Ciro in Babilonia
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| Title: | Cyrus in Babylon |
| Original title: | Ciro in Babilonia |
Title page of the libretto, Ferrara 1812 |
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| Shape: | Opera in two acts |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Gioachino Rossini |
| Libretto : | Francesco Aventi |
| Premiere: | the 14th of March? 1812 |
| Place of premiere: | Ferrara, Teatro Comunale |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Babylon and Surroundings, 539 BC Chr. |
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Ciro in Babilonia, ossia La caduta di Baldassarre is an opera in two acts (original name: "dramma con cori") by Gioachino Rossini ( music ) with a libretto by Francesco Aventi . The first performance most likely took place on March 14, 1812 at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara.
action
The plot relates to the story of Belshazzar's feast , predominantly based on the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is set at the time of the Babylonian exile of the Jews. Belshazzar (called Baldassare here ) captured the Persian king Ciro ( Cyrus II ), his wife Amira and his son Cambyse ( Cambyses II ). He falls in love with Amira, but remains loyal to Ciro. When Baldassare desecrates the vessels stolen from the Jewish temple at a feast, cryptic symbols appear on the wall, which the prophet Daniello (Daniel) interprets as an indication of the imminent downfall of Baldassare. Shortly afterwards, Babylon is conquered by Persian and Median troops. Ciro takes over the rule of the empire.
“When Besazer, the son of Evilmerodac and grandson of Nebucadnezzar, ruled Babylon, what the pious seers had long since proclaimed was fulfilled. Babylon was destroyed, the kingdom of the Assyrians dissolved. The people of God had to endure much of them. His temple was destroyed, the sanctuary desecrated, and nothing was omitted to mock the God of Israel.
Belshazzar once indulged a night and had the holy crockery brought to his profane meal. a hand appeared, sent from heaven; wrote a few words in flame on the wall of the hall, which indicated the king's imminent death, as well as his family and his empire's downfall.
And it happened. For Cyrus, the Persian king, after having besieged Babylon for two years with a mighty army in vain, led the Eufrat, who flowed through the city, and with the help of Darius, his uncle, the king of the Medes, penetrated the bed of the River in the city center. The king, his soldiers, his inhabitants were attacked in the deepest sleep, they themselves were handed over to the sword, the buildings to the flame. The victors seized the whole empire and divided it among themselves.
This is the subject of today's drama, drawn from the holy books.
To adapt it for the opera, one had to assume that Belsazer conquered the camp of Cyrus in a fortunate fall, many great Persians, and among these even the wife of Cyrus, who is called Amira because of her cheerfulness, as also Belsazer in Balthasar has been transformed - with her son Cambyses made prisoners. The episode with Arbaces was also essential to the musical drama.
The Greek writers agree perfectly with the holy historians and the prophets' prophecies in the narrative of the capture of Babylon. They only differ from one another in terms of their names and incidental circumstances.
One can excuse the opera poet if he allowed himself the liberty to bring the singing here. "
first act
Baldassare's Royal Palace
Scene 1. Prince Zambri and the nobles of Babylon celebrate King Baldassare's victory over the Persians. Their king Ciro ( Cyrus II ) escaped, but his wife Amira and his son Cambyse ( Kambyses II ) were taken prisoner.
Scene 2. Baldassare offers Amira the marriage. She refuses resolutely and would rather die than be unfaithful to Ciro. Baldassare threatens to marry her against her will if necessary and orders his servants to prepare the wedding for the following day. He goes. Amira finds little consolation in her confidante Argene. She asks them to bring her son to her room and leaves too. Argene hopes for the support of the Babylonian general Arbace, who, like herself, comes from Tauristan.
Scene 3. Arbace appears. He is surprised to see his lover Argene here again and promises her his help.
Outside the city walls of Babylon. On one side the city gate with a drawbridge. Hills in the area. On the level there is a field camp with an outpost.
Scene 4 The Persian soldiers mourn their King Ciro. Ciro calls for revenge. He wants to attack the city at dawn.
Scene 5. Arbace has snuck out of the city and into the Persian camp. He offers Ciro his help, but asks for patience. Then he will reach his goal all the more surely.
Royal Palace
Scene 6. Baldassare is confident that Amira will ultimately bow to his will.
Scene 7. Zambri announces the arrival of a Persian envoy. Baldassare would be willing to release Ciro's son if the Persians leave.
Scene 8. In a self-talk, Arbace reveals that he let Ciro into the palace himself in the ambassador's clothes. He hopes to free the prisoners, including his mistress Argene.
