Arsinoe (opera)
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| Title: | Arsinoe |
| Original title: | La grandezza d'animo or Arsinoe |
Title page of the libretto from 1710 |
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| Shape: | Opera in five acts |
| Original language: | German , Italian |
| Music: | Reinhard Keizer |
| Libretto : | Breymann |
| Literary source: | Italian template |
| Premiere: | 1710 |
| Place of premiere: | Hamburg |
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La grandezza d'animo, Or: Arsinoe is a baroque - Opera (original title: "Sing-game") in five acts by Reinhard Keizer . The libretto written Breymann by an Italian master. The work was first performed in 1710 in the opera on the Gänsemarkt in Hamburg .
The opera is mainly written in German, but also contains some arias in Italian. In the preface to the libretto, several dance scenes are discussed in detail. The most famous piece of the opera is the performance aria of Arsinoë Kleine Vöglein, your jokes for soprano and 4 treble recorders , which was also released separately on CD.
action
prehistory
Agas, the king of Cyrene, was in dispute with his brother, the Egyptian king Ptolomaeus Philadelphus . Agas married Arsinoë, the daughter of the Syrian king Antiochus, and brought this up against Ptolomaeus too. To create peace, his daughter Beronice was finally betrothed to Ptolomaeus Evergetes (called Tolomeo in the opera), son of Ptolomaeus Philadelphus. After Agas' death, Arsinoë did not want to keep this promise, but sent Demetrius, the brother of the king of Macedonia , to marry Beronice.
first act
Arsinoë and her confidante Lesbia are in the royal pleasure garden and listen to the birds singing. Demetrius, who arrived the day before, enters the garden unseen with his servant Ninfo, admires Arsinoë's beauty and falls in love with her.
The old councilor Aceste persuades his son Elmiro to woo Beronice. Although he actually loves Lesbia, he reluctantly agrees in the end, because he likes the prospect of the Cyrenian crown. The conversation between the two was overheard by Demetrius' servant Ninfo. So that Elmiro can make a better impression at court, he takes dance lessons.
Tolomeo and Beronice agree on their love. They want to implore Arsinoe to restore the already broken engagement.
Demetrius comes to an audience with Arsinoe and recognizes her as the one he fell in love with in the garden. Arsinoë also falls in love with him immediately. However, they do not confess their love to each other, since Demetrius is actually supposed to marry Beronice.
Second act
Tolomeo suffers from Arsinoë's delaying tactics and is jealous of Demetrius. He asks Beronice for a clear confession.
A festival for Demetrius takes place in the square in front of the amphitheater. There is dancing. Aceste urges Elmiro to try harder with Beronice. However, he only has eyes for Lesbia. Elmiro should finally talk to Beronice, who seems to be coming. Aceste wants to overhear the conversation. The alleged Beronice, however, is actually Ninfo in disguise, who thinks nothing of Aceste's ambitious plans. Elmiro approaches her, introduces himself as the Crown Prince of Utopia and future King Cyrenes, and asks her to marry. Beronice (Ninfo) pretended to do so, but as proof of Elmiro's leadership qualities, demanded that Elmiro should recruit a troop of soldiers and show them to her. Aceste is happy with the way the conversation went.
Third act
In the garden, Arsinoë sings of her love affair. Beronice tells her that she now agrees to marry Demetrius. Demetrius joins them. Arsinoë sends her daughter away because she wants to talk to him alone first. Arsinoë and Demetrius are each secretly in love with each other, but still do not admit it to each other. The conversation is therefore fruitless and quickly ended.
Beronice wonders where Demetrius is since he has not returned after talking to Arsinoë. She goes to sleep and after a while she is discovered by Aceste, Elmiro and the Moor Alindo. While Aceste and Elmiro set out to recruit the promised soldiers, Alindo is supposed to wait for Beronice to wake up. Lesbia finds Alindo and Beronice. Alindo explains to her that Elmiro is on his way to fetch soldiers and then court Beronice. Lesbia sends him away. She would like to watch over Beronice herself. Lesbia laments Elmiro's infidelity. Asked by the now awakened Beronice whether she still loves Elmiro, she confirms this.
Elmiro and Alindo come with the recruited soldiers. Elmiro begins to drill with the untrained soldiers.
