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Piramo e Tisbe

Johann Adolf Hasse

When Johann Adolph Hasse composed Piramo e Tisbe in 1768, he was probably the most frequently performed opera composer of the late Baroque. With this emotionally gripping intermezzo tragico, he ventured musically into a new operatic era.

Listen and order here

The literary material underlying the work has Shakespearean qualities: the family feud surrounding two young, unhappily in‑love protagonists recalls Romeo and Juliet, and indeed the drama of Pyramus and Thisbe’s forbidden love is known today above all from the parody in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hasse set the tragic events in a groundbreaking manner, rich in color and expressive power. By leaving behind long‑rigid operatic conventions, his music gained an irresistibly dramatic flow that became pioneering for the Viennese Classic.

With the kind support of

Artists
Anett Fritsch, Piramo
Roberta Mameli, Tisbe
Jeremy Ovenden, Tisbes Father
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Bernhard Forck, Concertmaster

Released on
harmonia mundi, 2025