Large audience hall with a throne. Baldassare surrounded by his guards
Scene 9. Zambri introduces the supposed emissary. Ciro offers to withdraw his army if Persia releases the prisoners. Baldassare refuses. He was only ready to release the prisoners and the son Ciros. However, he will not hand Amira over to him. After a brief, heated argument, Ciro appears to accept Baldassare's suggestion to persuade Amira to stay.
Scene 10. Amira joins them. She is confused that Ciro is posing as an ambassador and does not want to speak of his love for her. The choir tries in vain to calm her down. She leaves the hall disappointed.
Scene 11. Baldassare allows Ciro to talk to Amira alone to convince her. He has her and her son Cambyse fetched and leaves with Zambri.
Scene 12. A guard leads Cambyse in. Amira happily greets her son. However, Ciro knows that they are being overheard by Baldassare and remains aloof. He advises her to give in to Baldassare's insistence, otherwise he would have her and her son killed. Still, Amira remains steadfast. She proclaims that she will remain loyal to him and that he will be her husband, her Ciro, even in death.
Scene 13. Amira has betrayed Ciro's disguise. Baldassare angrily emerges from hiding with Zambri and his guards and has him arrested. Only Amira can save him when she finally gives in. At the end of the first act, the choir calls on heaven for an end to the horrors.
Second act
Royal Palace
Scene 1. The choir asks for consolation for Amira and Ciro. Argene and Arbace want to use an underground passage to bring Amira to Ciro's cell.
Underground prison
Scene 2. The shackled Ciro laments his fate and vows to the God of Israel that after his victory he will also free the Jews from their captivity. He longs for his wife.
Scene 3. Arbace leads Amira into the cell. She and Ciro embrace joyfully and swear eternal love.
Scene 4. Baldassare arrives in prison with some soldiers. When he meets the couple together, he is torn between anger and his feelings for Amira. Finally, the anger wins and he lets the two of them lead away separately.
Royal Palace
Scene 5. Zambri calls Argene to the king's feast, which Amira is also supposed to attend.
Night. A large illuminated and splendidly decorated hall
Scene 6. Baldassare, Zambri, Amira, Argene, Argene and other nobles celebrate a banquet in honor of the deity Belus . Baldassare orders the goblets stolen from the Jewish temple to be filled with wine to drink from. At that moment, society is startled by thunder and lightning. A hand appears on the wall writing the words “ Mane, Thecel, Phares ” in flaming letters . Baldassare calls for the magicians and sages to unravel the writing.
Scene 7. The Jewish prophet Daniello appears and proclaims the decision of heaven: Baldassare and his ancestors have shown themselves to be ungrateful to the God of Abraham, oppressed the believers and desecrated their temple. The fire words herald just retribution. The Persians and Medes will divide his empire among themselves. Babylon will be destroyed. He and his will perish "like the chaff before the wind", Baldassare himself will find death. Baldassare shudders. The chorus of wise men contradicts Daniello. The truth is that scriptures proclaim victory and joy. Heaven only longs for the blood of Ciro and his wife. Ciro orders Ciros and his son to be killed - but Amira he wants to spare. Society dissolves.
Scene 8. Only Daniello is left. He foresees Baldassare's downfall. The now condemned to death will be ruler of the empire tomorrow.
Scene 9. Arbace comes to Amira and Argene with the guard. He has to take her to prison, but at the same time gives her hope that fate will change. Argene promises her loyalty until death. Amira asks her to stay alive to help Ciro and her son. She prays to God for the rescue of both of them.
palace
Scene 10. Zambri takes the divine warning seriously and worries about the future.
Scene 11. Argene arrives and asks Zambri to take her to the king to beg for mercy for Ciro and Amira. She warns him of the wrath of the gods if he does not show compassion ("monotonous aria"). Zambri rejects them.
Great place in Babylon. On the right the Baldassares palace, on the left a triumphal arch that connects to the larger city gate
Scene 12. Arbace and some soldiers lead Amira, Ciro and Cambyse in chains to the place of execution. Argene, Baldassare and Zambri follow with the bodyguard. The choir complains about the cruel victim. Ciro says goodbye to his family. He is certain that he will be reunited with them in the Elysium. You will continue. Baldassare, Zambri and the bodyguard go to the palace.
palace
Scene 13. The noise of fighting can be heard from outside. Soldiers flee across the scene. Zambri appears and desperately begs the gods for help because the city has been invaded. He draws the sword to take part in the fight.
Scene 14. Arbace tells Zambri to surrender. Before the execution could be carried out, the Persians appeared to free Ciro. That then led them to victory. Now the Baldassares royal family is about to be executed.
