The happy Florindo

Work data
Original title:	The happy Florindo
Shape:	early German baroque opera
Original language:	German Italian
Music:	georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto :	Hinrich Hinsch
Premiere:	January 1708
Place of premiere:	Theater am Gänsemarkt , Hamburg
Place and time of the action:	mythical time and place ( Thessaly , 6th century BC)
people
Phoebus , in love with Daphne Daphne , daughter of the river god Pineus , promised Florindo Florindo, son of the river god Enipheus , promised to Daphne, secretly loved by Alfirena Lycoris, nymph, in love with Florindo Damon, shepherd, in love with Lycoris Galathea , old nymph, Daphne's confidante Alfirena, daughter of the river god Apidinus, secretly in love with Florindo Tyrsis, noble shepherd from Arcadia, Damon's friend Cupid , god of love Vulcanus , god of fire Pineus , Daphne's father, river god Enipheus , Florindo's father, river god Shepherds, shepherdesses, cyclops, tritons, naiads

The happy Florindo ( HWV 3) is Georg Friedrich Händel's third opera. Most of your music is lost.

Creation & libretto

The double opera Florindo and Daphne (in Hamburg the operas were always announced as a Singspiel ) was written in the spring of 1706, still on behalf of Reinhard Keiser . However, the work was not performed at this time. Political turbulence and the change of tenant at the Gänsemarkt-Theater meant that the operas were only included in the program in January 1708 under the direction of Johann Heinrich Sauerbrey, who had taken over the opera business together with the singer Johann Konrad Dreyer and the consul Reinhold Brockelmann . The old management, consisting of Keizer and the dramaturge Drüsicke, had to give up in September 1706. There are contradicting views as to whether the operas The happy Florindo and The Metamorphosed Daphne were originally intended for one evening and then split over two evenings because of excess length, or whether the system provided for two separate sections from the outset, i.e. two operas with three acts each . The preface to the libretto of Florindo (see below) suggests the first case, but there are some doubts about it: The Handel researcher Friedrich Chrysander interpreted the comment in the preface that the music "fell too long" in such a way that Handel worked out too much and wrote arias for too long. However, the libretto shows concentrated, often short arias and ensembles. The 55 musical numbers to be set by Handel in the Florindo are the normal measure of a German opera at this time. The then 100 music numbers together with Daphne would not have been expected of the audience by the young but by no means inexperienced in theater in one evening. It can be assumed that the work was conceived from the outset, or at least after the completion of the libretto, to be given over two evenings. Such a procedure was quite common on the Hamburg stage. In the years 1701 and 1702 alone, three double operas by Reinhard Keizer with subjects about Störtebecker , Odysseus and Orpheus were performed. All of them were full-length, three-act works.

For his German adaptation of the material, the poet Hinrich Hinsch apparently used an Italian opera text as a template, but it has not yet been identified. What remains are several arias that were sung in the original language in the Hamburg performances. Hinsch had come into play because Handel's first librettist Friedrich Christian Feustking , the author of the texts on Almira and Nero (both 1705), was suspected of having had several love affairs and had to leave Hamburg.

After composing the double opera, Handel devoted himself only to teaching in Hamburg, studying the works of his colleagues (including making a complete copy of Keiser's Octavia , which he took with him to Italy), and preparing for his departure to Italy. He probably left Hamburg in the summer of 1706 and never heard his double opera. The musical direction of the premieres was most likely in the hands of Christoph Graupner , who was harpsichordist and conductor at the Hamburg Opera House from 1705 to 1709.

The first performance of Florindo took place in January 1708, when Handel had already written his first Italian opera, Rodrigo , in Italy and had already premiered it long ago.

Cast of the premiere

• Daphne - Anna-Margaretha Conradi, called "Conradine" ( soprano ) (?)
• Florindo - Johann Konrad Dreyer ( tenor ) (?)
• further line-up: unknown.

action

Historical and literary background

In the first book of Metamorphoses Ovid tells the story of the nymph Daphne , who evades the intrusiveness of Phoebus ( Apollon ) by having her father transform her into a laurel tree. These two characters and Cupid come from the myth, all other characters in the operas are fictitious.

