Admeto

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Work data
Original title: Admeto, Re di Tessaglia
Title page of the libretto, London 1727

Title page of the libretto, London 1727

Shape: Opera seria
Original language: Italian
Music: georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto : unknown, probably Nicola Francesco Haym
Literary source: Aurelio Aureli : L'Antigona delusa da Alceste (1660)
Premiere: January 31, 1727
Place of premiere: King's Theater , Haymarket, London
Playing time: 3 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Pherai in Thessaly , mythical time (shortly before the Trojan War )
people
  • Admeto , King of Thessaly ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Alceste , his wife ( soprano )
  • Antigona, his former fiancée, Trojan princess, disguised as a shepherdess (soprano)
  • Trasimede, Prince, Admeto's brother (old)
  • Ercole (Heracles, Hercules) ( bass )
  • Orindo, a servant, confidante Admetus ( old )
  • Meraspe, Antigonas educator (bass)
  • Priests, heralds, warriors, spirits, people

Admeto, Re di Tessaglia ( HWV 22) is an opera ( Dramma per musica ) in three acts by Georg Friedrich Händel . The title hero of the opera is King Admetus from Greek mythology. It was the second opera for the triumvirate of singers Bordoni / Cuzzoni / Senesino .

Emergence

The seventh season of the Royal Academy of Music 1725/26 ended prematurely with a last performance by Alessandro on June 7, 1726, because the starastrat Senesino had declared himself “indisposed to health” and had left for Italy to recover. This was also the reason why Handel started the next opera season late on January 7, 1727 with Lucio Vero by Attilio Ariosti . Over the winter, the Haymarket Theater had been used by a stagione of Italian comedians.

Handel finished the composition of Admeto on November 10, 1726. Charles Jennens had noted this date at the end of one of the six surviving copies, the so-called "Flower Copy". He must have taken it over from the autograph , which has been lost today . The first performance took place on January 31, 1727. The opera had nineteen performances this season up to April 18th - more than any other Handel opera within a season.

Handel's orchestra consisted of 24 violins and violas , three cellos , two double basses , two harpsichords (according to the French tourist PJ Fougeroux, who attended a London performance of Admeto in 1728 ) (of which Handel was the first to conduct the performance), a theorbo , three bassoons in addition to the wooden ( oboes , flutes ) and brass ( horns and trumpets ) together. The recitatives were accompanied by a violoncello, the two harpsichords (alternating the person appearing) and the theorbo.

The conflict between the Italian singers Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni , which had already been indicated in the previous season and was by no means accompanied by the London press in a soothing manner, continued over the course of the season. Johann Joachim Quantz , who later became Friedrich II's flute teacher and royal court music director in Berlin , who was just considering moving to London, saw the opera performed in March and gives a detailed report in his biography (see Success & Criticism ). He also attended a performance of the opera Astianatte by Bononcini in May , in which the same singers were on stage and he reported:

“The second opera that I heard in London was by Bononcini; but it was not so well received as the first [Admeto]. Handel's basic voice outweighed Bononcini's upper voice. Two parties expressed themselves in this opera, one for Faustina and the other for Cuzzoni. These parties were so upset against each other that one whistled when the other clapped her hands, and vice versa: until at last because of that the operas had to be set for a certain time. "

- Johann Joachim Quantz : Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. Berlin 1754.

In the performance on June 6th of Bononcini's (last London) opera, the hostilities already observed by Quantz reached their climax. (He left London on June 1st.) But recent research raises the question of the extent to which the hostile rivalry between the two sopranos actually existed between the two or was more played out by the audience and hyped up by the press. In any case, the performance on June 6th was canceled not because of any events on the stage but because of the improper behavior of the audience in the presence of the Princess of Wales .

“On Tuesday night last [6. June], a great disturbance happened at the Opera, occasioned by the Partisans of the Two Celebrated Rival Ladies, Cuzzoni and Faustina. The contention at first was only carried on by hissing on one side, and clapping on the other; but proceeded at length to Cat-calls, and other great Indecencies: And notwithstanding the Princess Caroline was present, no Regards were of Force to restrain the Rudenesses of the Opponents. "

"Last Saturday evening [6. June] there was a great commotion in the opera house, which originated from the supporters of the two celebrated rivals Cuzzoni and Faustina. At first the dispute was only carried out by hissing on one side and applause on the other; then there were cat calls and other improprieties. And all of this happened in the presence of Princess Caroline. No respect was able to dampen the rawness of the adversaries. "

- British Journal. London, June 10, 1727.

