Posts
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1)
"La vestale:
dramma per
musica in tre atti"
Composed in 1769.
Unperformed.
This was a culminating study for Salieri's teacher Gassmann.
Vienna
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2)
"Le donne letterate:
commedia per musica in tre atti"
su libretto di
Giovanni Gastone Boccherini,
tratto da Molière.
Carnival 1770
Vienna, Burgtheater (or Kärtnertortheater).
PERSONAGGI:
Don Baggeo,
a wealthy old man -- bass
Donna Artemia, Don Baggeo's wife -- soprano
Donna Elvira, sister of Artemia soprano
Corilla, daughter of Donna Elvira,
and the niece of Donna Aremia,
a pupil of Don Baggeo soprano
Don Prudenzio, brother of Don Baggeo
in love with Corilla -- tenore
Don Vertiginie, An effeminate and ridiculous poet,
also in love with Corilla
tenore
Don Trimetro, a Scholar and Professor,
also in love with Corilla bass
Don Filiberto, Don Baggeo's tutor, tenore
Commissioner of the Curiale, The local head of police -- tenore
Choruses: Depicting servants of Don Baggeo, the local literati,
friends of Don Prudenzio dressed in doctoral gowns,
students of Don Trimetro dressed in the red gowns, and the local policemixed voices
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3)
"L'amore innocente:
pastorale in due atti"
su libretto di Giovanni Gastone Boccherini
1770
Vienna, Burgtheater (or Kärtnertortheater)
PERSONAGGI:
Despino, A shepherd,
in love with Despinatenor
Despina, Niece of Cestone,
also his pupilsopranoClementina Baglioni[3]
Cestone, (Basket) Head shepherd of the village,
father of Guidalbabass
Guidalba, Daughter of Cestone,
also in love with Despinosoprano
TRAMA: Time: the 18th century
Place: the village of Klausen in the County of Tyrol.
The plot revolves around two rural maids, Guidalba the worldly daughter of the village's head Shepherd, Cestone (Basket) and his ward and niece, Despina.
Despina is a happy country maiden in love with a local shepherd Despino.
Guidalba is also in love with Despino, but is resolved to abandon the Alps and the rustic life for a more exciting life in the city.
Guidalba engages in a number of subterfuges to break the romantic tie between Despino and Despina, which until the very end of the opera the audience is led to believe have succeeded, mainly because Despino is portrayed as utterly clueless and gullible.
At the very end, however, Despino and Despina are reunited in love and promise to wed and spend the remainder of their days in the countryside.
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4)
"Don Chisciotte
alle nozze di Gamace:
divertimento teatrale in due atti"
su libretto di Giovanni Gastone Boccherini
tratto da Miguel de Cervantes
Carnival 1771Vienna, Burgtheater (or Kärtnertortheater)
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5)
"La moda,
ossia scompigli domestici in due atti"
su libretto di Pietro Cipretti
1771Vienna
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6)
"Rinaldo ed Armida: dramma per musica in tre atti"
su libretto di Marco Coltellini,
tratto da Torquato Tasso,
Gerusalemme liberata
22 June 1771
Vienna, Burgtheater (or Kärtnertortheater)
PERSONAGGI:
Armida soprano
Ismene soprano
Rinaldo soprano castrato
Ubaldo tenor
---- "Rinaldo e Ubaldo" is the name of a dipinto by Tiepolo Giambattista (1696 - 1770)
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7)
"La fiera di Venezia: commedia per musica in tre atti"
su libretto di Giovanni Gastone Boccherini
29 January 1772
Vienna, Burgtheater (or Kärtnertortheater)
PERSONAGGI:
Falsirena soprano
Calloandra soprano
Cristallina soprano
Ostrogoto tenor
Rasoio tenor
Cecchino tenor
Grifagno bass
Belfusto bass
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8)
"Il barone di Rocca antica:
dramma giocoso in due atti"
su libretto di Giuseppe Petrosellini
12 May 1772
Vienna, Burgtheater (or Kärtnertortheater)
9)
"La secchia rapita: dramma eroicomico in tre atti"
su libretto di Giovanni Gastone Boccherini tratto da Alessandro Tassoniname
21 October 1772
Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
Storia del conflitto tra Bologna e Modena al tempo dell’imperatore Federico II e del suo alleato Ezzelino III da Romano.
Tassoni utilizza riferimenti storici documentati invertendone liberamente l’ordine.
Il furto della secchia avvenne
secoli dopo i conflitti tra le due città mentre nel testo del poema il furto diventa la causa della guerra.
Fatto realmente accaduto nel 1325.
I Bolognesi,
fatta irruzione nel territorio di Modena,
sono respinti ed inseguiti fino
alla loro città dai Modenesi, che,
fermatisi presso un pozzo per
dissetarsi, portarono via come
trofeo
di guerra una secchia di legno.
Al loro rifiuto di riconsegnare la secchia, i bolognesi
dichiarino guerra ai modenesi.
Alla guerra partecipano, distribuiti tra le due parti, gli dei dell'Olimpo.