Fourth act
Demetrius waits for the queen in the anteroom and sings about his love for her. Aceste hid there and overheard him. He is now moving away. Beronice joins them and is amazed at Demetrius' indifference to her. Demetrius is extremely uncomfortable with the situation.
In the market place in Cyrene, Aceste tells his son that Demetrius does not love the princess. He intends to tell Arsinoë about this as well, to increase Elmiro's chances at Beronice. Alindo leads the soldiers. They swear their loyalty to Elmiro. Nifno, still disguised as Beronice, joins them. Elmiro gets up to speak to her and accidentally knocks her over. Aceste is horrified and sees Elmiro's chances dwindling.
Arsinoë, the real Beronice and her entourage come to the cheering of the people and sit on the throne. Arsinoë officially breaks Beronice and Tolomeo's engagement and asks Demetrius to come to her. However, she does not manage to introduce him as Beronice's new fiancé because she is in love with him herself. Everyone is confused.
Tolomeo addresses his entourage and the people. Since Arsinoë has broken his engagement to Beronice, he wants to conquer her castle and if necessary take Beronice by force.
Tolomeo arrested Elmiro for recruiting soldiers without permission. Elmiro defends himself by saying that he did it on Beronice's orders. Tolomeo explains to him that he fell for a joke by Ninfos. Elmiro replies that he only advertised Beronice for his father's sake and that he really loves Lesbia. He subordinates his soldiers to Tolomeo. You are now allied.
Fifth act
In the royal baths, Demetrius Arsinoë finally confesses his love. The two withdraw into the castle.
Soldiers arrest Ninfo and storm the castle. Beronice, Tolomeo, Lesbia and Elmiro blame Arsinoë for the confusing conditions. Beronice and Tolomeo want to indict Arsinoe in front of the stands. Elmiro and Lesbia make up again.
Demetrius and Ninfo are chained in prison. Aceste comes with Alindo and a poison cup. He informs Demetrius that he was banned by a resolution of the estates. He was also sentenced to personally hand the poison to the queen.
The judgment is to be carried out in the Temple of Vengeance. It becomes clear that Beronice herself ordered the judgment on her mother. Beronice and Tolomeo sit down under a canopy. Arsinoë, Demetrius are brought in bound. Ninfo carries the poison cup and the verdict. Demetrius gives Arsinoë the verdict, but drinks the cup himself. Tolomeo hears from Demetrius that Aceste had announced the verdict and brought the cup of poison. He has Aceste put in chains. Demetrius asked Beronice for forgiveness. He wants to take the blame on himself and has already taken the poison. Beronice wonders why he would like to die for Arsinoë. Arsinoë is desperate about Demetrius' imminent death and wants to die himself too. She takes Tolomeo the sword, hands it to Beronice and sinks down fainted. Beronice now forgives her mother. The poison was really just a sleeping potion. There is a general reconciliation. Arsinoë now takes Tolomeo as his son-in-law. Demetrius wakes up again. He and Arsinoë admit their love. Elmiro and Lesbo ask Tolomeo and Beronice for mercy for his father Aceste. This is generously granted. Ninfo is expelled from the country.
Performance history
After the world premiere in 1710, the opera was only performed again in 2006 in a production by the Berlin Chamber Opera . The Capella Orlandi Bremen played in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele under the direction of Thomas Ihlenfeldt . Directed by Kay Kuntze . The singers were Eva Terkanen (Arsinoë), Melanie Hirsch (Beronice), Olivia Vermeulen (Lesbia), Raimund Sporgis (Demetrius), Julian Podger (Tolomeo), Jorg Gottschick (Aceste), Matthias Jahrmärkter (Elmiro) and Steffen Wolf (Ninfo) .
Web links
- Libretto from 1710 as a digitized version in the directory of prints published in the German-speaking area of the 18th century .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Data on the CD You pleasant nightingale on Allmusic , accessed on August 5, 2014.
- ↑ Review of the CD You Pleasant Nightingale in MusicWeb international (English), accessed on August 5, 2014.
- ^ Report on the 2006 performance in operabaroque (French), accessed on August 5, 2014.
- ↑ Press comments on the 2006 performance ( memento from August 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the director Kay Kuntze , accessed on August 5, 2014.
- ↑ Event calendar archive of the Berliner Festspiele , accessed on August 5, 2014.