Video streamed event and on demand: Catone in Utica

Catone in Utica is the story of the power struggle between two giants of the Roman world, the dictator Julius Caesar (Cesare) and Cato the Younger (Catone), the upholder of traditional republican ideals. This battle of political wills forms the backdrop to the military action in which Cesare and Catone are engaged in 49-48 BC and to an involved secondary love plot.

Catone in Utica was staged for the first time in 1737 in Verona and is one of the last operas by Antonio Vivaldi. Although only Acts II and III survive, this work is considered to be one of the greatest operatic compositions of the Venetian composer.  After the successful staging of Vivaldi’s Farnace in December 2021, Teatro Comunale di Ferrara ‘Claudio Abbado’ offers a a chance to discover live a rarely-performed production by the 'red priest', as Vivaldi was known. The production is conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli - who is also an essayist, composer, painter and satirist - and directed by Marco Bellussi. To elegant designs by Matteo Paoletti Franzato, part of the action is set in a villa, perhaps the private retreat of Emilia, Pompey’s widow, a central figure in the unfolding of events. The collision and the competition between Cato and Caesar takes place on a playing field, where Cato’s weakness emerges. The sets and the costumes (the latter by Elisa Cobello) have classical and contemporary aspects, framing a universal drama of private emotions intertwined with political intrigue.