7.30pm

Carl Heinrich Graun

Libretto by Frederick II, King of Prussia

Sung in Italian with English supertitles

‘How can I believe in a god that commands deceit? What can I think of a faith that teaches you to despise every man that differs from your opinion?’ Montezuma

The ornately gilded temples and palaces of the Aztec empire provide a magnificent backdrop for a spectacular welcome to the adventurer Fernando Cortes and his Spanish Conquistadors.

But it does not take long for these unscrupulous Europeans to vanquish and brutally slaughter their Aztec hosts and ruthlessly plunder and lay waste to their extraordinary wealth and culture.

Graun’s rarely-performed operatic gem is the basis for an innovative new production from one of Mexico’s most exciting young directors, Claudio Valdés Kuri. A cast of fine European and Mexican singers, artists drawn equally from old and new worlds, is led by Ensemble Elyma and its conductor Gabriel Garrido.

Supported by

Embassy of Mexico, United Kingdom and CONACULTA and the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Estados Unidos Mexicanos