A favore dei Modenesi combattono personaggi storici come re Enzo,
figlio dell'imperatore Federico II, e personaggi immaginari, come la
bella guerriera Renoppia, che comanda una schiera di donne, ed il conte di Culagna.
Così come fonde insieme personaggi storici e personaggi immaginari, si rappresenta insieme, con anacronismi, vicende fantastiche e fatti storici della lotta tra Modena e Bologna, avvenute in altre epoche (come la battaglia di Fossalta del 1249).
La guerra per la secchia rapita si protrae per qualche tempo con alterne vicende, fra battaglie, duelli, tregue e tornei, intercalati da episodi comici e burleschi, che hanno spesso come protagonista il conte di Culagna.
Alla fine il conflitto si conclude con l'intervento del legato pontificio a queste condizioni: i Bolognesi si tengano prigioniero re Enzo, i Modenesi si tengano la secchia.
Altre messe in musica furono prodotte da Nicola Antonio Zingarelli nel 1793, da Francesco Bianchi nel 1794 (ambedue con libretto revisionato da Angelo Anelli) e da Giulio Ricordi nel 1910 (revisione del libretto da parte di Renato Simoni).
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10)
"La locandiera:
dramma giocoso in tre atti"
Su libretto di Domenico Poggi, tratto da Carlo Goldoni
8 June 1773Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
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11)
La calamità de' cuori
dramma giocoso in tre atti
Carlo Goldoni
11 October 1774Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
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12)
"La finta scema:
commedia per musica in due atti"
Giovanni de Gamerra
9 September 1775 Vienna, Burgtheater
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13)
"Daliso e Delmita:
azione pastorale in tre atti"
Su libretto di
Giovanni de Gamerra
29 July 1776
Vienna, Burgtheater
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14)
"Europa riconosciuta:
dramma per musica in due atti"
su libretto di Mattia Verazi
3 August 1778Milan, Teatro alla Scala
(inauguration)
PERSONAGGI:
Semele,
principessa, innamorata di Isseo soprano
Isseo,
giovane guerriero
castrato soprano
Europa,
regina di Tiro
soprano
Egisto,
innamorato di Semele
tenore
Asterio, re di Creta, marito di Europa
castrato soprano
Un piccolo fanciullo, figlio d'Asterio e di Europa
Cori di donzelle cretensi al seguito d'Europa, Grandi del regno di Fenicia, Maggiori duci dell'esercito fenicio, Soldati fenici, Sacerdoti di Nemesi, Guerrieri Cretensi
Cavalleria fenicia, Guardie reali fenicie, Soldati fenici, Soldati cretensi, Paggi fenici, Palafrenieri fenici, Schiavi dell'isola di Cipro
----
Europa soprano Maria Balducci Diana Damrau
Asterio soprano Gaspare Pacchiarotti (castrato) Genia Kühmeier
Semele soprano Francesca Danzi Desirée Rancatore
Isséo mezzo-soprano Giovanni Rubinelli (castrato) Daniela Barcellona
Egisto tenor Antonio Prati Giuseppe Sabbatini
L'azione si finge nella città di Tiro, capitale della Fenicia, e nelle sue vicinanze.
L'opera si apre con una vivace sinfonia che rappresenta una scena di temporale ed intende illustrare musicalmente l'antefatto che ha dato origine alla vicenda.
Europa, principessa di Tiro, promessa sposa al principe Isseo, è rapita e fatta sua sposa dal re di Creta Asterio.
Il re di Tiro e padre di Europa, Agenore, dispone invano una ricerca della giovane da parte degli altri figli e, quando si convince che questi sono dispersi, decide di cedere il trono alla nipote Semele stabilendo però che vada sposa a colui il quale, per vendicare il rapimento di Europa, uccida il primo straniero che approdi a Tiro.
Quando Asterio apprende della morte dell'anziano sovrano decide di recarsi da Creta a Tiro per insediare la sua sposa Europa sul trono che fu di Agenore.
La scena dell'atto I si apre su una spiaggia deserta.
Asterio, Europa e il loro figlioletto sono appena scampati ad un rovinoso naufragio quando vengono assaliti, fatti prigionieri e condotti alla reggia di Tiro da Egisto (nobile del regno di Fenicia, anch'egli aspirante al trono di Agenore).
In un magnifico padiglione Semele intende far conoscere il nome dello sposo prescelto, che sarà il nuovo re.
È innamorata di Isseo, che è appena tornato vittorioso da una spedizione contro i ribelli ciprioti, ed Egisto - vedendo sfumare il suo progetto - progetta di sfidare in campo aperto il rivale.
Isseo, però, confessa dal canto suo a Semele di essere ancora innamorato di Europa e di non sentirsi preparato a legare nuovamente il suo cuore.
Nel frattempo, nella stanza del Supremo Consiglio, i grandi del regno invocano gli dèi.
Egisto ricorda a Semele il decreto di Agenore e chiede che venga versato il sangue dello straniero fatto prigioniero dopo essere naufragato sulle spiagge di Tiro.
Asterio viene quindi condotto in catene alla presenza di Semele ma tuttavia si rifiuta di rispondere ad ogni domanda.
