In 1778 Mozart attested "astounding effectiveness" to the melodrama Medea (1775) of his contemporary Georg Anton Benda (1722-1795). Indeed, the combination of spoken texts with dramatic music unfolds a high emotional intensity here. Especially when a voice as incisive as that of the famous actress Katharina Thalbach unfolds a highly special emotional intensity. The fast, delicate interplay of text and music makes it possible to develop a conflict-laden and contradictory character psychogram with an unusual presence. Marcus Bosch and the cappella aquileia accompany this new discovery of classical music theatre with their usual precise and transparent sound.