Arminio (Salvi)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Arminio |
Title page of the libretto, Florence 1703 |
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| Shape: | Opera seria in three acts |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | First setting by Alessandro Scarlatti |
| Libretto : | Antonio Salvi |
| Literary source: | Jean-Galbert de Campistron : Arminius |
| Premiere: | September 27, 1703 |
| Place of premiere: | Villa Pratolino , Florence |
| Place and time of the action: | Rural area on the Rhine and in Segestes Castle, around 9 AD |
| people | |
Arminio is a libretto for an opera seria in three acts by Antonio Salvi, which has been set to music many times . The content is based on the life of Arminius , the prince of the Cherusci , who inflicted one of their most devastating defeats on the Romans in the Varus Battle of 9 AD with the annihilation of three legions. The first setting was made in 1703 by Alessandro Scarlatti . The best-known version is Georg Friedrich Handel's Arminio .
content
The action takes place in Germania on the right bank of the Rhine, around the year 9 AD.
first act
Arminio, leader of the Cherusci, used to serve the Romans himself. (These had conquered the areas up to the Elbe in 12 BC and subjugated the Cheruscans, Brukterians, Sugambrians and other peoples.) Now he had revolted against foreign rule, but was betrayed and taken prisoner. Together with his wife Tusnelda, however, Arminio managed to escape from captivity. The freedom did not last long, however, because his father-in-law Segeste, who was jealous of him, defected to the Romans. Hoping for a great reward and recognition, Segeste has Arminio and Tusnelda arrested and handed them over to Varo, the general of the Romans.
Second act
Varo is delighted to have Arminio, whom he only calls "traitor", back in his hands. In addition, he has fallen in love with Tusnelda and now that he knows her husband is in captivity, he has hopes. Segeste incites him to sentence Arminio to death for treason, in order to pull him completely out of circulation. Neither the intercession of Sigismondo (who would like to marry Arminio's sister Ramise) nor the pleading of Tusnelda can do anything against this decision. Arminio is ready to die and says goodbye to his wife Tusnelda. On the day of the execution, Varo lets mercy rule at the last moment (the executioner already had the ax over his head and was about to drop it on Arminio's neck) because he fears Tusnelda would reproach him forever and not love her, but hate her.
However, Arminio is captured again. There Sigismondo is supposed to kill him at his father Segeste's orders. Sigismondo, however, frees Arminio and flees with him and Tusnelda.
Arminio rushes back to his compatriots to take over the leadership of the uprising again.
Third act
It comes to the battle of the Cherusci against the Romans. The Romans and Varo are crushed. Arminio arrests his father-in-law Segeste. (He had previously wanted to have his daughter Tusnelda and his son Sigismondo killed.) He also frees Tusnelda and Sigismondo from captivity. Sigismondo is allowed to marry Ramise. Finally, Arminio, in his generosity, forgives his father-in-law and releases Segeste from captivity. All are satisfied and are united in the field against the Romans who are advancing to take revenge.
Work history
The libretto is based on the French tragedy Arminius by Jean-Galbert de Campistron from 1684. The historical basis can be found in the Annals of Tacitus in chapters I.54 to II.21.
Settings
The following settings of the libretto are mentioned in specialist literature:
| year | composer | premiere | Performance location | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1703 | Alessandro Scarlatti | September 27, 1703, Villa Pratolino | Florence | also on November 19, 1714 in the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples (modified text with the additional comic characters Dalisa and Breno, whose music does not seem to come from Scarlatti); also Carnival 1716 in the Teatro del Cocomero in Florence (possibly as pasticcio); revised in February 1722 in the Teatro Capranica in Rome |
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| 1705 | Antonio Caldara | Carnival 1705, Teatro Sant'Agostino | Genoa | the libretto was expanded to include a few scenes and the character of Dalisa. Tusnelda and Ramise were renamed Rosmonda and Climene. |
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| 1714 |
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4th February 1714, Queen's Theater on Haymarket | London | wrongly assigned to Salvi in Corago; most of the recitatives come from Francesco Silvani's La pace generosa from 1700; the arias were largely exchanged |
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| 1722 | Carlo Francesco Pollarolo | November 20, 1722, Teatro Sant'Angelo | Venice | very little music has survived; the character of Tullio is missing |
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| 1725 | Anonymous, probably pasticcio | Summer 1725, Teatro della Pergola | Florence |
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| 1728 | Anonymous, probably pasticcio | January 25, 1728, Teatro de 'Nobili detto del Pavone | Perugia | ||
| 1730 |
Johann Adolph Hasse → Arminio (Hasse, 1730) |
28 August 1730, Teatro Regio Ducale | Milan | the character of Tullio is missing. In 1745 Hasse composed an opera of the same name based on a libretto by Giovanni Claudio Pasquini , which he revised in 1753. → Arminio (Hasse, 1745/1753) |
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| 1732 | Francesco Rinaldi | 1732, Privileged Theater | Vienna | the characters Sigismondo and Tullio are missing | |
| 1733 | Gaetano Maria Schiassi | Autumn 1733, Teatro Gusco Solerio | Alessandria | without the character of Tullio; Structure and several aria texts are based on the 1730 version set to music by Hasse |
|
| 1737 |
George Frideric Handel → Arminio (Handel) |
January 12, 1737, Covent Garden | London | Recitatives greatly shortened |
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| 1739 | Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio | 1739, Teatro Regio Ducale | Milan | as La Germania trionfante in Arminio ; Music not received; without the character of Tullio, dramatic structure as in the 1730 version set to music by Hasse |
