George Frideric Handel
ADMETO, Re di Tessaglia, HWV 22

Admeto - Matthias Rexroth
Alceste - Romelia Lichtenstein
Antigona - Mechthild Bach
Trasimede - Tim Mead
Ercole - Raimund Nolte
Orindo - Melanie Hirsch
Meraspe - Gerd Vogel
Handel-Festival Orchestra
Howard Arman, conductor

Axel Köhler, director

Live recording from the Opernhaus Halle 2006
Festival Production from the Händel-Festspiele Halle 2006

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 (widescreen)
Sound format: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (all)
Subtitle Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Menu Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 196 mins

* George Frideric Handel's Admeto is considered one of the most successful operas produced in the first half of the 18th century. Along with Radamisto, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, Rodelinda and Alessandro, which were also written in this period, Admeto belongs to Handel's so-called 'London operas' - works he composed for the Royal Academy of Music. Though born in Halle, Germany, Handel spent most of his adult life in London and became a British subject in 1727.
* Axel Köhler, the celebrated counter-tenor who is active in Munich, Halle and Berlin – now also well known for his work as a director - has brought Admeto into the modern era in timeless style by the skilful application of imaginative theatrical digressions. Köhler's production at the Halle Opernhaus revisits a work that encompasses comedy, tragedy and almost absurd grotesqueness and gives it a convincing metaphor in the form of a modern hospital.
* This recording of Admeto forms the highlight and conclusion of Arthaus Musik's Handel Festival cycle, which began with Tamerlano (100 703) in 2001, and was followed by Teseo (100 709), recorded in 2004.