The Infernal Comedy is a play for a baroque orchestra, two sopranos and an actor, based on the true-life account of Jack Unterweger, a convicted murderer, eulogized poet in prison, pardoned and famous author and journalist, notorious seducer and classic example of reintegration.
Suspected of murdering prostitutes to Vienna, Graz, Prague and Los Angeles, he disappears from Vienna, fleeing to the United States. Arrested to Miami, he moves to Austria where he commits suicide after being
charged and convicted of committing eleven murders. Jack Unterweger, played from John
Malkovich, is dead, but from hell he reads to us with captivating charm his unpublished memoirs in an effort to
promote himself and his opera literary work. The serial killer assures us that they would finally bring to light the absolute truth, a solemn promise of a liar who claims, "The first thing I learned was a smile, and that smile was already a lie."
On stage, the protagonist's monologues are alternated with scenes acted together with singers. As was the case with Baroque music, the orchestra and the two voices
perform arias thematically connected with the story, which become mirrors of emotional expressions: joy, hatred, love, sorrow, longing and admiration, those that were Jack's feelings toward the different women in his life, in a crescendo that is confirmed even more in the most vibrant solos
as in The Berenice Scene and other pieces by Vivaldi, Handel, Gluck, Haydn and Mozart.

program music
Christoph W. Gluck
Introduction and Chaconne L´enfer from Don Juan /instrumental
Luigi Boccherini
Chaconne from La Casa del Diavolo / instrumental
Christoph W. Gluck
Ballograzioso from Orfeo / instrumental
Antonio Vivaldi
Aria Sposa son disprezzata from Ottone in Villa
Wolfang to. Mozart
I would like to explain to you oh God
Ludwig van Beethoven
Scene and Aria Ah, perfido, op.65
Joseph Haydn
Berenice Scene Berenice, che fai, Hob. XXIVa:10
Carl Maria von Weber
Scene and Aria Ah, se Edmundo fosse l´uccisor!
Amadeus Mozart
Recitative, Aria and Cavatina Ah, lo previdi!, KV 27

"This exceptional hybrid of opera and theater dedicated to the figure of Jack Unterweger, brilliant Don Juan, seducer of women and notorious murderer, is a real challenge for the performers as well as the audience. It is a pleasure to work on Michael Sturminger's text.
And the music is what allows the story to touch everyone's sensibilities in a way that dialogue alone could not do.
I look forward to bringing such a daring piece of theater to Italy and presenting it in the historic cities of Ravello and Spoleto, whose prestigious festivals are renowned for their pursuit of something different and their ability to take risks."
John Malkovich

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