“The water of the Deucalionic Flood would have already fallen and the ground, dried by the sun's rays, would already have started to bring back all kinds of animals / as well as many herbs and flowers / as in Thessaly a great and immense dragon / called python / the mud of the earth was created / which infected the countryside with its poisonous breath / and corrupted the surrounding fields; Phœbus made himself at the same monster with his bow and arrows / killed them too happily / and freed the oppressed country from the dreaded destruction; Which then called / ordered a feast to this her Savior for his due gratitude / by the slain dragon Pythia / and therein worshiped the Phœbus for his good deed / with all imaginative testimonies of joy. Phœbus now became arrogant over this happy victory / that he despised Cupid's bow and arrow / against his weapons / and drew far for his victory over the dragon / of power / of love that only overcame soft and womanly hearts: what a shame then vindictive Cupid went so much to heart / that he took two arrows / one with a golden point / which ignited the heart it struck to a fervent love / and one with a bullet / which filled the wounded breast with bitter hate / took; With the first arrow he struck Phœbus's chest / and inflamed it with a violent heat against Daphne, the very beautiful daughter of Pineus, the god of water, / and thereby aroused in her an insatiable desire / to connect with this lovable nymph; But the same was struck by Bley's arrow / and not only felt no inclination to the Phœbus because of this, but rather fled its presence / and could not be moved to some counter-attunement either by flattery / by promise /. But when Phœbus was tormented by the passionate desire / his ardent desires / daily tormented / he hurried after the fugitive Daphne in a forest / and tried to bring her to his palace by force / had also overtaken the same near / as the terrified / and in utter desperation the nymph / cried to her father Pineus for assistance and salvation / who did not deny her his help / specially transformed her into a laurel tree. How Phœbus saw his purpose as a result / and the beautiful booty / which he thought he had already caught / was suddenly stolen from his hands again; Nevertheless, love did not want to give up its tender heart / he returned it to the transformed tree / and since he was used to making a crantz from any foliage / he chose the laurel tree to add to this ornament / and crowned it himself and his devoted admirers with laurel branches. This didactic and meaning poems described by Ovidius in his first book of Metamorphoses / gave us the opportunity to present a singing game / to embellish it with poetry / that Daphne, before Phœbus in you through Cupid's vengeance fallen in love / already connected with Florindo, son of the water god Enipheus / and plowed an alternating love: Florindo, on the other hand, was secretly loved generously by the noble nymph Alfirena / but cunningly sought by Lycoris; Lycoris, on the other hand, was so loved by Damon / that he lost his mind for a while / but afterwards / as he was fed with false hope from Lycoris at the beginning / but was subsequently amused with true counter-love / got it completely again; Like then also the generous Alfirena, like the Daphnen transformed / and the Florindo freed from his love and marriage vows / received the reward of their noble loyalty / and been connected to her Florindo. But because the excellent music with which this opera adorns / pleases a little too long / and wants to make the audience angry / has been considered necessary to divide the whole work into two parts; The first of these presents the feast of Pythia, which was held in honor of Apollo, and Florindo's betrothal to Daphne on the same day; and thus got the name of the happy FLORINDO, from this most noble act; The other part will represent the stubbornness of the Daphnees against Phœbus love / as well as their perceived disgust for all love / and finally their transformation into a laurel tree / and receive the name of the transformed DAPHNE. "

- Hinrich Hinsch : Preface to The happy Florindo. Hamburg 1708.

first act

Apollo kills the python. ( Virgil Solis )

The thanksgiving festival in honor of the god Phoebus (Apollo) takes place in a beautiful landscape. He killed the cruel dragon Python . Cupid also appears at the festival, and when Phoebus ridicules him, he swears vengeance.

Daphne, Florindo's lover and who has already promised him, meets Phoebus on the edge of the festival and the son of Zeus falls in love with the daughter of the river god Pineus.

Alfirena sings about her unhappy love for the already forgiven Florindo. Meanwhile, he meets with his bride for a shepherd's hour and both decide to get the wedding off the ground today.

The nymph Lycoris, who is also in love with Florindo, is in turn smitten by the shepherd Damon. But they advertise each other and indulge in their respective lovesickness. The first act ends with two lovesick people who cannot be comforted.

