King Frederick the Great visits his sister Wilhelmine in Bayreuth, where she is Margravine. As is customary, a new opera is performed in the guest's honour. He probably already suspected that he would not be presented with one of the usual works of homage - he knows his favourite sister too well, with her mischievous self-confidence and brilliant education. And he was proved right: Instead of allegorically demonstrating his power and wisdom to the Prussian king, Wilhelmine celebrates the superiority of the female soul, which generously overlooks the shortcomings of men. And in doing so, she invokes the philosophy of the Persian religious founder Zarathustra.

"L'Huomo" (ambiguous: "the man" and "the man") is the title of the "Festa teatrale", which was first performed in 1754. Wilhelmine herself wrote the libretto and commissioned the music from the Munich vice-chapelmaster Andrea Bernasconi. Now the opera, which is as festive as it is enigmatic, can be heard again at the venue of its premiere: the Margravial Opera House, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because it has been preserved almost in its original state and has been restored to its former splendour since the last renovation. Dorothee Oberlinger conducts Ensemble 1700 and an outstanding ensemble of soloists including Maria Ladurner, Philipp Mathmann and Simon Bode.