The London Journal published the report on the same day with minor differences. The same day The Craftsman published a letter from “Phil-Harmonicus” to the editor “Caleb d'Anvers” ( Nicholas Amhurst ), in which an arbitration tribunal was proposed for the two prima donnas . And in July, the Mist's Weekly Journal published a pamphlet The DEVIL to pay at St. JAMES’s ("The devil is going on in St. James"). It says:

“But who would have thought the infection should reach the Hay market and inspire Two Singing Ladies to pull each other's Coiffs […] for it is certainly an apparent Shame that two such well bred Ladies should call Bitch and Whore, should scold and fight like any Billingsgates. "

“Who would have thought that this plague would reach as far as the Haymarket and cause two singing women to pull each other's hair [...] it's really a shame that two so well-bred women call each other a whore, scold and fight like any market women. "

- The DEVIL to pay at St. JAMES's. London 1727.

The London satirical writers quickly took advantage of the theater scandal. In a hastily produced mockery titled The Contre Temps; or, Rival Queans ... the same scene takes place in the Temple of Discord. Handel stands by, resigned to fate, when the two women attack each other:

I think 'tis best - to let' em fight it out:
Oil to the Flames you add, to stop their Rage;
When tir'd, of Course, their Fury will asswage.

I think so, you can let them fencing,
here you pour oil on the flame,
if you want to settle when tired, your lawn will lay itself.

With the canceled performance on June 6, 1727, the eighth season of the Royal Academy of Music was over.

libretto

It is not known who prepared the textbook for Handel, but one can almost certainly assume that it was Nicola Francesco Haym . Paolo Antonio Rolli would also be possible , as both worked for the Opera Academy during those years. The first libretto on this subject is Aurelio Aureli's L'Antigona delusa da Alceste , which was first set to music by Pietro Andrea Ziani for Venice in 1660. In the following it was performed many times: in 1661 in Bologna , 1662 in Milan , 1669 in Naples , 1670 in Venice and finally in 1679 and 1681 in Hanover . This Hanoverian textbook with the title L'Alceste is an adaptation of Aureli's poetry by the electoral Hanoverian court poet Ortensio Mauro . The unknown composer Matthio Trento complemented Ziani's music. Probably the 1679 libretto was the direct basis for the adaptation of the material for Handel, because the aria Gelosia, spietata Aletto (No. 23) is only contained in this. There is no reason to assume that Handel's librettist had more than one source.

Cast of the premiere:

In the next season there was a resumption for nine performances from September 1727 to June 1728. Here, instead of Anna Dotti, a Mrs. Wright sang Orindo (previously: Orinda) and the Academy closed with a performance of Admeto due to a repeated illness of Senesino June 1, 1728 prematurely the season. That was the end of the so-called first opera academy: the society was finally dissolved.

Another resumption (then for the New Academy ), for six performances, took place in December 1731 / January 1732. For this, all singers were new and Handel reworked the opera considerably. Nine arias were deleted and six new ones added, Ercole became a tenor and the role of Orindo was dropped. Another planned performance on January 4th was canceled due to a singer's illness. The work was also on the program in Hamburg and Braunschweig , beginning in August 1729 and in the 1730s under the title Admetus, King in Thessaly . In Braunschweig, Georg Caspar Schürmann had made a German text version for the recitatives and the final chorus, and also the musical direction for the performances in 1729, 1732 and 1739. The work was performed thirteen times between 1730 and 1736 at the Hamburg Opera on Gänsemarkt . As usual, the arias were sung in Italian and the recitatives in German (text version: Christoph Gottlieb Wend ). The musical direction of these performances was Georg Philipp Telemann , who had also composed some arias.

A new production then took place in London in 1754, again at the Haymarket, under the current director Francesco Vanneschi, for which Handel is said to have made suggestions for cast and transposition. Otherwise Handel was not involved, as he was largely blind in the meantime. It was a mixture of the versions from 1727 and 1731. Most likely, Handel's autograph and his director's score (personal copy) were used for these performances, because they have been lost since then. (Copies of the opera have come down to us.) The first of these five performances was given on March 12th. The performance on April 6, 1754 is considered the last stage performance of a Handel opera up to the 20th century. (This "time out" was ended on June 26, 1920 with the performance of the opera Rodelinda in Göttingen.)

The first modern rendering of Admeto took place on October 14, 1925 in German (text version: Hans Dütschke) and with the octave transpositions customary for the castrato roles at that time in Braunschweig under the direction of Franz Mikorey .

