Opera to premiere 235 years after composition

French ensemble Les Talens Lyriques is set to give the world premiere of Antonio Salieri's Cublai, gran kan de' Tartari (Kublai Grand Kahn of Tartary) in its original Italian version, 235 years after the opera was composed. The 1788 work will be performed for the first time at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien next April under the direction of Martin Berger.

Cublai, gran kan de' Tartari will be the latest Salieri opera revived by Les Talens Lyriques and its founder Christophe Rousset. In 2005, Rousset released a landmark first recording of La grotta di Trofonio, followed by Les Danaïdes in 2017, Les Horaces in 2018, Tarare in 2019 and Armida in 2021. Rousset will conduct a run of Cublai in Italian and the performance will be recorded to become the ensemble’s fifth Salieri opera disc.

Rousset said: ‘Despite the gathering clouds - the situation in the East, social unrest, inflation, the environmental and energy crises - I think it is time, especially after the disastrous effects of the pandemic, to restore culture to its rightful place in our lives. There are doors just waiting to be opened, doors giving access to the consolation we so need with treasures to enchant the eye, the ear and the mind.’

Composed in 1788, Salieri’s opera Cublai, Gran Kan De’ Tartari was a satire on the autocracy and court intrigues at the court of the Russian Tsarina, Catherine the Great, but was abandoned before its scheduled premiere as the theme became too sensitive when Austria entered the Russo-Turkish conflict.

Salieri stepped away from the stage, retiring as director of the Italian opera in 1792 so never saw this opera performed. However, across almost two decades, Christophe Rousset has worked to rehabilitate the reputation of this ‘misunderstood’ composer.