Differentemente da lui, Europa si fa riconoscere come l'antica principessa di Tiro e la legittima pretendente al trono.
Ancora una volta, Egisto vede svanire le sue speranze mentre Isseo è profondamente turbato dalla ricomparsa della donna di cui è ancora innamorato.
Semele, sconcertata, è preda della gelosia e dell'ira.
L'atto si conclude su una serie di musiche cosiddette ballabili.
L'atto II - maggiormente articolato rispetto al primo - è ambientato in quattro differenti scenari e si apre nell'antro di un oscuro carcere.
Mentre si attende la pronuncia del Supremo Consiglio, Europa reprime al cospetto di Isseo i suoi antichi sentimenti dichiarando di essere intenzionata a restare fedele ai doveri di moglie e madre lasciando il trono a Semele in cambio della vita del marito Asterio e del loro figlioletto.
In una elegante sala della reggia intanto Semele, ancora in preda alla massima gelosia, comunica ad Isseo la decisione del Supremo Consiglio di giustiziare Asterio e imprigionare Europa.
Quando Isseo dice a Semele che quest'ultima ha deciso di rinunciare al trono, Semele prega Isseo di correre a far sospendere l’esecuzione.
Rinchiuso nel tempio della vendetta, di fronte al sepolcro del vecchio sovrano Agenore, Asterio è pronto al sacrificio.
Sopraggiunge Egisto con Europa.
Con fare torbido le offre la libertà in cambio della fuga con lui.
Sdegnata, Europa rifiuta, rifugiandosi fra le braccia del consorte.
La situazione sembra precipitare quando si ode in lontananza l'arrivo dei soldati cretesi scampati al naufragio ed accorsi assieme ad Isseo a difendere il loro sovrano.
Nel vasto cortile antistante la sala viene ingaggiata una lotta furibonda.
I soldati al comando di Egisto vengono messi in fuga e il perfido rivale viene affrontato dallo stesso Isseo.
Dopo un aspro combattimento, Isseo uccide Egisto.
Mentre il popolo di Tiro acclama Europa erede legittima del trono sopraggiunge Semele che viene prontamente messa al corrente delle decisioni di Europa e tranquillizzata dallo stesso Isseo.
La sontuosa scena finale - ambientata nella sala del trono - è salutata dal suono di strumenti militari e dalle acclamazioni della popolazione.
Europa unisce le mani di Semele ed Isseo, benedicendo la loro unione e la loro salita al trono di Tiro.
Princess Europa of Tyre and Prince Isséo are engaged to be married. Their plans to wed are ruined when the king of Crete, Asterio, abducts Europa from her father’s palace and forces her to marry him. Europa's father King Agenore of Tyre, tries to find his daughter but fails. In despair, he leaves his throne to his niece Semele instead of Europa on the condition that Semele must marry the man who kills the first foreigner to enter the nation of Tyre. In this way Europa’s kidnapping will be avenged. After Agenore’s death, Asterio sails from Crete towards Tyre in the hopes of placing Europa on the Tyrian throne.
[edit] Act I
[edit] Scene 1: A shore on the coast of Tyre
A major storm devastates Asterio’s fleet and causes his own ship to shipwreck off the coast of Tyre. Asterio, his wife Europa,and their son step off their boat onto the shore and are startled by the appearance of Egisto and his band of armed soldiers. Asterio manages to hide Europa in a cave, but is unable to save himself, his men, and his son from capture. Upon seeing this, Europa emerges from her hiding-place and tries to defend her son. Her efforts fail and she is taken with the rest of the Cretan prisoners to the palace of Tyre by Egisto and his men.[edit] Scene 2: Semele's royal pavilion
Isséo has recently returned from a successful attack against the Cypriot rebels. Semele is in love with Isséo and has decided to marry him. She asks Egisto to assemble the grand council so that she can announce the name of the man she has chosen to marry, who will become the next king of Tyre. Meanwhile, Egisto, is determined to grasp the throne for himself and decides to openly challenge his rival.[edit] Scene 3: Triumphal scene
Isséo and his soldiers enter the throne room celebrating their victory. Semele informs Isséo of her desire to share the Tyrian throne with him, and then asks him to attend the grand council with her. Isséo refuses Semele's request because he is still in love with Europa, and therefore is not free to love Semele.[edit] Scene 4: A council chamber in Semele's palace
The council members pray for Temide's aid. Semele proclaims that she is prepared to choose the new king. Egisto foils her plan by reminding Semele of her promise to Agenore to marry the man that kills the first foreigner to set foot on Tyrian soil. Egisto produces Asterio in chains and hopes that he can execute Asterio in order that he might marry Semele and become king. Asterio, however, does not cooperate when questioned about his identity and origins. Frustrated, the council decides to interrogate Europa. She astounds everyone by proclaiming herself to be the missing princess of Tyre and rightful heir to the throne. Egisto is furious that his plan to obtain the throne is thwarted, while Isséo is greatly disturbed by Europa's reappearance. Seeing Isséo's response to Europa causes Semele to become full of jealous anger.[edit] Act II
[edit] Scene 1: A prison