Second act

At the confluence of the Enipheus and the Pineus , Daphne and Florindo successfully ask their fathers Pineus and Enipheus to consent to their marriage.

When Florindo is alone again, Lycoris tries to approach him. But she tries unsuccessfully for his love, while Alfirena, who is also in love with Florindo, keeps her pain to herself. She wants to carry this love for herself and not dare to attack his virtue.

When Daphne and Phoebus now meet, Cupid intervenes again in directing the love affairs. He stays in secret and can see how the two get closer. Daphne confesses to Phoebus that although she knows the splendor and splendor of his power in heaven, in the clouds and on earth and also knows that she will be very lucky through him, however: “Whoever approaches the fire loses his face " . Still, she is aware that her heart is melting and her mind is beginning to catch new embers. But Phoebus hasn't won yet. He consoles himself for a later time, while Daphne, left alone, desperately weighs her two options. Alfirena, who still loves Florindo, knows little about the aforementioned events. Because Florindo loves his parental promised Daphne, Alfirena wants to bear her sadness alone. Daphne, who has come closer, looks at her sadness and through this Alfirena now learns that the planned wedding is to take place the next morning. But Daphne's uncertainty can be seen.

Third act

In the forge of the fire god Vulcanus, he receives Cupid and they both agree not to support Phoebus' love for the still struggling Daphne. The arrow to be forged by Vulcanus is supposed to turn Daphne's love into hate, because none of the gods wants to see Daphne rule from heaven on the side of Phoebus. Cupid is happy that his revenge on Phoebus will succeed.

Lycoris visits Alfirena when she says goodbye to the thought of getting Florindo's affection after all in deathly melancholy, and suspects that Alfirena is falling for Florindo next to her. In an emerging debate, Lycoris learns that she is right, but also admits to love Florindo. Both become friends with the impending hopelessness.

Damon finds his beloved Lycoris sleeping in the grass. He wants to protect her and prevent someone from harming her. Tyrsis joins them and is astonished by the careful care they take, but also fears negative effects that eventually go so far that Damon suspects a fly on Lycori's face as transformed Jupiter who wants to cool his "hot heat". Damon tries in vain to catch the fly with his hand, instead he accidentally hits the angry Lycoris in the face. Damon jumps behind a tree in shock. Tyrsis tries to calm Lycoris down and persuade Lycoris to show Damon some good words and gestures. He was probably satisfied with that.

Florindo and Daphne's wedding party begins. Alfirena, Galathea, Tyrsis, Lycoris and the whole choir of shepherds appear. Florindo continues to greet the crowd of nymphs. Even Phoebus rises from the sky and lets the wedding party celebrate him. The first part of the double opera Florindo and Daphne closes with this deceptive happy ending .

music

Stage of the Theater am Gänsemarkt. Engraving by Thomas Lediard , 1724

The scores of both operas are lost. One can assume that Handel had left his autographs behind in Hamburg, as there was evidently the hope that they would still be performed there. But they were probably not in good hands there. Since his stay in Italy, Handel himself had an excellent reference library of his own works, so that these scores, had he ever taken a copy with him, would probably have been preserved in this way. However, the statement of the singer Johann Konrad Dreyer, who after Keiser's departure (September 1706) was co-lessor of the opera house and thus responsible for its continued operation, does not cast a good light on the difficulties of restarting work at the opera house:

“As the beginning of the opera performance should be made, all the scores were hidden. So I first took Solomon after Nebucadnezzar , and looked for the score of them from the individual parts. As soon as the owners of the complete scores saw this, some others gradually came to light. "

- Johann Konrad Dreyer : Basis of an honor gate. Hamburg 1740

Only in the “ Newman Flower Collection” of the Manchester Central Library and in the Aylesford Collection of the British Library could remains of the two operas handed down by David RB Kimbell, Winton Dean and Bernd Baselt be found.

The five-movement instrumental pieces in the “Newman Flower Collection” reproduce neither vocal parts nor text beginnings. But they are marked “Florindo del Sigr. GF Trade ". However, it can no longer be determined with certainty which texts of the two librettos fit the traditional melodies. In terms of rhythm, text distribution and declamation, several aria texts can be considered.