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| 1740 | Anonymous, probably pasticcio | 1740, Privileged Theater | Vienna | without the characters Sigismondo and Tullio; Compared to the Viennese version of 1732, more than half of the arias have been exchanged, while the recitatives have largely been retained | |
| 1745 | Carl Heinrich Graun | August mass 1745 | Braunschweig | possibly pasticcio; some arias come from Graun's Lucio Papirio; the libretto is based on Handel's heavily abridged version from 1737; the names of the characters were Germanized |
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| 1746 | Paolo Scalabrini | January 12, 1746, Opera am Gänsemarkt | Hamburg | as L'Arminio principe de Cauci e de Cherusci; probably sharing a pasticcio; without the character of Tullio; the recitatives are largely taken from the original version; some aria texts are taken from works by Metastasio and Apostolo Zeno |
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| 1747 | Baldassare Galuppi | 4th November 1747, Teatro San Cassiano | Venice | Also in the carnival of 1754 in the Theater am Tummelplatz in Graz; without the character of Tullio, dramatic structure as in the 1730 version set to music by Hasse; only ten arias have survived |
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| 1749 |
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January 7th 1749, Teatro Argentina | Rome | this opera is not based on Salvi's libretto, despite its widespread mention in the specialist literature |
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| 1749 | Anonymous, probably pasticcio | 1749 | Florence | some sources name Galuppi as a composer, but none of the arias match his setting from 1747; without the character of Tullio, dramatic structure as in the 1730 version set to music by Hasse; some aria texts come from the works of Metastasio |
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| 1754 | Anonymous, probably pasticcio | 1754 | Graz | without the character of Tullio, dramatic structure partly as in the 1730 version set to music by Hasse; some arias come from the works of Metastasio |
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| 1760 | Anonymous, pasticcio | March 1, 1760, King's Theater on Haymarket | London | some arias are by Davide Perez |
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literature
- Roger Christian Skarsten: Singing Arminius, Imagining a German Nation. Dissertation from the University of Minnesota. May 2012 ( online ).
- Rudolf Hüls: The Arminio of Antonio Salvi: a baroque bestseller on the market for opera libretti. In: Lippe messages from history and regional studies . Volume 77/2008, pp. 37-71.
Web links
Digital copies
- ↑ Alessandro Scarlatti: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Florence 1703. Digitized at Google Books .
- ↑ Alessandro Scarlatti: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Rome 1722. Digitized version of the Munich digitization center .
- ^ Antonio Caldara: L'Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Genoa 1805. Digitized in the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna.
- ↑ Anonymous: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), London 1714. Digitized by ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online, accessible via German national license).
- ^ Carlo Francesco Pollarolo: L'Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Venice 1722. Digitized version of the Munich digitization center .
- ↑ Anonymous: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Florence 1725. Digitized from the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.
- ^ Johann Adolph Hasse: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Milan 1730. Digitized from the Library of Congress .
- ↑ Gaetano Maria Schiassi: Arminio. Libretto excerpt (Italian), Alessandria 1733. Digitized from Harvard University Library .
- ^ Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio: La Germania trionfante in Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Milan 1739. Digitized in the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna.
- ↑ Paolo Scalabrini: L'Arminio principe de Cauci e de Cherusci. Libretto (Italian / German), Hamburg 1746. Digitalisat the Berlin State Library .
- ^ Baldassare Galuppi: L'Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Venice 1747. Digitized in the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna.
- ^ Gioacchino Cocchi: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), Rome 1749. Digitized in the Internet Archive .
- ↑ Anonymous: Arminio. Libretto (Italian), London 1760. Digitized from the British Library .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard Strohm : Dramma per Musica. Italian Opera Seria of the Eighteenth Century. Yale University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-300-06454-3 , p. 167.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Roger Christian Skarsten: Singing Arminius, Imagining a German Nation. Dissertation from the University of Minnesota. May 2012 ( online ).
- ↑ Anthony Hicks: Arminio. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ^ Arminio (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ L'Arminio (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (anonymous, pasticcio) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ L'Arminio (Carlo Francesco Pollarolo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (anonymous) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (anonymous) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (Johann Adolph Hasse) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (anonymous) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (Gaetano Maria Schiassi) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (Georg Friedrich Händel) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ La Germania trionfante in Arminio (Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (anonymous) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (Paolo Scalabrini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ L'Arminio (Baldassare Galuppi) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (Gioacchino Cocchi) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
- ^ Arminio (anonymous) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .