EMTA studio stages Tubin-restored Scarlatti baroque opera

The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre opera studio will stage Alessandro Scarlatti’s baroque opera Armutruudus in Estonia for the first time, in a version restored by Estonian composer Eduard Tubin, ERR reports.

The opera’s more than three-century journey to the stage is marked by unexpected coincidences, tragic turns caused by historical events, as well as good fortune and nobility, said Mihhail Gerts, the production’s musical director and a visiting researcher at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

After fleeing Estonia, Tubin began working in September 1945 in the archive of the Drottningholm Palace Theatre in Sweden. He spent nearly three decades organising performance materials for early music. Armutruudus is one of the most notable examples of his work during that period.

Only the figured-bass part of Scarlatti’s original opera has survived. Tubin’s orchestration remains the only existing version of the work with orchestral accompaniment. Restoring the opera took him more than two years of intensive work.

Armutruudus centres on lovers whose feelings are put to the test. Passionate relationships and unexpected twists force the characters to choose between love, honour and loyalty. Alongside its dramatic events, the opera includes humorous and playful moments.

Gerts is the musical director, René Soom the director and Rommi Ruttas the lighting designer. The pianist répétiteurs are Ene Rindesalu and Ave Wagner. The performers are students of the academy’s vocal programme, together with the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Orchestra.

A discussion led by Gerts will precede the concert production. He will introduce the opera, its creation and restoration, and a project to bring Tubin’s Drottningholm materials to Estonia and digitise them.

The concert performances will take place on September 17 in the University of Tartu assembly hall and on September 19 in the main hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.