The twelve instrumental movements (HWV 352–354) in the Aylesford Collection (which Charles Jennens had made) are probably also fragments of the two lost operas. They were introduced around 1728 by Handel's junior secretary, the harpsichordist Johann Christoph Schmidt jun. and copied to an anthology by an anonymous scribe. These dances form three simple, key-matching suites, each consisting of four movements. We know from the textbooks that have survived that the proportion of ballet movements in both operas was relatively large. So it is obvious that these suites are probably a combination of choir and ballet movements from both operas.

It is also likely that the Overture in B flat major (HWV 336) which Handel for Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno wanted to use and that of Arcangelo Corelli was rejected "too French" as originally the overture to The delighted Florindo was . Thus 18 musical numbers (even if not completely) from both operas would have been preserved.

Success & Criticism

Handel's friend, sponsor and rival in Hamburg, Johann Mattheson , singer, composer, impresario and music scholar, wrote about the double opera:

"In 1708 [1706!] He made both the Florindo and the Daphne, which, however, did not want to get to Almira."

- Johann Mattheson : Basis of an honor gate. Hamburg 1740.

literature

• Winton Dean , John Merrill Knapp : Handel's Operas 1704–1726. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-525-7 . (English)
• Bernd Baselt : Thematic-systematic directory. Instrumental music, pasticci and fragments. In: Walter Eisen (ed.): Handel manual. Volume 3. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0716-3 .
• Bernd Baselt: Thematic-systematic directory. Stage works. In: Walter Eisen (ed.): Handel manual. Volume 1. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 .
• Arnold Jacobshagen (ed.), Panja Mücke: The Handel Handbook in 6 volumes. Handel's operas. Volume 2. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2009, ISBN 978-3-89007-686-7 .
• Albert Scheibler: All 53 stage works by Georg Friedrich Handel, opera guide. Edition Cologne, Lohmar / Rheinland 1995, ISBN 3-928010-05-0 .

Web links

Commons : The happy Florindo  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Libretto for The Happy Florindo
• Further information on Derbeglückte Florindo at gfhandel.org, accessed on November 19, 2018
• Daphne at Ovid (German)

Individual references & footnotes

1. ↑ Störtebecker and Jödge Michaels First Part and Störtebecker and Jödge Michaels Zweyter Part (Libretto: Hotter)
2. ↑ Circe, or Des Ulysses first part and Penelope and Ulysses other part (Libretto: Friedrich Christian Bressand )
3. ↑ Die dying Eurydice, or Orpheus First Part and Orpheus Ander Theil (libretto also by Bressand)
4. ^ Winton Dean, John Merrill Knapp: Handel's Operas 1704–1726. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-525-7 , p. 72.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Panja Mücke: Florindo / Daphne. In: Hans Joachim Marx (ed.): The Handel Handbook in 6 volumes: The Handel Lexicon , (Volume 6), Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2011, ISBN 978-3-89007-552-5 , p. 277.
6. ^ Bernd Baselt: Thematic-systematic directory. Stage works. In: Walter Eisen (Hrsg.): Handel manual: Volume 1. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 , p. 63.
7. ↑ Preface to the libretto. Hamburg 1708.
8. ^ The whiteness triumphant over love, or Salomon Opera by Christian Friedrich Hunold [Menantes], music by Reinhard Keizer and Johann Caspar Schürmann (premier 1703)
9. ↑ Nebucadnezzar, who was overthrown and raised again, was King of Babylon under the great prophet Daniel Opera by Christian Friedrich Hunold [Menantes], music by Reinhard Keizer (UA 1704)
10. ^ Johann Mattheson: Basis of an honor gate. Hamburg 1740, p. 55. (Reproduction true to the original: Kommissionsverlag Leo Liepmannssohn , Berlin 1910)
11. ^ Bernd Baselt: Thematic-systematic directory. Instrumental music, pasticci and fragments. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Handel manual: Volume 3. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0716-3 , p. 125 f.
12. ^ Winton Dean, John Merrill Knapp: Handel's Operas 1704–1726. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-525-7 , p. 76.
13. ^ Johann Mattheson: Basis of an honor gate. Hamburg 1740, p. 95. (Reproduction true to the original: Kommissionsverlag Leo Liepmannssohn, Berlin 1910)