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© Vereinigte Buhnen Wien
Proserpine
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 September 2025 | ||||||
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Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
Tragédie lyrique in a prologue and five acts
Libretto by Philippe Quinault
Christophe Rousset and his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques bring a 17th-century “climate opera” to the MusikTheater an der Wien: Proserpine tells how Pluto, god of the underworld, abducted and married her, the daughter of the fertility goddess Ceres, plunging the world into eternal winter as a result. Only once Jupiter intervenes is Proserpine ready to spend one half of the year with her husband and the other half on the earth so that spring can return. Jean-Baptiste Lully’s tragédie en musique, written in 1680, has as its central theme battles between gods that have global consequences. Proserpine marks the start of a new phase in the career of the creator of French Baroque opera in which arias with expressive melodies and ensembles are more prominent than in his earlier works. Christophe Rousset, a close collaborator with the MusikTheater an der Wien for many years, now brings this rarely performed opera to Vienna for the first time.
Concert performance in French with German surtitles
Introduction to the work 30 minutes before curtain-up
Synopsis
Based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, the plot centers around the abduction of Proserpine by Pluton, with side plots concerning Cérès's love for Jupiter and the love intrigue between Alphée and Aréthuse.
Program and cast
Conductor - Christophe Rousset
Proserpine / La Victoire - Marie Lys
Pluton - Oliver Gourdy
Cérès / L'Abondance - Véronique Gens
Aréthuse / La Paix - Ambroisine Bré
Crinise / La Discorde - Jean-Sébastien Bou
Mercure - Nick Pritchard
Ascalaphe - Olivier Cesarini
Jupiter - David Witczack
Les Talens Lyriques
Chœur de chambre de Namur
Theater an der Wien
About the Theater an der Wien
The New Opera House is not just any theatre, but the one that Emanuel Schikaneder, the all-round genius, actor, impresario with a flair for organization but above all librettist of The Magic Flute, had built in 1801 in Vienna in keeping with the spirit of Mozart.
To coincide with the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth the Theater an der Wien presents itself as a new opera house from January 2006. As a “season” opera house with productions all the year round the Theater an der Wien carves a new and independent niche in the realm of high-quality culture in Vienna. For twelve months of the year, with one premiere every month, opera will be performed under the “stagione”, or season, system: that means the cast remains unchanged from the first performance to the last one, which guarantees that the very highest international standards are maintained.
The theatre’s modern, accessible approach to music theatre as demonstrated by the works performed, the overall artistic concept Bespielung and the artistes is further underlined by the building itself, its architecture and the vibrancy of its location. The surroundings and materials, the intimate atmosphere and perfect acoustics in the historical theatre prepare the senses to experience beauty. The Theater an der Wien deliberately enters into a symbiotic relationship with its lively surroundings on the Naschmarkt street market and the young cultural scene centred in the Schleifmühl quarter.
How to get there
With public transport:
We can be reached by public transport:
U1, U2 und U4 Station Karlsplatz, Exit Secession
Bus 59A Station Bärenmühldurchgang
Bus 57A Station Laimgrubengasse, pedestrians via Laimgrubengasse to Linke Wienzeile
KAMMEROPER:
Fleischmarkt 24, 1010 Wien
We can be reached by public transport:
U1, U4: Station Schwedenplatz
Tram Linie D (bei Ablenukung über Kai), 1, 2: Station Schwedenplatz
Bus 3A (on workdays)
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