Revealing the Genius – Re-creating Angiolini's Didone abbadonata
(Helena Kazárová)

In 1766 Gasparo Angiolini created in Russia one of his greatest master pieces: ballo tragico pantomimo La partenza d´Enea, ò sia Didone abbadonata. About seven years later (after its successful Italian premiere at Teatro di S. Benedetto in Venice in 1773 and the same year in Milan) he let his particello score to be printed in Naples. This became the main source for the re-creation of this great work, as under the lines of the Violino primo score one can read Angiolini's own detailed instructions of what is to happen on stage at the precise time (sometimes in a musical phrase, sometimes in one or two bars of music). My poster will show the research and artistic process, which lead to the contemporary world premiere of this piece at the Baroque Theatre of Český Krumlov Castle (Czech Republic) in the historically informed style of performance in the hand painted original decorations from 1766 and thus show the geniality of Angiolini as a composer of both music and the scenic idea of a story-telling ballet (ballet d´action or ballo pantomimo).

Helena Kazárová, Prag, Tschechische Republik:

Helena Kazárová, Ph.D. is a Professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU), where she reads lectures on dance and ballet history, dance aesthetics and teaches early dances. She specialises in the reconstruction and revitalisation of dances from written and graphic notation, choreography and movement culture of the eighteenth century. In 1997 she founded Hartig Ensemble-Dances and Ballets of 3 Centuries (www.hartigensemble.cz, facebook/hartigensemble.cz), she has danced and created dances, or advised on period movement style and gesture for numerous performances, including Baroque dances for various music festivals, film and TV. She staged Rococo ballets and Baroque operas in the castle theatres at Český Krumlov and Mnichovo Hradiště and elsewhere. Her publications include two books (Barokní taneční formy/Baroque Dance Forms, AMU Praha 2005), Barokní balet ve střední Evropě/Baroque Ballet in Central Europe, AMU Praha 2008) and numerous historical and theoretical articles and studies namely on dance, ballet, and opera of the 17th-18th centuries. She is often invited to read papers at international conferences (most recently Stockholm and Oxford Universities).