The first performance of the piece in historical performance practice was a concert performance in connection with the record production of the entire work on June 2, 1977 as part of the Holland Festival in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam by Il complesso barocco under the direction of Alan Curtis .

music

A closer acquaintance with the music, the inventiveness in formal terms and in general with the entire treatment of the musical material within the forms of recitative and aria used here by Handel, quickly reveals the ingenious mastery with which he used the means of the opera seria for characterizing people, uses her feelings and passions, develops them creatively and pushes them to the limits of their expressive possibilities. It is certainly not too much to say that Admeto is one of the greatest creations of Handel's around 40 music-dramatic masterpieces, in which, like in hardly any other opera, he goes far into the future of this often reviled, but constantly renewing itself advances dramatic art genre. Especially in the depiction of individual characters, but also of the supernatural and the dramatic and effective, of which this opera is so rich, the Admeto score points well into the 18th century and reveals what masters like Christoph Willibald Gluck or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Handel constructive expressiveness, especially in the field of opera.

The musical characterization of the individual actors is characterized by extraordinary expressiveness. The central figure of the drama is no longer - as in the ancient subject - Alceste, but the title hero Admeto, who shows nothing of the indecisive attitude of his feeble ancient predecessor, who surrendered to the feeling of being driven by dark forces and overflowed with self-pity when he learns of Alcestis' death and vows never to love again. There is none of this in the opera: after his sudden recovery, Admeto has no inkling of Alceste's sacrificial death, and when he finally learns about it through her suicide note, his reaction to it is deeply human and believable. He only turns to Antigona when he has to believe that Ercole's mission has failed and that he has lost Alceste forever. The sudden appearance of Antigona seems to him like a sign of fate, who would have become his wife anyway if his brother Trasimede had not deceived him with the wrong portrait. When Alceste finally reveals himself after having saved him from his brother's assassination attempt and thus saved his life for the second time, he wants to sink in shame about it, but at the same time remain true to his royal word to Antigona, and only this one can raise it up again by renouncing it ("I owe Alceste my life, but you, beautiful Antigona, the honor. From now on I will continue to carry both of them in my heart!" says the closing recitative).

Handel provides Senesino's title role with great music and creates a masterful introduction with a broad opening scene in which we witness Admetos - not Alcestes - death throes. Already the gloomy, two-part overture in the French style with its uncanny loquacity of the sixteenth-note figurations in the Allegro section, which seem like the murmur of mysterious shadows creeping around the bed of the dying king, introduces the eerie mood.

In his General history of Music… Charles Burney writes that he was

"[...] told by persons who heard this opera performed when it first came out, that Senesino never sung or acted better, or more to the satisfaction of the public, than in this scene."

"[...] through people who heard this opera when it was newly released, tells that Senesino has never sung and played better or drawn the audience more under his spell than in this scene."

- Charles Burney : A General History of Music. London 1789.

Senesino's role is perhaps the most effectively balanced role in the entire opera. He has two or three solo scenes in each act, which are in perfect contrast with each other and thus gave his great singing and acting creative ability the best opportunities to put himself in the scene in the spirit of the drama. This happens in the D major aria Cangiò d'aspetto il crudo fato (“Evil fate has turned”, No. 9) with exuberant joy in a grand melodic gesture that nonetheless reflects the deep inner agitation of pain and fear of death of the liberated king and by no means acts only as an outward chiaroscuro on the preceding painful E minor farewell aria of Alceste ( Spera, sì, mio ​​caro bene , No. 5b). The aria Un lampo è la speranza (No. 10) in B minor, which follows immediately in the next scene, shows the whole trembling despair of Admetus over the loss of his beloved wife; Resolutely determined to cling to every bit of hope that Ercole might be able to bring the dead back to him after all, Admeto feels torn between despair and hope, and Handel uses the antithetical structure of the da capo aria perfectly for them Representation of this torn mood from the king. The same feelings, hovering between sadness and hope, are expressed in the two arias of the second act; the first ( Sparite, oh pensieri , no. 21) is in E major and is filled with tears, full of longing sighs for the beloved Alceste, the second ( Ah, sì, morrò , no. 25), in F minor, is from introduces an expressively declaimed Accompagnato and expresses Admeto's desperation over the supposed death of both women, whose love he believes has been lost, in a halting flow of melodies, which only a small instrumental phrase opposes a comforting thought.

