that is positively infectious.” DER SPIEGEL

“Hengelbrock and his Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble are an acclaimed team that is tried and tested in the Italian Baroque repertory, bringing to the performance not only appropriately high standards but also passion and a real feel for the music and providing a suitable framework for the Festa teatrale with its many dotted notes.” BAYERN2RADIO KULTURKRITIK

“The singers and instrumentalists performed thrillingly in their gaudily colourful and lavish costumes. Even the acoustic component on its own can communicate an intense love of life and playfulness.” FONO FORUM


Madrigals, operatic scenes, instrumental balletti and masquerades by Vecchi, Monteverdi, Cavalli, Merula, Rossi, Cesti and others


Petra Weikert Stage Director, Set and Costume Designer
Balthasar Neumann Choir and soloists
Balthasar Neumann Ensemble
Thomas Hengelbrock Musical Direction


Aschaffenburg, Baden-Baden, Berlin, Bilbao, Coruña, Jerez de la Frontera, Hong Kong, Köln, Ludwigsburg, Madrid, München, Neuburg, Stuttgart, Valencia