Olympia
Opera in 2 Acts
[solos,mix ch,orch] 2025 duration: 90′ solos: SATBarB – choir – 3.2.2.2 – 4.2.3.1 – 2perc – hp – str
vocal text: ItalianoDescription
Professor Spallanzani has given life to his greatest creation: Olympia, a young woman of extraordinary charm and flawless grace. But beneath her beauty lies a startling truth – she is an android, born not of nature but of science. At first celebrated as the dawn of a new age, Olympia soon becomes the center of fascination, desire, and doubt.
Around her, voices collide: a philosopher who questions the ethics of creating a being unaware of its own nature; a business partner who dreams of a technological future shaped by her kind; a disoriented spectator, fatally attracted by the woman; and a choir of scientists representing all of us. But Olympia herself begins to wonder: What does it mean to be human? Can a machine feel, desire, or choose its own destiny?
Her awakening consciousness sets in motion a struggle that blurs the line between invention and life, between power and love. As creator and creation face each other, the opera asks: when intelligence becomes self-aware, who truly holds control?
Rich in arias, duets, and ensembles, the music of Olympia is both generous and spectacular: “We deserve operas that move us,” says Nicola Campogrande, “where the beauty of tradition meets the thrill of the present. That is what I have sought to achieve in giving life to this score.”
Text by Piero Bodrato
Freely inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “Tales”
Characters: Ing. Roberto Spallanzani, an Italian scientist (Bar) – Olympia, his beautiful and young wife (S) – Prof. Sherry Hope, a Scottish philosopher (A) – Jean Paul Dupont, her Belgian husband (T) – Zoltan, an entrepreneur (B) – Clients / Scientists (choir) – Waiters and waitresses, dancing clients
MM 2211106
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Description
Description
Professor Spallanzani has given life to his greatest creation: Olympia, a young woman of extraordinary charm and flawless grace. But beneath her beauty lies a startling truth – she is an android, born not of nature but of science. At first celebrated as the dawn of a new age, Olympia soon becomes the center of fascination, desire, and doubt.
Around her, voices collide: a philosopher who questions the ethics of creating a being unaware of its own nature; a business partner who dreams of a technological future shaped by her kind; a disoriented spectator, fatally attracted by the woman; and a choir of scientists representing all of us. But Olympia herself begins to wonder: What does it mean to be human? Can a machine feel, desire, or choose its own destiny?
Her awakening consciousness sets in motion a struggle that blurs the line between invention and life, between power and love. As creator and creation face each other, the opera asks: when intelligence becomes self-aware, who truly holds control?
Rich in arias, duets, and ensembles, the music of Olympia is both generous and spectacular: “We deserve operas that move us,” says Nicola Campogrande, “where the beauty of tradition meets the thrill of the present. That is what I have sought to achieve in giving life to this score.”
Text by Piero Bodrato
Freely inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “Tales”
Characters: Ing. Roberto Spallanzani, an Italian scientist (Bar) – Olympia, his beautiful and young wife (S) – Prof. Sherry Hope, a Scottish philosopher (A) – Jean Paul Dupont, her Belgian husband (T) – Zoltan, an entrepreneur (B) – Clients / Scientists (choir) – Waiters and waitresses, dancing clients
Table of contents
| ATTO I |
| PRIMO QUADRO |
| Scena 1 |
| Scena 2 |
| Scena 3 |
| Scena 4 |
| Scena 5 |
| Scena 6 |
| Scena 7 |
| Scena 8 |
| Scena 9 |
| SECONDO QUADRO |
| Scena 10 |
| Scena 11 |
| Scena 12 |
| Scena 13 |
| Scena 14 |
| Scena 15 |
| Scena 16 |
| ATTO II |
| PRIMO QUADRO |
| Scena 17 |
| Scena 18 |
| Scena 19 |
| Scena 20 |
| Scena 21 |
| Scena 22 |
| Scena 23 |
| Scena 24 |
| Scena 25 |
| Scena 26 |
| Scena 27 |
| Scena 28 |
| SECONDO QUADRO |
| Scena 29 |
| Scena 30 |
| Scena 31 |
| Scena 32 |
| Scena 33 |
World premiere
World premiere: Bologna/Italy, Teatro Comunale, May 15, 2026
Commissioned by the Teatro Comunale di Bologna