What the Italian opera-goer took from the wording of the linguistically familiar poetic model, Handel's sentences very often express in this way in their entire compositional structure; the semantic character of his music, the “speaking” motifs, as it were, and the tonal ritornello phrases had to convey everything that the English listener often remained hidden in the text due to a lack of Italian language skills. A greater contrast between this solo scene by Admeto and Alcestes' furious outburst of jealousy ( Gelosia, spietata Aletto , No. 23) in the preceding seventh scene can hardly be imagined, and Handel proves to be a carefully planned playwright in skillfully exploiting such dramatic constellations.

In the third act, Admeto transforms himself into a determined ruler who is conscious of his royal dignity. After the introductory, concise arioso of the first scene, in which his change of heart is already indicated in thoughtful reflection on his fate in the alternating song between questioning phrases of the singing voice and the closely interlinked, up and down swaying interjections of the violins, he shows himself to be true royal anger is animated in his aria d'agilità La tigre arde di sdegno (No. 31), which expresses the indignation over the cheeky kidnapping of Antigonas. Here, too, shows Handel's art of bringing strong emotions to effect with just a few means when the singing voice shows the image of the angry tiger whose cub is being stolen, mainly in the instrumental upper voice, which is, as it were, "talking" through violent scale movements, tremolos and tone repetitions , counterpointed with eloquent gestures. Admeto's love duet with Antigona ( Alma mia / Dolce ristoro , No. 37), the only ensemble in the entire work, is given by Handel, in accordance with its exposed position in the opera, again a highly original form, which is predominantly of the previously accustomed form pathetic sphere of expression deviates significantly: while the two lovers express their tender feelings for each other in finally found togetherness and do this for the Alceste and Trasimede, who are eavesdropping on them with an almost penetrating bliss of thirds, the orchestra plays, completely uninvolved, now in the upper part, now in the bass harmoniously unaccompanied ritornello; Reminiscent of certain Anglo-Saxon folk song types, it isolates itself completely from the actual content of the duet in its striking and ironically tinged superficial cheerfulness and shows the listener that the situation is by no means cleared up and that the opera could not come to its end in this way . In fact, after Alceste's revelation of her identity, Admeto gets quite embarrassed in the end, and he takes refuge happily in the role of the magnanimous forgiving of his brother, which gives him the opportunity to let the two women decide. In the end he stands in front of us as an outwardly worthy ruler and husband who is, however, severely impaired in his male self-confidence, whose moral dilemma Handel knows how to reveal musically perfectly with subtle irony.

The two female protagonists Alceste and Antigona, with their unique musical characterization, represent the high point of what Handel was able to achieve in this academy period. In order to satisfy the role hierarchy in his ensemble, he had to write roughly similar roles for both prima donnas, and he met this artistic challenge of his genius with ingenuity in the formal handling of the firmly established conventions of the opera seria , great melodic expressiveness in the solo scenes and more dramatic and powerful Successfully recreated both the entire course of action and the constantly changing antique local color (scenes at the court of Admeto, scenes in the nature of the forests and gardens, scene in the underworld).

The greatest difficulty for him was undoubtedly to link the various threads of the plot into an organic unity and to create both main female roles in a musically and dramatically convincing manner and to use the means that the opera seria offered him constructively. He achieved this by consciously using the different vocal and facial charisma of the Bordoni and the Cuzzoni to portray the characters of Alceste and Antigona. The dark timbre of the dramatic mezzo-soprano of the Bordoni, their eloquence and technical perfection in the decoration of their chants were the perfect medium for portraying the sensitive figure of the Alceste, while the bright soprano voice of the Cuzzoni and the innocently touching delicacy of their tone, despite their unfavorable figurative appearance who knew how to put the virginal freshness of the Antigona in the right light.

