The beloved Adonis
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The beloved Adonis |
| Original title: | The Beloved Adonis: Presented in a singing game on the Hamburgischer Schau-Platz |
Title page of the libretto from 1697 |
|
| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Reinhard Keizer |
| Libretto : | Christian Heinrich Postel |
| Premiere: | 1697 |
| Place of premiere: | Hamburg |
| people | |
The beloved Adonis is a baroque opera (original name: "Singe-Spiel") in three acts by Reinhard Keizer . The libretto written Christian Heinrich Postel for a substance from the Roman (actually Phoenician) mythology from Ovid's Metamorphoses . It covers the story of Venus and Adonis .
Beloved Adonis is Keiser's earliest fully preserved opera. He wrote it in the first year after he became Kapellmeister of the Hamburg Gänsemarkt Opera . The opera was also the first joint work by Keizer and Postel, who was to become Keiser's main librettist in the following years.
action
first act
At the beginning of the first act, Venus seeks advice from the sea deity Proteus . He prophesies that her lover Adonis will achieve immortality. You, on the other hand, will long for death. However, Adonis should avoid going hunting.
The unlikely couple of a goddess and a mortal shepherd is envied for happiness by the other characters. The god of war Mars cannot accept such a relationship. In his frenzy he seeks an opportunity to kill the shepherd.
The beautiful Adonis has other admirers besides Venus, including the shepherdesses Eumene and Dryante. Eumene, for her part, is loved by the shepherd Philistus and has trouble warding off his advances. Eumene sheds tears because of her unrequited love for Adonis. Dryante's love, on the other hand, turns into hate. She allies herself with angry Mars.
Finally, as the “funny person” of the opera, there is the happy shepherd Gelon, who doesn't understand all the excitement about love, grief and jealousy. He comments on the events and the topics of love, lovers and women in particular.
Second act
Philistus invites Adonis to hunt, which Adonis enthusiastically accepts. Venus remembers the warning given by Proteus and tries in vain to stop her lover. Philistus and Adonis say goodbye to the others present.
Third act
At the beginning of the third act, the female characters Venus, Dryante and Eumene argue about love. A messenger brings the news of Adonis' death. A wild boar instigated by Mars has killed the young hunter. In her immeasurable grief, Venus wishes to die. As a goddess, however, this is not possible for her.
When Dryante admits she was allied with Mars, Venus does not kill her, but turns her alive into an oak. Finally she ensures that Eumene no longer rejects her admirer Philistus, but instead falls in love with him too. Venus 'tears turn into anemones and Adonis' body into a rose bush, since the rose is the queen of flowers. This is how Adonis attains the prophesied immortality.
Performance history
The work was first performed in 1697 at the Hamburg Gänsemarktoper .
More recently, the opera was performed again on April 30, 1999 in the Stuhr-Varrel manor barn . Thomas Ihlenfeldt was the musical director of the Capella Orlandi Bremen . The singers were Marietta Zumbält (Venus, soprano), Ralf Popken (Adonis, Altus), Susanne Rydén (Eumene, soprano), Mona Spägele (Dryante, soprano), Jan Kobow (Philistus, tenor), Knut Schoch (Gelon, tenor) and Raimonds Spogis (Proteus and Mars, Bass). A live recording of this performance has been released on CD.
On January 24th and 25th, 2008 an abridged version of the work was performed in the small hall of the bell in Bremen with the Ensemble Weser-Renaissance Bremen under the direction of Manfred Cordes . The performance was staged by Markus Wulf and Gesa Wellmann. The singers were Ulrike Hofbauer (soprano) as Venus, Franz Vitzthum (altus) as Adonis and Dominik Wörner (bass) as Mars as well as Monika Mauch (soprano), Margaret Hunter (soprano) and Knut Schoch (tenor).
In August 2016 the opera was given as part of the Donaufestwochen im Strudengau in the arcade courtyard of Greinburg Castle . The Euridice Barockorchester of the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz played in cooperation with the L'Orfeo Barockorchester under the musical direction of Erich Traxler. The production was done by Manuela Kloibmüller, stage and costumes by Isabella Reder. Maria Weber (Venus), Marelize Gerber (Dryante), Anna Willerding (Eumene), Maria Weiss (Adonis), Markus Miesenberger (Gelon), Ulrich Cordes (Philistus) and Michael Wagner (Proteus) sang .
Web links
- Work data for Der beliebte Adonis based on MGG with discography at Operone
- Libretto from 1697 as digitized version in the Wolfenbüttel digital library .
- Review of the CD recording on Deutschlandfunk .
- Detailed table of contents from musirony , accessed on July 31, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The life and work of Reinhard Keiser on the website of the Reinhard Keizer Association, accessed on August 3, 2014.
- ↑ MGG-1, Bärenreiter-Verlag 1986, Volume 7, p. 787.
- ^ Report on the Bremen performance in 2008. In: Das PapierTheater , accessed on April 6, 2018.
- ↑ Michael Wurmitzer: "The beloved Adonis": Griss around the beautiful shepherd. In: Der Standard from August 7, 2016, accessed on September 8, 2016.