Among the most unusual rediscoveries of recent years are the works of the composer and papal diplomat Agostino Steffani, born in 1654, who, a generation before George Frideric Handel, combined different styles of music with superlative skill. La lotta d’Ercole con Acheloo, composed in 1689 for the newly opened court theatre of the elector of Hanover, describes the fight between Alcides (Heracles) and the river god Achelous for the love of the beautiful Deianira. Alongside the soprano Anna Prohaska, three of the most prominent countertenors of our times, who could not be more different, join musical battle: Xavier Sabata, Terry Wey and Philipp Mathmann.

Concert performance

In Italian with German surtitles