In her seven arias - two each in the first and third act, three in the second act, exactly the same distribution as in the role of Antigona - Alceste shows a moving development from the tragic fate of the ancient heroine of the first act, whose sacrificial death only through her complete immersion in her devoted husband's love is sufficiently motivated to become a female figure who strips away from human weaknesses (jealousy and hatred of the rival) with equal self-conquest, with thoroughly enlightened features and attitudes that attract the full sympathy of the viewer despite her temporary slipping into the petty Jealousy of the second act secures, during which she plays a game of hide-and-seek in male disguise that is completely unworthy of her and watches her opponent from dark corners. Her first aria, in which she supposedly says goodbye to the sleeping Admeto forever ( Luci care, addio , no. 5), immediately introduces her figure in this gentle, devoted human size into the action in a musically inimitable way. For this farewell song, born with pain, Handel invented a touching melodic gesture in which the tones, dripping down like tears, come together to form a large musical arc, which is also formally of extraordinary interest. This aria very vividly illustrates a stylistic stroke of genius by Handel to achieve a dramatic climax by modifying the da capo form. In this case, this is done by mixing elements of the arioso, the rondo and the da capo form as well as the original use of contrasting ritornelles and an increase in the full voice of the instrumental movement, which differs from the mere continuo prelude to the use of the strings and the surprising addition a solo flute (which only appears at this point in the entire opera) with a new theme up to a fully-instrumented instrumental coda with overwhelming sonority. Alceste's farewell to her friends was expressed by Handel with a passionate Siciliano in E minor ( Farò così più bella , No. 8). Alceste's reaction to her liberation from Hades , her naive astonishment at being in the fresh air again and soon being able to be close to her beloved again, is vividly expressed in the aria Quanto godrà (No. 17a). The sigh of relief at Ercole's rescue, however, soon gives way to an urgent need for her husband, which reveals itself in a constant acceleration of movement towards the end of the aria and which is even more strongly expressed in the ritornelli and the figures accompanying the instruments. Alceste's greatest emotional outburst is in her jealous aria Gelosia, spietata Aletto , which is laid out in the form of a bravura aria (Antigona was able to sing her similar aria Se'n vola lo sparvier (No. 13) as an effective conclusion to the first act) and with great concertos Sections between vocal and instrumental parts and a demonic wildness of expression operated. The Bordoni also got the end of the act with the aria Vedrò fra poco, se l'idol mio (No. 28), in which she overcomes her uncontrolled emotional outbursts and frees herself from petty jealousy towards Admeto. Handel's melodic power surpasses itself in such a dense series of great chants. The sweeping, gloriously flowing melody in bel canto is introduced and concluded by a 22-bar sonorous ritornello, which is based on imitative inserts and accented harmonic syncopations. As soon as the vocal part starts against an independent string accompaniment for the first time,

"[...] the music surges on in five real parts [...] it makes an impression of vernal lightness and spontaneity, as if walking on air."

"[...] the music bursts into five real voices [...] and leaves the impression of a spring-like lightness and spontaneity, as if it were floating in the ether."

- Winton Dean : Handel's Operas, 1726–1741. London 2006.

After these completed studies of expression of such strongly contrasting moods and affects, the Bordoni had to be given the opportunity to demonstrate their high musicality in more artistic genre images. In the third act, Handel therefore gave her a charming portrayal of nature in Là dove gli occhi io giro (No. 34) with a lively chirping of birds and ample opportunity to accentuate her “very skillful throat” and “very finished trillo” accordingly. It has been noted critically that in a situation in which Alceste would probably have had reason to be jealous - at least more than in the second act -, this aria seems quite impartial and undramatic. However, it goes remarkably well with the preceding portrait aria of Antigona and her aria E che ci posso far (No. 35), which follows in the next scene , with which she rejects Trasimede's love pain with a light gesture, and also brings in the otherwise rather gloomy picture Alceste's personality has a lighter color, which gives her last aria (before the final coro) Sì, caro, ti stringo al fin così nel sen amato (No. 38) a cheerful and balanced character.

