Artemisia (Hasse)

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Work data
Original title: Artemisia
Title page of the libretto from 1755

Title page of the libretto from 1755

Shape: Opera seria
Original language: Italian
Music: Johann Adolph Hasse
Libretto : Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca
Premiere: February 6, 1754
Place of premiere: Opera house at the Zwinger in Dresden
Place and time of the action: Halicarnassus , 5th century BC Chr.
people
  • Artemisia, Queen of Caria and lover of Dardano ( old )
  • Dardano, Supreme General and secret lover of Artemisia as well as the unrecognized heir of the empire ( soprano - castrato )
  • Sebaste, a great man of the empire, true father of Idaspe ( tenor )
  • Idaspe, considered by Sebaste to be the royal heir, lover of Erenice (soprano castrato)
  • Erenice, a noble princess and confidante of Artemisia, secret lover of Dardano and sister of Oronte (soprano)
  • Oronte, a prince seeking to marry Artemisia (soprano castrato)
  • Nicandro, another great man of the empire, friend of Sebaste and also lover of Erenice (castrato)

Artemisia is a baroque opera in three acts by Johann Adolph Hasse based on a libretto by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca . The Opera seria (Italian: Dramma per musica ) was premiered in Dresden in 1754 .

Background to the plot

The opera's title character is from the 5th century BC. Living Artemisia , daughter of Lygdamis of Halicarnassus and after his death Queen of Caria as guardian of her son Pisindelis. The plot of the opera is about the discovery of the identity of the previously misunderstood Dardanus as the true heir to the throne. As is customary for this type of opera and which was heavily influenced by Pietro Metastasio , whose pupil Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca was, the plot is based on mythological and heroic material about nobles and kings.

The setting is Halicarnassus , a seaside town on the Ionian Sea. The time is the night in which Artemisia arrives again in the port of Halicarnassus, which is assumed to have made peace with the Greeks after the famous sea ​​battle at Salamina .

Migliavacca cites the ancient historians as sources for the operatic material: Herodotus Histories in Book 7, Justin. in the 7th book, Polyainos in the 8th book, Pausanias in the 3rd book, Ptolom. Hephaist, at the Phot. and other.

“Two famous queens of Carien, namely the daughter of Ligdamus and the widow of Mausolus, made the name Artemisia immortal. The first of this name is the heroine of contemporary singing games. History has left us with both her valiant deeds, which she did in the memorable enterprise of King Xerxes against Greece, and her unfortunate affection for Dardanus of Abido. The obscurity with which the historians both of Dardanus of his class and of Artemisia of her origin are thought of, has left freedom enough to build the probable what is forged here on the true what they have told us. Herod. in the 7th B. Justin. in the 7th B. Poly. in the 8th B. Pausan. in the 3rd B. Ptolom. Hephaest. at Phot. and other.

The setting is in Halicarnassus, a sea town on the Ionian Sea. The main action is that Dardanus is finally recognized. The time point is the night in which Artemisia arrives again in the port of Halicarnassus, which is assumed to have made peace with the Greeks after the famous sea battle at Salamina. "

- Synopsis from the libretto of 1754

action

first act

The scene begins with the aria of Nicander (A), one of the greats of the empire and friend of the bustling Sebaste, in which he vows to help in the intrigue against Artemisia: “I know my duty calls me, but my virtue leaves me Not". Afterwards, Artemisia returns to her empire after winning the sea battle at Salamina and forcing peace with the Greeks and is praised by her subjects for her virtue, spiritual gifts and beauty and welcomed in praise. In the cheering, Artemisia announces that she intends to marry the chief general Dardanus (A). This completely frightens the superiors of their empire, as they had already planned to dispute their rule.

One of the opponents is Sebaste (T), one of the so-called three greats of the empire. His (not playing) wife Ismene and he had (as is only revealed in the second act) the natural son of the deceased king for "safekeeping" in order to raise him instead of his own son (= Dardanus). That is why he had initially given his biological son abroad, only to take him back as a foster son afterwards. That is why Sebaste now legitimately believes that Idaspe (S) is the rightful successor to the royal throne and that Dardanus is “only” his own son.

