St. Nicholas

About the Project

This December, the Academy of Sacred Drama presents holiday performances of historic significance: the New York premiere of a musical drama by Giovanni Bononcini, his oratorio San Nicola di Bari (1693). This tale of St. Nicholas (also known as Santa Claus) reveals the untold story of his early life—before he became known for giving gifts in secret.

The composer Giovanni Bononcini (1670–1747), a contemporary of G.F. Handel, had an international career and was one of most celebrated composers of his day. His ongoing collaboration with the librettist Silvio Stampiglia (1664–1725) resulted in multiple operas and the oratorio San Nicola di Bari. As one of the founding members of the Accademia dell’Arcadia, Stampiglia worked to reform Italian poetry of its worst Baroque excesses. This oratorio represents the Accademia’s new standards of taste.

In an effort to honor that sense of taste and appeal to the developed rhetorical medium of the late Baroque, the Academy’s performances incorporate emotive gestures and subtle movement-based staging. After seeing one of the Academy’s performances, an audience member remarked, “Opera has never appealed to me, but I think that oratorio is my thing!”