Antigona's strength lies in the fresh, carefree manner with which Handel equipped the game of Cuzzoni and with which she developed into the perfect opponent of the Alceste. Handel makes her an enchanting figure with that fresh grace and naturalness that almost always characterizes his virgin heroines, without making them appear colorless or exaggerated. Antigona, too, suffers her conflicts, which, however, are not as deeply under the skin as the Alcestes; With the playful touch that shapes her character, she shakes them off more easily than Alceste, but without appearing superficial, and does so with overwhelming musical virtuosity in arias of equally high melodic and artistically brilliant appeal. The whole part was laid out musically convincing as well as consistently dramaturgically by Handel, and the unified effect of the opera results not least from the contrasting counterplay and interplay of the two opponents Alceste and Antigona, which are based on their character and importance in the course of the plot - with all due observance of the ensemble conventions of the opera seria - musically complement in an excellent way. If Alceste is the royal feeling and acting loving woman in the sense of the ancient original, Antigona appears as the all-invigorating stranger who penetrates from the outside into the shielded world of the Thessalian court, who brings everyone involved out of their calm and whirls all emotions together. Like Trasimede, Admeto is in the end no longer the unassailable dignitary, who not only outwardly shows the insignia of royal dignity, as he initially appeared. This is not least due to Antigona, who already on her first appearance was characterized by a short, but due to the unusually lively articulating strings (with their partly staccato-like , partly bound motifs and the sustained drone tones in the bass) very picturesque-looking symphony pastoral (No. 6) is introduced in its whole capricious attitude, which stands in stark contrast to the internalized mood of Alceste's farewell aria Luci care in the preceding scene. The lively Accompagnato, in which Antigona ventures all of her pent-up displeasure with Admeto's alleged infidelity ( Admeto, traditor, iniquo amante ), and the aria Spera allor (No. 7), held in minuet tempo , in which she shares her feelings comparing the situation of a shipper floating dangerously on a stormy sea, she immediately introduces the viewer in all her thinking and feeling as well as in her action-related intentions not to give in, but to fight for her happiness and, if necessary, also with suffering under full sail, but dying with honor. In contrast to the role of Alceste, whose great tragic accents are in arias with minor keys, Antigona's role is largely in the major - with one exception: the passionate lament of the Siciliano in E minor Da tanti affanni oppressa (“Oppressed by such Schwerem Kummer ”, No. 22) deepens the drawing of Antigona's straightforward character through his internalized pathetic and through the choice of tone gender and arouses the listener's sympathy for her fate, thus also preparing the dramatically unexpected but logical solution of the confused with an extraordinary skill Plot in the final scene. In between, Handel gives the part the musical profile that is so characteristic of the figure of Antigona through arias of strong sensual-melodic charm in picturesque sound images, such as in Se'n vola lo sparvier with the description of the sparrow falling on his prey as an effective conclusion to the first act , the aria brillante E per monti (No. 20) with its defiant melodic phrases that follow the images pre-formed in the text very precisely , or the no less picturesque parable La sorte mia vacilla (No. 27), in which Antigona shares her deceptive happiness a star that soon shines brightly in the sky, then darkens again, expressed with trilling eloquence through virtuoso passages, in characteristic decorative musical twists. In Handel, the choice of keys and the structure of the arias are always based on a well-balanced, harmonious blueprint; the key distribution of the arias by Alceste and Antigona sometimes shows similarities, but often also strong contrasts that adapt very precisely to the tensions of the content of the conflict.

The other two male roles - Admeto's scheming brother Trasimede and the legendary hero and demigod Ercole (Hercules or Heracles) - fulfill their dramaturgical function with the same finely drawn musical characteristics in solo scenes full of grateful singing tasks. Trasimede, whose character development, fluctuating between deep love for Antigona and hateful jealousy of Admeto, culminates in an insidious assassination attempt on his brother, has the opportunity to profile himself and his wide-ranging emotional sphere in four beautifully orchestrated and melodically concise arias. Beneath it stands the hunting aria Se l'arco avessi ei strali (“Trüg 'Bogen Sie und Areile”, No. 12), with horns as well as oboes and strings in virtuoso playing in a two-choir concertante style compares Diana , the goddess of the hunt, which has come into shape, if only because of her unusual size and her prominent timbres. Da te più tosto partir vogl'io ("Then I would rather give way from you madly ", No. 19) is a tender declaration of love, in the Trasimede straightforward and directly musically adequately expressed through the immediate use of the singing voice (without preceding ritornello) Seeking way to Antigona's heart. While Trasimede in these two major key arias in his unhappy affection for Antigona can at least count on the sympathy of the audience, the change to a completely negative development occurs with Chi è nato alle sventure ("Wer zum Unglück Born", No. 26 ) and the brutal vengeance aria Armati, oh core (“Arm yourself, heart”, No. 36) in chants with minor keys, in which Handel retains his characteristic key symbolism.

The dramaturgically important figure of Ercole is by no means the deus-ex-machina figure, which it could appear to be on a superficial examination of its function in the play. Even if the role does not show any character development in the sense of the protagonists, Handel painted it with a sure feeling for external dignity, but at the same time with a certain trait for humorous-comedic effects. Ercole is the straightforward, athletic-powerfully hands-on man of action in opera, capable of no ulterior motive, simple, reliable in his friendship and refreshingly natural in appearance, not too receptive to intellectual subtleties and emphatic oaths of love, rather a little simplistic in his feeling , but lovable and the good spirit of the piece, which intervenes wherever injustice looms. In his three solo scenes, his music shows drive and determination. Handel characterizes this attitude with simple tricks by leading the singing voice in unison with the bass and giving the melody of the vocal part an energetic and active gesture with far reaching lines. Ercole made his big appearance in the Hades scene at the beginning of the second act: to the sound of a gloomy two-part overture, the scene opens and shows a deep cave in the underworld, in the Alceste, chained to a rock, tormented by two infernal spirits becomes. Ercole appears and brings in the captured hellhound Cerberus . In a splendid Accompagnato, in which the instruments (strings on the G-string) imitate the angry barking of the monster, Ercole turns to the infernal powers, throws Cerberus into the cave, from which smoke and flames shoot up, and climbs up to the shackled Alceste down, who fearfully calls for him. While a second symphony (No. 16) sounds, the Alkide fights with the furies, chases them away and leads Alceste to the upper world. Here Ercole can prove himself in open action, while the music contributes an essential instrumental effect, which sometimes makes the characterization of the hero much more clear to the listener than is the case in the purely vocal utterances. Handel, who always felt very strongly drawn to the stimulating characters of Greek mythology, brings a piece of ingeniously drawn comedy from ancient drama to life in the figure of Ercole, which gives the audience the opportunity to smile in the otherwise gloomy literature Atmosphere of sickness, death and assassination. The smaller roles of Orindo and Meraspe have little opportunity for action-enhancing activity, but Handel furnished both parts with an aria full of character, which gives them the opportunity for appropriate vocal articulation.

