Il ritorno di Tobia

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Il ritorno di Tobia ( The Return of Tobias ) is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn ( Hob. XXI: 1) in two parts.

history

Haydn composed Il ritorno di Tobia in 1775 for the Wiener Tonkünstler-Societät . In the choice of the material and its design, he was guided by the Viennese musical taste of the 1770s: for example, he had the libretto by Giovanni Gastone Boccherini , a brother of the composer and cellist Luigi Boccherini , written in Italian, as was the case in Vienna at the end of the 18th century fashion. With the plot, which is borrowed from the book Tobit , Haydn's first oratorio thematized an extremely popular subject that was ubiquitous in music, visual arts and literature at the time. Regarding the plot, Boccherini's libretto is limited to the last chapters of the book Tobit, namely the return of the son from a foreign country and the healing of the father from his blindness. The audience only learns about the adventures of the trip and the marriage with Sarah from the reports of the person who returned home. As a result, the focus is not on conflicts and events, but on the emotions of the actors, who can be accompanied in real time according to the requirement for unity of place, action and time .

Haydn's setting of the material also met the audience's expectations. As in an opera seria , the choir is only used at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the work; most of the oratorio is dominated by the constant alternation of aria and recitative . The latter usually accompanies the full orchestra, which underlines the stories of adventures and emotions suffered effectively and dramatically. Highly virtuoso arias and radiant choral movements complete Haydn's first oratorio, whose premiere in April 1775, as expected, brought the composer great recognition and the Tonkünstler Society a considerable financial success.

A revival of Il ritorno di Tobia was planned in Vienna for 1781, but it was doomed to failure: on the one hand because Haydn was not paid for the necessary cuts, and on the other because there was no suitable soloist for the particularly demanding role of Anna found: In contrast to the premiere, singers from Haydn's ensemble at the Esterházy court were not available as soloists , but rather the less well-trained singers from the Tonkünstler-Verein.

Three years later, Haydn revised the oratorio, shortened and simplified the solo parts and relaxed the strict form by adding two further choral movements ( Ah, gran Dio! And Svanisce in un momento ), which are in the middle of the first and second parts . Despite all the changes and cuts, this resumption of the oratorio also failed. The audience's taste in music had simply changed too much within ten years.

In contrast to the audience favorites among Haydn's oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons , Il ritorno di Tobia has been almost completely forgotten in recent centuries. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the action-free and conflict-free biblical story of Tobias, who returns from a foreign country and heals his father from his blindness, can hardly be considered an attractive oratorio material today, even though the masterfully set arias and choruses by Il ritorno di Tobia in their radiance are in no way inferior to those of the creation that is omnipresent in today's concert life . In addition, a performance of Il ritorno di Tobia lasts almost three hours in the original version. Today's performances counter this fact with cuts, some of which go so far that the recitatives are completely left out. The action described in the recitatives is then summarized by a narrator.

occupation

Soloists:

  • Tobia (tenor)
  • Anna, Tobias mother (old)
  • Tobit, Tobias father (bass)
  • Sara, Tobias Braut (soprano)
  • Raffaelle, an angel (soprano)

Hebrew Choir (SATB) and orchestra

The place of the event is the house of the parents Tobias in Nineveh .

Music numbers

Sinfonia / Overture

Parte Prima (Part One)

  1. Tobit, Anna, Choir of the Hebrews Pietà d'un infelice (Have mercy on an unhappy, grieving mother)
  2. Recitative (Anna, Tobit) and aria (Anna) Sudò il guerriero (The warrior sweated, but he gained fame)
  3. Recitative and aria (Tobit) Ah tu m'ascolta! (Do you hear me, oh god)
  4. Recitative (Anna, Raffaelle) and aria (Raffaelle) Anna, m'ascolta! (Anna, listen to me)
  5. Recitative and aria (Anna) Ah gran Dio! (Great God if you have an unworthy heart) followed by chorus (Hebrews) Ah gran Dio! (Great god)
  6. Recitative (Tobia, Sara) and aria (Tobia) Quando mi dona un cenno (every little wink from your sweet mouth)
  7. Recitative and aria (Sara) Del caro sposo (Here I am in my dear husband's house)
  8. Recitative (Raffaelle, Tobit, Sara, Anna, Tobia) Rivelarti a Dio piacque (God liked it)
  9. Choir (Raffaelle, Sara, Anna, Tobia, Tobit, Hebrews) Odi le nostre voci (Hear our prayer)

Part Seconda (Part Two)

  2. Recitative (Anna, Sara, Raffaelle) and aria (Raffaelle) Come se a voi parlasse (As if a messenger from heaven spoke to you)
  3. Recitative (Anna, Sara) and aria (Sara) Non parmi esser fra gl'uomini (I feel as if I am not among people)
  4. Recitative (Anna, Tobia) and aria (Tobia) Que felice nocchier (The happy boatswain who comes from afar)
  5. Recitative and aria (Anna) Come in sogno un stuol m'apparve (A crowd appeared to me in a dream) followed by chorus (Hebrews) Svanisce in un momento ( melts away in a single moment)
  6. Recitative (Tobia, Tobit, Raffaelle) and aria (Tobit) Invan lo chiedi, amico (In vain do you ask for that , my friend)
  7. Recitative and duet (Anna, Tobia) Dunque, o Dio (O God, since I hoped to be excessively happy)
  8. Recitative (Raffaelle, Sara, Anna, Tobia, Tobit) Qui di morir si parla (Here we speak of death)
  9. Choir (Sara, Anna, Tobia, Tobit, Hebrews) Io non oso alzar (I don't dare to look up)

For the recitatives of numbers 2, 4, 8, 10 and 16, Haydn made second versions.

Recordings

  • Ferenc Szekeres (conductor), Hungarian State Orchestra, Budapest Madrigal Choir, Hungaroton HCD 11660-62 (1975)
  • Antal Dorati (conductor), The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Brighton Festival Chorus, Decca Stereo 591027 (1979)
  • Andreas Spering (conductor), Capella Augustina (with historical instruments), Vocal Ensemble Cologne, Naxos 8.557380-81 (2007)

literature

  • Ernst Fritz Schmid : Joseph Haydn: Il ritorno di Tobia. Vocal Particell , Bärenreiter: Kassel etc. 2008, BA 4657
  • Annette Oppermann, Christine Siegert in the CD booklet of the recording under Spering

Web links

  • Libretto (Italian with German translation; PDF file; 190 kB)