With the video recordings of the GMPU’s opera production PENELOPE 25 - produced in collaboration with the Conservatorio di musica “Benedetto Marcello” in Venice - now available on the GMPU’s YouTube channel, a recording of Francesco Bartolomeo Conti’s opera Penelope (1724) is publicly accessible for the first time. 

The playlist includes live recordings of the performances in Klagenfurt on May 24 and 25, 2025, conducted by Klaus Kuchling, as well as the youth opera conducted by Jimin Han (conducting student at GMPU). 

Thanks to the skilled and committed work of our video and audio technicians, Penelope can now be enjoyed at any time in various castings and in 4K quality, and used for further research and teaching: Make yourself comfortable and enjoy a cheerful, colorful, and emotional Baroque opera evening about the jealous Ulisse, the steadfast Penelope, the cunning Dorilla, and the simple-hearted Tersite; the noble Telemaco and the amorous Argene; the despotic Medonte; and the longing Eurimaco. 

The libretto, available in Italian and German, can be found on this website. 

Both performances from Penelope from Klagenfurt will be broadcasted in "Opernabend" of Radio Klassik Stephansdom on 26. March 26 (20:00; performance of 24.5.25) and 21. July 26 (20:00; performance of 23.5.25). 
Radio Klassik can be received in Austria via digital radio and terrestrial transmission, as well as worldwide via online stream (https://radioklassik.at/programm/sendungsformat/16377/). 

The program notes with a synopsis of the plot and the libretto texts (in Italian and German) are available on this website. 

In contrast to the 20-year odyssey of Ulysses, the team from Klagenfurt and the external musicians made their way south to the Conservatorio di musica “Benedetto Marcello” in Venice to perform F. B. Conti's baroque opera Penelope together with the Venetian students for the last time. In addition to scores and instruments, the luggage also included stage elements, costumes, wigs, music stands, stand lights, gifts for the colleagues in Venice and great joyful anticipation of the reunion and making music together.

From "Wienerisches Diarium" to a multimedial report

Emperor Charles VI and F. B. Conti would also have been pleased: In 2025, the Venice tour of PENELOPE 2025 was documented by the ORF camera team, while in 1724, the audience of the newspaper Wienerisches Diarium was provided with information concerning the plot and Penelope remained a local production for the carnival festivities in Vienna. A report in “Servus, Srecno, Ciao” provides insights into the transfer of the production to Venice and the cross-border collaboration between the two institutions. Students also share their experiences in an interview. We would like to thank Iris Hofmeister (ORF) and her team for this impressive review of the project.

https://kaernten.orf.at/tv/stories/3309559 

Following the performances in Klagenfurt, F. B. Conti's Tragicommedia per musica Penelope will be performed on June 14 at 6 p.m. in the concert hall of the Conservatorio di musica “Benedetto Marcello” in Venice. 

This is the last opportunity to enjoy the production PENELOPE 25, created in cooperation between GMPU Klagenfurt and the Conservatorio di musica in Venice! The cast of singers differs from the two casts of the evening version in Klagenfurt, so that a unique version of the work will again result from the interaction of the performers. 

8 characters, 14 singers, 26 instrumentalists, 2 conductors, 23 editors, 13 music educators, 5 music pedagogues, 1 composer, 3 stage directors, 5 video- and audio technicians, 1 light technician, 1 stage designer, 1 make-up artist, 1 taylor, 2 translators and a big number of collegues at the GMPU Klagenfurt, the Konzerthaus Klagenfurt and the Conservatorio di musica "Benedetto Marcello" in Venice, who were active around the production and next to the stage:

2 institutions, 1 composer, 1 librettist, 1 work, 1 passion = PENELOPE 25!