Success & Criticism

Handel's neighbor and his lifelong admirer Mary Pendarves was present on January 25, 1727 with a friend, Mrs. Legh, for the first rehearsal of the Admeto with Faustina, Cuzzoni & Senesino and then wrote to her sister

“Mrs. Legh is transported with joy at […] hearing Mr. Handel's opera […] she is out of her senses. "

"Mrs. Legh went full of joy [...] to hear Handel's opera [...] she is maddened. "

- Mary Pendarves : letter to Ann Granville. London 1727.

Johann Joachim Quantz said that Admeto would have

“[…] Wonderful music. Faustina, Cuzzoni and Senesino, all three virtuosos of the first rank, were the main actors, the others were mediocre (…). The orchestra consisted largely of Germans, a few Italians, and a few English countries. Castrucci , an Italian violinist, was the leader. All together, under Handel's direction, made an extremely good effect. "

- Johann Joachim Quantz : Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. Berlin 1754.

He wrote about Senesino, whom he had heard in Dresden in 1719 :

“Senesino had a penetrating, bright, level and pleasant deep soprano voice, (mezzo soprano) a pure intonation, and a beautiful trillo. In height it seldom exceeded the double-crossed f. His way of singing was masterful and his performance complete. He did not overwhelm the Adagio with arbitrary embellishments: on the other hand, he brought out the essential manners with the greatest delicacy. He sang the Allegro with a great deal of enthusiasm, and he knew how to push the running passages out with his chest, at a fair speed, in a pleasant way. His shape was very beneficial to the theater, and the action natural. The role of a hero dressed him better than that of a lover. "

- Johann Joachim Quantz : Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. Berlin 1754.

About Francesca Cuzzoni:

“The Cuzzoni had a very pleasant and bright soprano voice, pure intonation and a beautiful trillo. Her voice ranged from the crossed c to the three crossed c. Her way of singing was innocent and touching. Their decorations did not seem artificial because of their nice, pleasant, and easy presentation; however, their tenderness captured all the audience. In the Allegro, she didn’t have the greatest skill in the passages; but she sang them very roundly, nicely, and pleasantly. In the action she was a little cold-headed; and her figure was not too beneficial for the theater. "

- Johann Joachim Quantz : Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. Berlin 1754.

Finally about Faustina Bordoni:

“Faustina had a not-too-bright, but penetrating mezzo-soprano voice, the range of which at that time [at the time of the“ Admeto ”] did not extend much from the unprimed b to the double g, but after a while still extended with a few notes in the Has increased depth. Her way of singing was expressive and brilliant (un cantar granito). She had a fluent tongue for pronouncing words in quick succession and yet clearly, a very skilful throat, and a beautiful and very finished trillo, which she could apply with the greatest ease, how and where she wanted. The passages might be set running or jumping, or consist of many rapid notes on one note one after the other, so she knew how to push them out as skilfully as they can always be played on an instrument. It is undisputedly the first to have performed the imaginary passages, consisting of many notes on one tone, in singing, and indeed with the greatest success. She sang the Adagio with much affect and expression; only an overly sad passion, which can only be expressed by grinding notes or a constant carrying of the voice, did not have to rule in it. She had a good memory for the arbitrary changes, and a keen power of judgment to give due emphasis to the words which she recited with the greatest clarity. She was particularly strong in the action; and because she was able to imagine (...) to a high degree, and could accept whatever kind of mines she wanted, they dressed the serious, as amorous and tender roles equally well: In a word, she is born for singing and for action. "

- Johann Joachim Quantz : Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. Berlin 1754.

Charles Burney reports that a man in the gallery cheered the Cuzzoni during a performance of Admeto and shouted the words at the end of an aria:

“Damn here! she has got a nest of nightingales in her belly. "

“Damned woman! She has a whole nest of nightingales in her body! "

- A stable boy : A General History of Music (Burney), London 1789.

Burney also came across a text book from a performance at the Haymarket Theater. In the cast list, Lady Sarah Cowper (the wife of Spencer Cowper and a sister of William Clavering-Cowper, 2nd Earl Cowper ) had written next to Faustina's name:

"She is the devil of a singer."

"She's a singer's devil."

- Sarah Cowper : A General History of Music. (Burney), London 1789.

The Countess of Pembroke, Mary Howe, wrote to Lady Sundon (Charlotte Clayton), Princess Caroline's cloakroom lady, in the spring of 1727 :

“[…] Cuzzoni had been publicly told […] she was to be hissed off the stage on Tuesday; she was in such concern at this, that she had a great mind not to sing, but I […] positively ordered her not to quit the stage, but let them do what they would […] and she owns now that if she had not that order she would have quitted the stage when they cat-called her to such a degree in one song, that she was not heard one note, which provoked the people that liked her so much, that they were not able to get the better of their resentment, but would not suffer the Faustina to speak afterwards. "

"[...] that the Cuzzoni [...] were told publicly that they would be hissed off the stage on Tuesday; she was so worried about it that she had no desire to sing at all, but I [...] gave her the very specific instruction not to leave the stage, whatever may happen there too [...] and she now confesses that if she hadn't had this order, she would have left the stage when the opponents were so cat-music-playing in one of their chants that no one could hear a note, which indignantly those who so loved to hear it, who now won't tolerate it either wanted Faustina to speak after her. "

- Mary Howe : Letter to Lady Sundon, London 1727.

orchestra

Transverse flute , two oboes , bassoon , two horns, strings, basso continuo (violoncello, lute, harpsichord).

Discography

literature

Web links

Commons : Admeto  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernd Baselt: Thematic-systematic directory. Stage works. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Handel Handbook: Volume 1. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 (Unchanged reprint, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-0610-4 ) , P. 285.
  2. a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bernd Baselt: Handel. Admeto. Eterna 827511, Berlin 1982, pp. 3-9.
  3. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Volume 1, St. 3. Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 242
  4. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Volume 1, St. 3. Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 244
  5. ^ Suzana Ograjenšek: The Rival Queens. In: Annette Landgraf and David Vickers: The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-88192-0 , pp. 544 f.
  6. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition: Documents on life and work. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Händel-Handbuch: Volume 4. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1985, ISBN 978-3-7618-0717-0 , p. 151.
  7. a b c Christopher Hogwood: Georg Friedrich Handel. A biography (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655). Translated from the English by Bettina Obrecht. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 155 ff.
  8. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition: Documents on life and work. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Händel-Handbuch: Volume 4. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1985, ISBN 978-3-7618-0717-0 , p. 152.
  9. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition: Documents on life and work. In: Walter Eisen (ed.): Handel manual . Volume 4. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1985, ISBN 978-3-7618-0717-0 , p. 152.
  10. Winton Dean: Handel's Operas, 1726-1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006, Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 , p. 38.
  11. ^ Charles Burney: A General History of Music: from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period. Vol. 4, London 1789, reproduction true to the original: Cambridge University Press 2010, ISBN 978-1-1080-1642-1 , p. 315 f.
  12. Winton Dean: Handel's Operas, 1726-1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006, Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 , p. 45.
  13. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition: Documents on life and work. In: Walter Eisen (Hrsg.): Handel manual: Volume 4. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1985, ISBN 978-3-7618-0717-0 , p. 146.
  14. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Volume 1, St. 3. Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 239 ff.
  15. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Volume 1, St. 3. Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 213
  16. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Volume 1, St. 3. Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 240
  17. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Volume 1, St. 3. Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 240 f.
  18. ^ Charles Burney: A General History of Music: from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period. Vol. 4, London 1789, reproduction true to the original: Cambridge University Press 2010, ISBN 978-1-1080-1642-1 , p. 316.
  19. ^ Charles Burney: A General History of Music: from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period. Vol. 4, London 1789, reproduction true to the original: Cambridge University Press 2010, ISBN 978-1-1080-1642-1 , p. 318.
  20. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition: Documents on life and work. In: Walter Eisen (Hrsg.): Handel manual: Volume 4. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1985, ISBN 978-3-7618-0717-0 , p. 150.
  21. ^ Friedrich Chrysander: GF Handel. Second volume. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1860, p. 158 f.