Scene 15. Argene and Amira thank the gods for their happy rescue. Arbace brings the news that Ciro now wants to celebrate his victory with them. His uncle Darius has already left the city to turn his armed force against the Babylonian provinces.
Great place in Babylon
Last scene. The victorious warriors march through the triumphal arch. The leaders and the Persian bodyguard accompany the chariot Ciros and Amiras. Zambri and other Babylonians follow in chains. The Assyrian choir bows to the victor and begs for mercy. Ciro is sure that so much power couldn't come from himself. Amira is relieved to have found peace and happiness again. Zambri also praises the victor, since heaven is now reconciled.
layout
In the aria of the 11th scene of the second act ("Chi disprezza gli infelici") - a so-called "aria del sorbetto" of the seconda donna, where the audience usually took refreshments - Rossini allowed himself to joke with the singer of the Argene , Anna Savinelli: “Not only was she ugly about permission, her voice was also beneath any dignity. After careful examination, I found that it had a single note, the Bb of the dashed octave, which did not sound bad. So I wrote her an aria in which she had no other note than this, put everything in the orchestra, and since the piece was liked and applauded, my monotonous singer was overjoyed with her triumph. ”There is a later aria of this aria Version enriched with additional notes, which was also heard when the opera was re-performed in Savona in 1988.
The work does not yet show the maturity of Rossini's later works. Apart from the piece by piece Demetrio e Polibio , he had no experience of the serious genre. In the role of the tyrant Baldassare, for example, the singing voice is unnecessarily strained to depict the frenzy without maintaining tension or leaving the desired impression on the listener. Rossini, on the other hand, got better at the choir passages. The Rossini biographer Richard Osborne also considered the aforementioned farewell scene and the banquet scene - with Rossini's first storm music - to be successful. The latter, however, was described by Reto Müller in the text accompanying the CD of the performance from Bad Wildbad as “badly designed” and “completely missed by the composer”.
As an overture, Rossini used that of L'inganno felice . In the farewell scene (No. 12) in the second act, he used material from Demetrio e Polibio.
In 1815 Rossini used music from Ciro in Babilonia for the orchestral introduction to the prison scene in the second act of the opera Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra . Amaltea's aria “La pace mia smarrita” in Mosè in Egitto (1818) also originated here.
Work history
The young Rossini was commissioned by the theater in Ferrara with the support of the singer Maria Marcolini, who had already sung the leading role in L'equivoco stravagante . At the local Teatro Comunale he had already accompanied Ferdinando Orlandi's opera Il podestà di Chioggia on the harpsichord and also wrote an alternative aria . The director of the theater, Count Francesco Aventi , personally wrote the libretto for Ciro in Babilonia after the originally intended libretto had been discarded. It only took Rossini two months to compose. Since the performance was to take place during Lent, during which opera performances were forbidden at the time, the work was given a biblical theme and was passed off as an oratorio or "dramma con cori".
At the premiere on March 14, 1812 in the Teatro Comunale, the tenor Eliodoro Bianchi (Baldassare), the contralto Maria (Marietta) Marcolini ( trouser role of Ciro), the soprano Elisabetta Manfredini (Amira), the mezzo-soprano Anna Savinelli (Argene), the tenor Francesco Savinelli (Arbace) and the basses Giovanni Layner (Zambri) and Giovanni Fraschi (Daniello).
The performance was well received by the public, according to a report dated March 17, 1812 in the Giornale del Dipartimento del Reno . Yet Rossini himself referred to the performance decades later as “Fiasco”. He told his friend Ferdinand Hiller about a picnic in Bologna, at which he “appeared with a ship of marzipan whose pennant was named 'Ciro'; the mast-boom was broken, the sail riddled with holes, and it lay on its side, floating in a sea of sweet cream. The funny company laughed and consumed my failed vehicle. ”The discrepancy may be due to a mix-up with a revised version of Tancredi , which was written shortly afterwards and which was also performed in Ferrara on March 21, 1813 and was not very successful there. The ship metaphor also fits Tancredi better than Ciro.
Over the next fifteen years or so the opera was performed more than 30 times in Italy. Outside Italy only performances in Munich (1816), Vienna (1817), Weimar (1822) and Dresden (1822), as well as in Lisbon and London are known.
Recordings
- October 30, 1988 (live from Savona): Carlo Rizzi (conductor), Orchestra Sinfonica di San Remo, Coro F. Cilea di Reggio Calabria. Ernesto Palacio (Baldassare), Caterina Calvi (Ciro), Daniela Dessì (Amira), Oriana Ferraris (Argene), Stefano Antonucci (Zambri), Enrico Cossutta (Arbace), Danilo Serraiocco (Daniello). Hunt akademia CD: CDAK 105.
