Vivaldi’s Giustino On August 6, the famous Drottningholm Theater celebrated the centenary of its opening. It is one of the few baroque theaters still running 18th century manual mechanisms. The Swedes, who almost accidentally discovered this forgotten treasure in the spring of 1921, are preserving it with great care and even greater expense. As for the mechanisms, they only replaced worn ropes and added electricity, but the lighting in the hall and on the stage was made weak, as from candles.

For the first time in Sweden, an opera by a famous Italian composer was performed.

The theater is located near Stockholm on the island of Leuven. It is part of the Drottningholm (meaning “island of the queen”) palace complex. This particular theater was opened in 1766 and was built on the site of the original one, which was destroyed by fire. In 1777, Lovisa Ulrika, “drotning”, that is, the queen who ordered the construction of palaces and two theaters, presented them to her son Gustav III, an ardent supporter of art and a writer of plays. After his assassination in 1792, which became the subject of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Dance in Disguise, the theater was used less and less until it was completely forgotten.

A new life cycle began in 1922 after its discovery and restoration. Ingmar Bergman dreamed of filming his Magic Tray (1975) here. However, it was felt that the theater would not be able to withstand the requirements of the film crew. Thus, an imitation of its interior was built entirely in film studios. In the 1980s, Arnold Oestmann, chief musician and artistic director, presented Mozart’s operas in interesting historically based performances, which were recorded and made Drottningholm more famous among music lovers. Drottningholm celebrated its centenary by performing Vivaldi’s opera Justino for the first time in Sweden. Musical direction and staging was by Giorgos Petros, sets and costumes by Paris Mexis, and lighting by Stella Kaltsou. An extremely demanding production with numerous scene changes made full use of historical mechanisms. Having thoroughly mastered the rules and aesthetics of baroque opera, Petru, who also conducted Giustino in Athens in 2007, returned with an intensely theatrical musical interpretation that also found its way onto the stage. The complex action has been skilfully rewritten with art-loving Gustav III, who essentially “writes” the story on stage with imagination and humour. From excellent musicians, Petru received a characteristic performance. Very good international performances – Pe, Asplund, Mikitenko, Walroth, Sancho, Andreasen, Fiorio, Shin, Skorup – Mexi’s creative work and Scalcoe’s memorable coverage cemented the success.