Asterio is in prison and is anxiously awaiting the council's decision on his fate. Concurrently, Egisto tries to convince Isséo that Europa may still love him. Europa enters and makes a plea for her family's lives. She does not express her feelings for Isséo but rather tells him that her loyalties are to her family as a wife and mother. Europa offers to relinquish the throne of Tyre to Semele, in exchange for the lives of her husband and son. She further begs Isséo to no longer remember the love they once had – as she herself has already forgotten – and to become king by marrying Semele. Isséo leaves Europa and she falls to the ground in tears.[edit] Scene 2: A private room in the palace
Semele is highly jealous of Europa. She informs Isséo that the council has decided to execute the king of Crete and imprison his wife. In response, Isséo tells Semele that Europa no longer claims the throne. Furthermore, Isséo reveals Egisto’s treachery and informs Semele that he will marry her. Semele agrees to stop Asterio’s execution and sends Isséo to disband the proceedings.[edit] Scene 3: The Temple of Vengeance
Asterio is about to be executed at the tomb of Agenore. Egisto offers Europa and her son their freedom if they are willing to flee. Europa rejects his offer, proclaiming that she prefers to die with her husband. Asterio begs them to accept Egisto's offer in order that they might live. The priests of Nemesi lead Asterio to the place of sacrifice, but they are interrupted by the emergence of Cretan soldiers. These soldiers are Asterio's men who got lost in the great storm but managed to survive. They have come, unexpectedly, to save Asterio's life. A tumultuous combat ensues between the Cretans and Egisto’s guards. Isséo appears with some of his men and joins the Cretan soldiers in fighting Egisto and his guards.[edit] Scene 4: A courtyard
The Tyrian soldiers have been defeated but Egisto still fights on. Isséo and Egisto clash in a desperate fight and Egisto is killed. To the relief of Semele, Isséo is not wounded. Meanwhile, Europa is proclaimed the rightful heir to the throne by the people of Tyre. Semele is very upset until Isséo assures her that Europa will keep her promise.[edit] Scene 5: A ceremonial chamber in the palace
Europa is proclaimed the new queen of Tyre, but her one and only act as queen is to marry Isséo and Semele and turn the throne over to them. Isséo and Semele happily accept. Synopsis based on Rodney Stringer's translation.[8]****************************
15)
La scuola de' gelosi:
dramma giocoso in due atti
su libretto di Caterino Mazzolà
Carnival 1779 Venice, San Moisè
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16)
"La partenza inaspettate:
intermezzo in due parti"
Giuseppe Petrosellini
Carnival 1779 Rome, Teatro Valle
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17)
"Il talismano:
dramma giocoso in tre atti"
libretto di Carlo Goldoni;
revised by Lorenzo Da Ponte 1779-08-2121 August 1779;
Revised: 10 September 1788 Milan, Teatro Cannobiana;
revised: Vienna, Burgtheater
Atto II e Atto III di Giacomo Rust.
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18)
La dama pastorella: intermezzo in due parti
Su libretto di Giuseppe Petrosellini
1780
Rome, Teatro Valle.
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19)
Der Rauchfangkehrer,
oder Die unentbehrlichen
Verräther ihrer Herrschaften aus Eigennutzmusikalisches
Lustspiel
in tre atti
su libretto di Leopold von Auenbrugger
30 April 1781Vienna, Burgtheater
"
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20)
Semiramide riconosciuta:
dramma per musica in tre atti
Pietro Metastasio
Carnival 1782
Munich, Residenz
Semiramide, an Egyptian princess
soprano
Merteo, an Egyptian prince, brother of Semiramide
soprano castrato
Sibari, also formerly in love with Semiramide alto castrato
Idreno/Scitalce, an Indian prince, former lover of Semiramide soprano castrato
Tamiri, princess of Bactria soprano
Ircano, a Scythian prince bass
[
The Egyptian princess Semiramide rules Assyria disguised as a man.
Princess Tamiri prepares to choose a husband from three candidates, setting in motion a series of events that lead to Semiramide being reunited with her lover Scitalce, and the exposure of the villainy of his rival Sibari.
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21)
"Le Danaaidi
tragedia lirica in cinque atti
su libretto di
Mario Francesco Luigi Gaud Du Roullet e Luigi Teodoro Barone di Tschudi
tratto da Raniero de Calzabigi
26 April 1784
Paris, Opéra
PERSONAGGI:
Ipermnestra soprano
Danao bass-baritone
Linceo tenore
Pelago, Commanding Officer of Danao bass
Plancippe, sister of Hypermnestre soprano
Three officers 2 tenors and a bass
In Act I, Danao and his fifty daughters, the Danaidi, vow loyalty to their enemy Egitto, Danaus's brother.
Egitto dies and is succeeded by his eldest son, Linceo.
Linceo and his brothers each agree to marry one of the Danaïdes.
Danaus instructs his daughters to take revenge by killing their husbands on their wedding night.
In Act II, Lynceus's wife Ippermmestra is alone in refusing to obey her father's order, even after Danao confronts her with the prophecy that he will be murdered himself if she fails to satisfy his lust for vengeance.
