Achille in Sciro

Francesco Corselli’s opera Achilles in Skyros dazzles in an imaginative production by the Teatro Real, conducted by Ivor Bolton and Mariame Clément, with a cast led by great voices such as Gabriel Díaz, Sabina Puértolas, Tim Mead and Francesca Aspromonte. An opera that premiered at the Real Coliseo del Buen Retiro in Madrid in 1744 to mark the wedding of the Infanta María Teresa Rafaela to the Dauphin of France, which represents one of the great revivals of Spain’s musical heritage in recent times.

Set just before the Trojan War, the plot takes us back to the mythical and entertaining episode in which the Greek hero Achilles hides on the island of Skyros disguised as a woman to avoid dying on the battlefield. The plan takes an unexpected turn when the young warrior falls madly in love with Deidamia, the king’s daughter.