Il re pastore/The Shepherd King – Mozart

‘An intelligently austere and singable translation by Amanda Holden…’
The Independent

‘Amanda Holden’s lucid and robust translation fully engaged the audience…’
The Times

Mozart’s slight but beautiful serenata was composed in 1775 after La finta giardiniera and before Idomeneo. In some ways it is closer to his last opera, La clemenza di Tito, than the other youthful works; both are based on librettos by Metastasio.

The translation was commissioned by Opera North as part of the celebrations of its 15th year in 1993; it opened on the anniversary of their first ever performance, 15 November. The opera played alongside with the premiere performances of Michael Berkeley’s Baa-baa Black Sheep…

The production also marked David McVicar’s debut as an opera director – he also designed the costumes. Paul Daniel conducted, and the cast included Joan Rodgers, Patricia Bardon, Mary Hegarty and Martyn Hill. In the 1998 revival Rebecca Caine and Alice Coote sang Amyntas and Tamiri; Paul Goodwin conducted

Other productions include:
The Opera Festival at St Louis, Missouri, 2009

New Kent Opera on tour, 2004

Opera North programme, 2003

Rondeaux – L’ameró

AMYNTAS

I shall love her, I’ll love no other,
faithful husband and faithful lover;
how I miss her, for her I sigh.
With so gentle and sweet a treasure
rests my comfort, my solace, my pleasure;
my devotion will never die.