In Act III, After the wedding ceremony, Ippermnestra manages to escape with Lynceus, just as his brothers are being killed.
In Act IV, Danao is enraged when news of Lynceus's escape reaches him, but he is distracted from his anger when Lynceus storms the city, killing all fifty of the Danaïdes except Hypermnestra and burning the palace to the ground.
In Act V, The Danaïdes are sent to Hades where their father is seen chained to a rock, his entrails being torn from him by a vulture. The Furies promise an eternity of suffering.
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"Il ricco d'un giorno:
dramma giocoso in tre atti"
su libretto di Lorenzo Da Ponte tratto da BERTATI
6 December 1784
Vienna, Burgtheater
PERSONAGGI
Giacinto tenor
Strettonio bass
Doralice soprano
Mascherone bass
Berto bass
Lauretta soprano
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23)
"La grotta di Trofonio:
opera comica in due atti"
su libretto di Giovanni Battista Casti
12 October 1785
Vienna, Burgtheater
Aristone bass
Dori, daughter of Aristone, in love with Artemidoro soprano
Ofelia, daughter of Aristone, in love with Plistene soprano
Artemidoro tenore
Plistene tenore
Trofonio, a magician bass
Dori and Ofelia (sisters) are in love with Plistene and Artemidoro (friends).
The two pairs have contrasting personalities.
Dori and Plistene are extroverted and enthusiastic.
Ofelia and Artemidoro are introverted and reserved.
The magician Trofonio invites them to his magic cave where their characters are reversed, first the men and then the women.
Eventually everything is sorted out and there is a happy ending.
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24)
"Prima la musica e poi le parole:
divertimento teatrale in un'atto"
Su libretto di Giovanni Battista Casti
7 February 1786
Vienna, Schloss Schönbrunn Orangerie
Eleonora, a prima donna soprano
The composer bass
The poet bass
Tonina, a comic singer soprano
Count Opizio contracts a new opera to
be written to be ready in four days.
The composer has already created the score, but the poet is suffering from writers block and resorts to trying to adapt previous verses he has written to the existing music.
The composer and poet are interrupted when, Eleonora, the prima donna hired by the Count, enters and delivers a sample of her vocal artistry.
Together with the Poet and the Maestro, she acts out a scene from Giuseppe Sarti’s Giulio Sabino that devolves into a grotesque parody.
Eleonora exits, and the librettist and the composer again wrestle with the problems of the libretto for the new opera in which a lengthy dispute between the two men ensues.
Tonina (whose character is a parody of opera buffa) enters and demands a role in the new opera.
The composer and the librettist quickly concoct a vocal number for her.
A quarrel then erupts between Eleonora and Tonina over which of them should sing the opera’s opening aria.
The scene culminates in having both sing their arias simultaneously.
The composer and the librettist are able to pacify the two ladies by agreeing to a juxtaposition of the seria and buffa styles, thereby putting a conciliatory end to their quarrel.
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25)
"Gli Orazi ed i Curiazi:
tragedia lirica in tre atti"
su libretto di Niccola Francesco Guillard, tratto da Pietro Corneille
22 December 1786 Versailles
Corneille, draws on Livio's account of the battle between the Horatii and the Curiatii.
The protagonist ORAZIO is very daring.
ORAZIO sacrifices his best friend and kills his sister Orazia.
It was the basis for the libretti for the operas Les Horaces and Gli Orazi e i Curiazi.
The play, which begins in Rome, starts out in an atmosphere of peace and happiness.
The Orazi family, of Rome, is united to the Curazi family of Alba Longa.
ORAZIO is married to
Sabina, a young Alban woman
whose brother, Curiazio, is engaged to
Orazia, the sister of Orazio.
A fratricidal war breaks out between Roma and Alba Longa, and destroys this harmony.
To finish it, each city designates three champions to fight in single combat
to determine who will win.
Contrary to expectations, fate chooses the three ORAZI brothers for Rome and the three CURIAZI brothers for Alba Longa.
ORAZIO astonished, did not expect such a great honor.
The friends once again find themselves face to face, with their consciences resolved for different reasons.
While ORAZIO is motivated by his patriotic duty, CURIAZIO laments his cruel fate.
The people are likewise moved to see these six men, nevertheless closely knit, fighting for the good of their country.
However, their fate has been decided.
During combat, two ORAZI are quickly killed, and the last, ORAZIO, the hero of the play, must then confront the three injured CURIAZI alone.
Filled with cunning and bravery, ORAZIO first pretends to flee to avoid facing them all together.
Then, when ORAZIO attacks, he kills them one by one and thus achieves victory.
After having received the congratulations of all of Rome, ORAZIO kills his sister, ORAZIA, who blames him for the murder of her beloved, CURIAZIO.
The trial which follows includes a scene of a rousing plea from Orazio's father, also named ORAZIO, who defends honour (a value very dear to Corneille), and thus ORAZIO, against the romanticism represented by ORAZIA.
ORAZIO is acquitted despite the indictment of Valerio, a Roman gentleman who was also in love with Orazia, much like Curiazio.
This play was criticized at the time of its creation for its failure to conform to notions of a tragic hero.