- July 2004 (live from the Rossini Festival in Wildbad , critical edition by Urs Schaffer, shortened recitatives): Antonino Fogliani (conductor), Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen , Ars Brunensis Chamber Choir. Riccardo Botta (Baldassare), Anna-Rita Gemmabella (Ciro), Luisa Islam-Ali-Zade (Amira), Maria Soulis (Argene), Wojciech Adalbert Gierlach (Zambri), Giorgio Trucco (Arbace), Giovanni Bellavia (Daniello). Naxos 8.660203-04.
- January 12, 2008 (live from the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris): Jean-Claude Malgoire (conductor), La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy, Chœur de Chambre de Namur. Cyril Auvity (Baldassare), Nora Gubisch (Ciro), Elena de la Merced (Amira), Sophie Daneman (Argene), Till Fechner (Zambri), Daniel Auchincloss (Arbace), Pierre-Yves Pruvot (Daniello). premiereopera.net.
- August 2012 (video, live from the Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro ): Will Crutchfield (conductor), Davide Livermore (staging), orchestra and choir of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna . Michael Spyres (Baldassare), Ewa Podleś (Ciro), Jessica Pratt (Amira), Carmen Romeu (Argene), Mirco Palazzi (Zambri), Robert McPherson (Arbace), Raffaele Costantini (Daniello). Opus Arte, OA1108D, Blu-ray: OABD7123D.
Web links
- Libretto (Italian), Ferrara 1812. Digitized in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Libretto (Italian / German), Munich 1816 Digitized at Google Books .
- Libretto (Italian) as full text on rossinigesellschaft.de.
- Table of contents on musirony.de.tl.
- Manuscripts and performances (1770–1830) by Ciro in Babilonia in the DFG opera project
- Work data on Ciro in Babilonia ossia La caduta di Baldassarre based on the MGG with discography in Operone
- Discography on Ciro in Babilonia at Operadis
Individual evidence
- ^ Rossini, quoted from Hiller: Chats with Rossini. Volume 2, Leipzig 1868. In: Keitel, p. 60.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Reto Müller : Text accompanying the CD Naxos 8.660203-04
- ↑ a b c d Richard Osborne: Rossini - life and work. Translated from the English by Grete Wehmeyer. List Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-471-78305-9
- ^ A b Herbert Weinstock : Rossini - A biography. Translated by Kurt Michaelis. Kunzelmann, Adliswil 1981 (1968), ISBN 3-85662-009-0
- ^ Wilhelm Keitel , Dominik Neuner : Gioachino Rossini. Albrecht Knaus, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-8135-0364-X
- ^ Ciro in Babilonia, ossia La caduta di Baldassarre (Gioachino Rossini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on September 20, 2015.
- ^ Rossini, quoted from Hiller: Chats with Rossini. Volume 2, Leipzig 1868. In: Keitel, p. 46.
- ↑ a b Gioacchino Rossini. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.
- ^ Admission by Jean-Claude Malgoire (2008) in the discography of Ciro in Babilonia at Operadis.
- ↑ Gioacchino Rossini: Ciro in Babilonia on concertonet.com , accessed on September 25, 2015.
Demetrio e Polibio (before 1810) | La cambiale di matrimonio (1810) | L'equivoco stravagante (1811) | L'inganno felice (1812) | Ciro in Babilonia (1812) | La scala di seta (1812) | La pietra del paragone (1812) | L'occasione fa il ladro (1812) | Il signor Bruschino (1813) | Tancredi (1813) | L'italiana in Algeri (1813) | Aureliano in Palmira (1813) | Il turco in Italia (1814) | Sigismondo (1814) | Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra (1815) | Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815) | Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) | La gazzetta (1816) | Otello (1816) | La Cenerentola (1817) | La gazza ladra (1817) | Armida (1817) | Adelaide di Borgogna (1817) | Mosè in Egitto (1818) | Adina (1826) | Ricciardo e Zoraide (1818) | Ermione (1819) | Eduardo e Cristina (1819) | La donna del lago (1819) | Bianca e Falliero (1819) | Maometto II (1820) | Matilde di Shabran (1821) | Zelmira (1822) | Semiramide (1823) | Ugo re d'Italia (1824) | Il viaggio a Reims (1825) | Le siège de Corinthe (1826) | Ivanhoé (Pasticcio, 1826) | Moïse et Pharaon (1827) | Le comte Ory (1828) | Guillaume Tell (1829) | Robert Bruce (Pasticcio, 1846)