Knabenherz

Our concert recital "Ein Abend mit Kaiserin Sisi" (Soiree with Empress Elisabeth) was first performed in 2019 in the House of Music, Regensburg. The programme contains German Lieder of famous classical and romantic composers in combination with the original poems written by the Austrian Empress Elisabeth herself. Astrid Mathyshek 2019 as Empress Sisi of Austria      For the public presentation I was given the exclusive permission by the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Austrian Accademy of Sience)... Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, Strauss...and the poems of an Empress.    This autum the programme returns with a additional highlight: Susan Oswell's cantata a voce sola for mezzosoprano and pianoforte is dedicated to Empress Elisabeth's younger sister Marie, Queen of the two Sicilies:   PDF Programme (German)  Queen Marie as Evening star above the coast of Ercole, painting by Winterhalter 1860    

It is done! Queen Marie's beautiful Neapolitan Court dress ist reborn!   Finally I can reveal the replica gown for the role of Marie Sophie, last Queen of the two Sicilies in Susan Oswell's "Heroine of Gaeta":   Astrid Mathyshek in the role of Queen Marie, the Heroine of Gaeta     Made of white satin with short lace sleeves and a blue moiree sash it comes with many exquisite details:    The silver brooch was made in Paris, natural freshwater pearls serve as decent jewellery of the neck and the Spanish cotton handfan with silver ornaments finishes the ensemble...    The Neapolitan Court gown was made for the young Queen in 1859/60. It expresses solidarity of the sovereign with the neapolitan-sicilian culture of her people, kept in the traditional colours of Tarantella folk dance dresses: red and white...   Queen Marie Sophie loved pearls and so her portraits often show her wearing pearl necklaces, bracelets, brooches and even ropes of pearls...

In my latest book "Marie Sophie Amalie" (biography of the last queen of Naples) I published how the queen presented herself in public by choosing special "signs" in her gowns and creating her own dress codes:  Her coronation gown was a "Marientracht" (costume dedicated to the mother of God by using elements and colours which are attributes of the katholic Madonna): The silk fabric of the coronation gown and train was of a light blue shade, the colour of Saint Mary's purety, decorated with white lace formed like clouds - reminiscent of heaven - and with pink dahlia - a symbol for love in the European flower language of the 19th century - signifying the queen's love for her land and people. Picture 1: Coronation gown, Naples 1859   Later, when Queen Marie and her husbend were exiled, her Parisian ball gown had a design which immediately recalled her coronation gown repeating the element of cloud-like lace and - instead of  dahlia - pink roses which r...