By killing his sister ORAZIA, ORAZIO had loses the necessary innocence.
Corneille rejected the notion of changing the death and so the Academy's formulated doctrine, and so helped prevent neo-Classicism from stifling theater.
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26)
"Tarare:
melodramma in un prologo e cinque atti
su libretto di Pietro Beaumarchais
tratto da Ridley.
8 June 1787 Paris, Opéra
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27)
"Axur, re d'Ormus: dramma tragi-comico in cinque atti"
Libretto di Lorenzo Da Ponte,
tratto da Pietro Beaumarchais
January 1 1788
Vienna, Burgtheater
Popular .
Beaumarchais supplied the libretto basing his plot on
"The Tales of the Genii; or The Delightful
Lessons of Horam, the Son of Asmar"
(1764) by "James Ridley", a pseudonym for Sir Charles Morell -- from a Persian source.
Personaggi:
Axur, Re di Ormus (basso)
Atar, generale dell'esercito di Axur (tenore)
Aspasia, sorella di Altamor (soprano)
Arteneo, sacerdote (basso)
Altamor, confidente di Axur e nemico di Atar (baritono)
Biscroma, schiavo (tenore)
Fiammetta, schiava (soprano)
Urson, soldato (baritono)
Elamir, figlio degli auguri (mezzosoprano)
Schiavo (baritono)
Personaggi minori:
Smeraldina (soprano)
Brighella (tenore)
Arlecchino (baritono)
Coro (schiavi, soldati, sacerdoti e popolo di Ormus)
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28)
"Cublai gran kan de' Tartari:
dramma eroico in due atti"
Libretto di Giovanni Battista Casti.
Composed 1788. Frst performed 1998
Würzburg, Mainfrankentheater
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29)
"Il pastor fido:
dramma tragicomico in quattro atti"
su libretto di Lorenzo Da Ponte.
Tratto da Battista Guarini
11 February 1789
Vienna, Burgtheater
ispirato a una pagina di Pausania.
Parecchi elementi si oppongono tuttavia all'unione: Amarilli, infatti, ama corrisposta Mirtillo, del quale si innamora a sua volta Corisca, la quale tenta di ordire un piano per attrarre a sé il giovane. Silvio, dal canto suo, non si cura dei problemi d'amore, preferendo dedicarsi alla caccia e disinteressandosi del sentimento che Dorinda nutre nei suoi confronti.
Le trame della sensuale Corisca falliscono, mentre Amarilli e Mirtillo vengono sorpresi in una grotta, e lei è condannata a morte. A questo punto però la vicenda si scioglie nel migliore dei modi: si scopre che Mirtillo è figlio di Montano, e così, sposando Amarilli, libera l'Arcadia dalla maledizione, mentre anche Silvio si converte all'amore unendosi con Dorinda in matrimonio.
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30)
"La cifra: dramma giocoso in due atti"
Su libretto di Lorenzo Da Ponte
Tratto da Giuseppe Petrosellini, "La dama pastorella"
11 December 1789
Vienna, Burgtheater
Eurilla sopranoAdriana Ferrarese del Bene
Lisotta, the daughter of Rusticone sopranoBettina Colombati
Milord Fideling tenore Francesco Bussani
Sandrino, the future groom of LisottabassPaolo Mandini
Rusticone, mayor and hotel ownerbassFrancesco Benucci
Leandro, friend of Milord FidelingtenorGirolamo Cruciati
[
Fideling, a Scottish lord, is seeking a lost
noblewoman with whom he had fallen in love.
Lisotta, the daughter of the town's mayor is betrothed to Sandrino,
but is in love with Fideling and believes herself to be
the woman he is searching for.
Eurilla also loves Fideling but despairs because
she is a mere shepherdess.
In Act II, before her true identity is revealed, she sings 'Alfin son sola … Sola e mesta' (In the end I am alone... Alone and sad).
It finally emerges that Eurilla is in fact the daughter of a nobleman.
She and Fideling are reunited and all ends happily in the finale.
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31)
"Catilina: dramma tragico in due atti"
Su libretto di Giovanni Battista Casti, tratto da Voltaire, "La Roma salvata"
Composed 1792.
First performed 1994. Darmstadt, Hessisches Staatstheater
On the subject of the Catiline Conspiracy. The characters are Catilina (senatore, a capo della congiura), Cicerone, console, Orestella, moglie di Catilina, Giulio Cesare e Catone, senatori.
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32)
L'isola capricciosa; ossia Il mondo alla rovescia:
dramma giocoso in due atti
Su libretto di Caterino Mazzolà
13 January 1795
Vienna, Burgtheater
(soprano) - La Marchesa
(bass) - La Generala;
(soprano) - La Colonella
(soprano) - L’Aiutanta Maggiore
(tenor) - Amaranto
(tenor) - Girasole
basso onte
baritone --il Vomandante, Il Gran Colombo
Since at least he Greeks, humorists, moralists and satirists have been fascinated by the artistic game of inversion, of “the world turned upside down”, which is how one might translate the title of this largely forgotten opera by Salieri.
Present an image of society turned on its head and you enable your audience/reader/viewer to see the actual way of things in a whole new light.
