Griselda (Antonio Maria Bononcini): Difference between revisions
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==Synopsis== |
==Synopsis== |
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[[Image:The Story of Patient Griselda circa 1490.jpg|thumb|180 px|right|Detail from ''The Story of Patient Griselda'', painted circa 1500]] |
[[Image:The Story of Patient Griselda circa 1490.jpg|thumb|180 px|right|Detail from ''The Story of Patient Griselda'', painted circa 1500]] |
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===Act One=== |
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Years before the action begins, Gualtiero, King of Sicily, had married a poor shepherdess, Griselda. The marriage was deeply unpopular with the king's subjects and when a daughter, Costanza, was born, the king had to pretend to have her killed while secretly sending her to be brought up by Prince Corrado of Apulia. Now, faced with another rebellion from the Sicilians, Gualtiero is forced to renounce Griselda and promises to take a new wife. The proposed bride is in fact Costanza, who is unaware of her true parentage. She is in love with Corrado's younger brother, Roberto, and the thought of being forced to marry Gualtiero drives her to despair. |
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===Act Two=== |
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Griselda returns to her home in the countryside where she is pursued by the courtier Ottone, who is in love with her. She angrily rejects his advances. Gualtiero and his followers go out hunting and come across Griselda's cottage. Gualtiero foils an attempt by Ottone to kidnap Griselda and allows her back to the court, but only as Costanza's slave. |
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===Act Three=== |
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Ottone still resolutely pursues Griselda and Gualtiero promises him her hand as soon as he himself has married Costanza. Griselda declares she would rather die and, moved by her faithfulness, Gualtiero takes her back as his wife. He reveals the true identity of Costanza and allows her to marry Roberto. |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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Revision as of 15:54, 3 October 2009
Griselda is a dramma per musica in three acts that was composed by Antonio Maria Bononcini. The opera uses a slightly revised version of the 1701 Italian libretto by Apostolo Zeno that was based on Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron (X, 10, "The Patient Griselda").[1] The opera was dedicated to Prince Maximilian Karl von Löwenstein, the Austrian governor of Milan, who died during the opera's world première on 26 December 1718 at the Teatro Regio Ducal in Milan. Nevertheless, Bononcini's opera was well received and enjoyed several revivals during the eighteenth century.
His brother, Giovanni Battista Bononcini, wrote an even more popular version of his own to Zeno's libretto in 1722.[2]
Music
Bononcini's revised version of Zeno’s original text is for the most part not much different for he only deleted or altered a handful of the original 34 arias. The superbly wrought score shows off Bononcini's usual strengths for textural depth and contrapuntal complexity, two elements essential for any master composer of the baroque era.[1] Yet, in spite of its frequent Baroque textural complexities, Bononcini began to experiment with classical music features and pre-classical features predominate in the opera. For example, two thirds of the arias are in major keys, two-thirds are vivacious, and only three of the 38 songs feature the slow, dotted rhythms that indicate pathos in the baroque period.[2]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 26 December 1718 |
|---|---|---|
| Griselda, wife of Gualtiero | coloratura mezzo soprano | |
| Gualtiero, King of Thessaly | contralto (origanally a castrato) | |
| Roberto, brother of Corrado | soprano (originally a castrato) | |
| Corrado, Prince of Puglia | tenor | |
| Costanza, missing daughter of Griselda and Gualtiero | contralto | |
| Ottone, a Sicilian nobleman | bass |
Synopsis
Act One
Years before the action begins, Gualtiero, King of Sicily, had married a poor shepherdess, Griselda. The marriage was deeply unpopular with the king's subjects and when a daughter, Costanza, was born, the king had to pretend to have her killed while secretly sending her to be brought up by Prince Corrado of Apulia. Now, faced with another rebellion from the Sicilians, Gualtiero is forced to renounce Griselda and promises to take a new wife. The proposed bride is in fact Costanza, who is unaware of her true parentage. She is in love with Corrado's younger brother, Roberto, and the thought of being forced to marry Gualtiero drives her to despair.
Act Two
Griselda returns to her home in the countryside where she is pursued by the courtier Ottone, who is in love with her. She angrily rejects his advances. Gualtiero and his followers go out hunting and come across Griselda's cottage. Gualtiero foils an attempt by Ottone to kidnap Griselda and allows her back to the court, but only as Costanza's slave.
Act Three
Ottone still resolutely pursues Griselda and Gualtiero promises him her hand as soon as he himself has married Costanza. Griselda declares she would rather die and, moved by her faithfulness, Gualtiero takes her back as his wife. He reveals the true identity of Costanza and allows her to marry Roberto.
Sources
- ^ a b The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
- ^ a b Malcolm Boyd, Lowell Lindgren: "Griselda (i)", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 21, 2008), (subscription access)