In addition to Sebaste and Idaspe, Princess Erenice (S) and Oronte (MS) are also against the wedding of Artemisias with Dardanus. Through a popular riot, which they intend to instigate, they want to cause Artemisia to marry Oronte and so that he gets the crown. Erenice, on the other hand, wants to marry Idaspe and at the same time keep Dardanus as a lover.

In an anonymous letter, Artemisia is informed that there is still an allegedly rightful heir to the throne, from whom Dardanus, as it were by a conspiracy, wants to take his rights and seize all power. At the same time, Dardanus is asked directly by Sebaste to renounce the royal dignity.

But in order to bring some drama to the already confused plot, Orontes son Idaspes, who is actually supposed to become king, renegades and takes the side of Dardanus, whom he assures of his solidarity. He publicly renounces the throne and at the same time clarifies in an anonymous letter Dardanus about Sebastian's conspiracy.

Since he now fears that Sebaste could take violent steps against Artemisia, Dardanus goes armed into the anteroom of her apartment, where Sebaste and his followers come at the same time. They succeed in directing all suspicions of conspiracy to Dardanus before Artemisia, especially since the poison of the anonymous letter (Dardanus suppress a rightful heir to the throne) has already worked in Artemisia. Dardanus is arrested and goes without explaining the true connections to Artemisia and thereby exposing his foster father.

Second act

Sebaste tells Dardanus, chosen by Artemisia, what has already been described above, i.e. that Idaspe is the rightful heir to the throne and he, Dardanus, the biological son, whom he gave away and only later took back as a stepson. A document from his late wife Ismene will serve as proof of this.

Artemisia, meanwhile, is ready to be reconciled with Dardanus. But when the latter refuses, out of consideration for the “father” and the connections that have been heard shortly before, Artemisia breaks with him and even threatens him with death. Nicander and Idaspe ask for mercy - but to no avail. Erenice, who also loves Dardanus (to the disappointment of Idaspe, who did not miss it), wants to fight for his life and swears enmity to her brother Orontes, who now wants to become king by all means.

Artemisia not only recognizes Erenice as a rival, but even fears that Dardanus wants to rise to the throne with her and sees this as the reason for his silence. She therefore decides to marry Erenice to Idaspe. Again, Dardanus does not reveal himself to Artemisia - but now in order not to deprive Idaspe of his supposed rightful claim to the throne.

This is how Artemisia feels in her suspicion that Dardanus has withheld an heir to the throne and only wants his death. But Erenice does not receive the desired confession of love from Dardanus. On the contrary: Dardanus declares that he too just wants to die.

Third act

The third act begins with Idaspe's visit to Dardanus in prison. Dardanus asks him (since he still believes that Idaspes is the rightful heir to the throne) to love the queen instead of him. Idaspe agrees out of friendship. Erenice offers Dardanus protection to Orontes if he would love her. Dardanus turns down the offer because he alone loves Artemisia.

Oronte and his followers want to take the throne by force and first bring Dardanus out of prison into his power. Sebaste has completed the preparations for the enthronement of Idaspe. Nicander is now supposed to fetch the letter from Ismene (the late Mrs. Sebastes), which is supposed to clearly prove to the public the connections why Idaspe will become the new king.

Sebaste regrets Artemisia for what he had to do to Dardanus, his biological son. Artemisia then declares that she renounces her royal dignity and loves Dardanus.

Then the rumor spreads that Oronte was attacking the castle and had previously killed Dardanus. Artemisia then mourns her lost lover. However, he was able to free himself from prison and now meets Oronte in front of Artemisia.

Oronte declares his willingness to share the kingdom with him if he could get Artemisia in return. But Dardanus succeeds in disarming Oronte. When he now announces that Idaspe is the rightful heir to the throne, Artemisia declares that she wants to give up the throne in order to be happy with him.