Your aims may be to expose the follies and errors of the actual, to propose a better way of doing things, or simply to get some laughs from the resulting improbabilities and surprises - or, of course, a mixture of all these motives and more.
Il mondo alla rovescia sets a witty libretto. Caterino Mazzolà was an accomplished poet and librettist, who was an acquaintance of Da Ponte and court poet at Dresden from 1780 to 1796, and who wrote libretti for such Dresden composers as Johann Gottlieb Naumann and Joseph Schuster.
Mazzola is perhaps most familiar as the man who prepared the libretto of La Clemenza di Tito for Mozart.
Although Il mondo alla rovescia was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 13 January 1795, its origins go back rather earlier.
In Italy in 1779 Mazzolà and Salieri had begun work on an opera called L’isola cappriciosa, but the project was left incomplete.
In Vienna in 1791 the two of them took up the earlier project, revising and completing it, under the new title of Il mondo alla rovescia.
In a sense the concept goes back some years earlier still - Mazzolà’s essential concept and (almost) his title - but very few details of the finished work - from a 1750 musical drama Il mondo alla roversa, o sia Le donne che comandano ( music by Galuppi).
The central imaginative overturning in Mazzolà’s libretto concerns the eighteenth century roles of the sexes.
The action is set on an unnamed island
where there lives a community in which women dominate and govern.
It was founded, we are told, by a group of European women
at some unspecified point in the past, women who had grown tired of living lives
as men’s inferiors. Here on the island women rule, women control the army and fight the wars.
Women are the active partners when it comes to love and courtship.
Things that are true of men back in Europe (in Vienna, for example?) are true of women on the island, and vice-versa.
Here, complains one of the men on the island, for the male sex “the batting of an eyelid is enough to stain one’s immaculate honour”; yes, agrees the man with whom he is in conversation, how much more fortunate it is to be a woman: “For us (men) even one smile is a crime, a single minor slip. For them (women) being licentious is almost an attribute”.
A scene of men dressmaking and sewing is juxtaposed with one of women preparing the weapons for war.
Two modern Europeans are cast ashore on the island, a Count and a Marquise.
The satiric and humorous possibilities of the idea are obvious and well exploited - it is surprising that one hears no audience laughter on these live recordings but then one can’t hear the audience coughing either, so perhaps one shouldn’t assume that they didn’t laugh.
Opera has always been fond of blurring the clarity of gender distinctions (with so many roles played en travesti), while simultaneously dealing, very frequently, in stereotypes of male and female behaviour and attitude, so this trope has considerable appropriateness in the opera house.
There is a gesture to all of this tradition in the casting of the Generala - the dominant woman on the island - as a bass.
As an elderly ‘woman’, ‘she’ is also the butt of some cruel humour and the dupe of the cleverer young people - as in any good comedy, the young outwit the old.
Her ‘love’ for the castaway Count (also a bass) provides some of the grotesque humour, not least in their love duets. Both roles are very decently sung - Marco Filippo Romano is heard at his best in ‘Ah sfacciata, senza onore’, towards the end of Act II, though on the evidence of ears alone Romano doesn’t perhaps do as much to characterise the Generala as one might have hoped in some parts of the work; perhaps one might feel different seeing the performance.
As the Count, object of desire for both the Generala and the younger Colonella, Maurizio Lo Piccolo communicates both confusion and natural authority and is in particularly good voice in his aria ‘Alle nozze questa sera’ in Act II. Overall the generally young cast acquits itself perfectly satisfactorily, without ever persuading one that this is the very best that could be made of the work.
As the Colonella, soprano Patrizia Cigna sings her Act I aria ‘A trionfar mi chiama’ with some pleasing coloratura and gives a deal of pleasure in the two part aria ‘Speranza addio: è forza’, in which melting melancholy and self-pity is succeeded by anger and determination. The Marchesa is particularly well sung by Maria Laura Martorana who is notably accomplished in recitative; her ‘Che faro? Che sarà mai?’ is especially pleasing - here is an aria that deserves to find a way onto recital programmes/discs, not least for the way in which Salieri’s writing for woodwinds complements the voice. She is also impressive in her ‘storm’ aria (‘Quando più irato freme’) in Act II. Krystian Adam is a lively and entertaining Girasole, with more than a touch of the modern Milanese modisto about him, extolling the camp charms of the clothes he makes … and names.
Salieri’s musical invention is impressive throughout.
One of the odd delights of Mazzolà’s libretto is a quasi-religious order (called the Casti Colombi - Chaste Doves) which exists to preserve the honour of young men from predatory women and in amongst the lively and essentially comic nature of most of the music, Salieri produces some beautifully grave music at the approach to the retreat of the Casti Colombi as part of the complex and richly entertaining finale of Act I.
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33)
"Eraclito e Democrito:
commedia per musica in due atti"
su libretto di Giovanni de Gamerra
13 August 1795
Vienna, Burgtheater
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34)
"Palmira, regina di Persia:
dramma eroicomico in due atti"
su libretto di Giovanni de Gamerra, tratto da Voltaire, "La principessa di Babilonia"
14 October 1795
Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
La Princesse de Babylone est un conte philosophique, écrit par Voltaire.
Ce conte met en scène deux amants:
Amazan le berger et Formosante, princesse de Babylone.
Comme dans Candide, les amants séparés se recherchent dans l'Asie et l'Europe.
À travers leurs mésaventures, et grâce à l'humour, Voltaire fait passer idées et critiques sur la religion, la condition humaine et les différentes sociétés de son temps.
De ce point de vue, son conte s'inscrit pleinement dans la philosophie des Lumières.
Formosante est la princesse de Babylone.
Son père veut trouver un époux digne d’elle.
Toute la noblesse de l’époque défile au palais: le pharaon d’Égypte et son bœuf Apis, le roi des Indes, le grand khan des Scythes... et un bel inconnu.
Il s’appelle Amazan.
Il a été élevé par des prêtres.
Porté par des licornes et escorté d’un phenix, il vient du pays des Gangarides, contrée utopique, un modèle de justice, de paix et d'égalité. Amazan tombe éperdument amoureux de la princesse, et le coup de foudre est réciproque.
Mais l’idylle est vite interrompue par la mort du père d'Amazan qui l'oblige à quitter Babylone. Avec l'aide du phénix, Formosante part à la recherche de son bien-aimé.
Au cours de ses voyages, la princesse apprendra qu'Amazan lui aura été toujours fidèle, repoussant les "faveurs" des plus belles filles de la terre.
Mais lors de son voyage à Paris, Amazan trompera Formosante avec une fille d'affaire.
Formosante le surprendra, mais lui pardonnera après que celui-ci l'aura sauvée des griffes de l'Inquisition espagnole.
Ce conte philosophique est une critique acerbe des régimes politiques, dont Voltaire pointe les défaillances et les manques, mais aussi des religions, notamment la religion catholique, dont le pape, appelé le "vieux des sept montagnes", exige des rites ridicules ("Vous ferez trois génuflexions et vous baiserez les pieds du Vieux des sept montagnes").
Enfin, ce conte peut être considéré comme un apologue démontrant que l'infidélité est inévitable car même Amazan, jeune homme réputé parfait, succombe à la faute.
PERSONAGGI DEL MELODRAMMA DI SALIERI:
High Priest bass
Palmira, a princess soprano
Alderano, King of Egypt bass
Oronte, King of Scythia bass
Alcidoro, King of India tenor
Darius, King of Persia bass
Set in ancient Persia, three Kings, arriving variously on a camel, an elephant and a horse, vie for the honour of killing a monster and winning the hand of the Persian princess Palmira.
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35)
"Il moro: commedia per musica in due atti"
Giovanni de Gamerra
7 August 1796
Vienna, Burgtheater
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36)
I tre filosofi in due atti
Libretto di Giovanni de Gamerra
1797
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37)
"Falstaff,
ossia Le tre burle:dramma giocoso in due atti"
Su libretto di Carlo Propero Defranceschi, tratto da Guglielmo Shakespeare's
The Merry Wives of Windsor1799-01-033 January 1799Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
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38)
"I pirati della Cilicia; ossia, Giulio Cesare nella Isola di Farmacusa"
melodramma in due atti"
su libretto di Carlo Propero Defranceschi
22 June 1800
Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
The two-act opera, on a libretto by de Franceschi, tells the story of Giulio Cesare’s capture by Sicilian pirates on the island of Farmacusa and his struggle to escape from captivity.
When Sulla died in 78 BC, Julius Caesar returned to Rome as a lawyer, prosecuted Sulla's supporters, and headed to the Greek town of Rhodes to study oratory. Pirates seized control of the vessel in 75 BC, kidnapped Caesar, and held him for ransom. Caesar was insulted at the ransom demand, which was insultingly low, and promised to crucify the pirates after he was free. At his insistence, the pirates raised the ransom demand to a level in accordance with his station: his friends quickly raised the sum. After his freedom was purchased, he assembled a small army, which captured the pirates and crucified them.
The opera premiered with great success in Vienna’s Kärntnerthortheater in June 1800.
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39)
"L'Angiolina; ossia, Il matrimonio per susurro: opera buffa in due atti"
su libretto di Carlo Propero Defranceschi, tratto dall'Epicœne" di Ben Jonson
22 October 1800
Vienna, Kärtnertortheater
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40)
"Annibale in Capua [Campania]:
dramma per musica in tre atti"
Libretto di A. S. Sografi
April 4 1801
---
Trieste, Teatro Nuovo -- apertura.
The plot concerns the Battle of Capua, between Annibale and the Roman generals:
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, Appius Claudius Pulcher.
Date: 211 B. C. -- Punic War.
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41)
"La bella selvaggia: opera buffa in due atti"
su libretto di G. Bertati
1802.
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42)
"I neri di Virginia:
dramma per musica in due atti"
su libretto di G. F. Treitschke (librettist to Beethoven's "Fidelio")
Nov. 10 1804
Vienna, Theater an der Wien.
A melodrama set in colonial Virginia.
The story involves Negro slaves on a plantation in Virginia.
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