But finally it comes to a breakup and the happy ending is near. Nicander reads Ismene's will, which reveals that Ismene, out of motherly love, disobeyed her husband's command and did not exchange the children. Thus, not one's own son was given away, but the king's son. It is therefore clear that Dardanus is the actual heir to the throne and that nothing stands in the way of Dardanus' and Artemisia's happiness. Both are also of royal blood and equal to each other. Idaspe, on the other hand, is the real son of Ismenes and Sebastes.

history

The opera was premiered in Dresden's opera house at the Zwinger during the carnival season in 1754 - on February 6, 1754. It followed the Solimano carnival opera in 1754 , which had an outstanding success and overshadowed everything that had come before. Probably because Solimano was such a huge success, Artemisia drowned in its shadow. Moritz Fürstenau, who reports eloquently and in detail about the individual carnival operas in his 1862 History of Music and Theater in Dresden not much.

Based on the libretto and the presentation at Fürstenau, we learn that the stage design for the world premiere was created by Carl Ambrogio Zucchi. Furthermore, we learn the original line-up:

In addition, we only learn as a special feature that with the first performance of Artemisia 1754 Pasquale Bruscolini made his debut in Dresden, although he was already in the service of the Saxon court from March 6, 1753 with 1,500 thalers. He is described as “a good alto” who “had previously been to Berlin with Salimbeni”.

The highlight of this opera is the aria of Artemisia in the 3rd act (9th performance) as a "splendid scene ... which stood out through the original use of the bassoon" and which "was very popular".

Another performance in an adapted form took place in Berlin in January 1778. Elisabeth Mara sang the main role of Artemisia . For this purpose - at the express request of King Frederick the Great - the roles of Artemisia and Nicander had to be recomposed by Hofkapellmeister Johann Friedrich Reichardt , which in some Reichardt biographies led to the erroneous assumption that the entire composition was by him.

A modern re-performance of the original version took place on the occasion of the Dresden Music Festival 1994 under the musical direction of Frieder Bernius with the Capella Sagittariana Dresden and the soloists:

This was last broadcast in full length on April 10, 1999 on MDR Kulturradio Figaro. In addition, there was a massively abridged summary with extensive editorial support by Christiane Lehnigk at Deutschlandradio Kultur.

literature

  • First edition of the libretto 1755 Giannambrogio Migliavacca: Artemisia: a singing game, which on the Königl. Pohln. and Churfürstl. Saxon. Hof-Theater in Dresden, during Carnival's time, was performed in 1755. Dreßden: Stößelin and Krausen, 1755. Bilingual: 80 pages in Italian, 80 pages in German.
  • Artemisia. Orchestra score without secco recitative based on the copy from the University of Michigan , without year, (incomplete)
  • Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the electors of Saxony and kings of Poland. Friedrich August I (August II) and Friedrich August II (August III) . Kuntze, Dresden 1862, p. 280, 282 ( PDF; 12.1 MB in Google book search).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herodotus Histories, 7, 99 (English / Ancient Greek)
  2. ↑ Polyainus: stratagems. Book 8, Chapter 53 (English)
  3. ↑ Latin also in: Polyaenus: Polyaeni Strategematon libri VIII. Ex rec. Eduardi Woelfflin iterum rec. Ioannes Melber. Addenda adiecit Klaus Reinhard. Teubner, Stuttgart 1887. ( Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubnerian ). Reprint: 1970.
  4. ^ A b c Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the electors of Saxony and kings of Poland. Friedrich August I (August II) and Friedrich August II (August III) . Kuntze, Dresden 1862, p. 280 ( PDF; 12.1 MB in Google Book Search [accessed August 5, 2011]).
  5. ^ Moritz Fürstenau: On the history of music and theater at the court of the electors of Saxony and kings of Poland. Friedrich August I (August II) and Friedrich August II (August III) . Kuntze, Dresden 1862, p. 282 ( PDF; 12.1 MB in Google Book Search [accessed August 5, 2011]).
  6. ↑ Louis Schneider: History of the Opera and the Royal Opera House in Berlin. Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 1852. pp. 192-193