Magnanimous Tomyris
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| Original title: | Magnanimous Tomyris |
Title page of the libretto from 1717 |
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| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | German , Italian |
| Music: | Reinhard Keizer |
| Libretto : | Johann Joachim Hoë |
| Literary source: | Domenico Lalli |
| Premiere: | 1717 |
| Place of premiere: | Hamburg |
| Place and time of the action: | Central Asia north of Iran in the 6th century BC Chr. |
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The magnanimous Tomyris is a baroque - Opera (original title: "Sing-game") in three acts by Reinhard Keizer . The libretto was written by Johann Joachim Hoë based on the Italian libretto L'amor di figlio non conosciuto by Domenico Lalli . The work was performed for the first time in 1717 at the Opera am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg . According to the text book, it is Keiser's 68th opera. A revised version was published in 1723, including two arias by Giovanni Battista Bononcini .
The opera is mainly written in German, but also contains some arias in Italian. Most of the arias are in da capo form .
action
first act
In the forecourt of the Temple of Mars, the massagers and their Queen Tomyris celebrate the anniversary of their victory over the Persian king Cyrus , who fell in battle. A sacrifice is made to Mars.
Tomyris is courted by the two kings Doraspe of Damasco and Policares of Lydia . She had promised before the fight that she would choose one of them after a victory, but is now holding them both because she secretly loves her general Tigranes.
Tigranes becomes friends with Doraspe and Policares. The two kings decide that whichever one of them the queen chooses will give the other his sister as a wife.
Alone again, Tigranes remembers his love for the Persian princess Meroë, the daughter of the defeated Cyrus, whom he considers dead.
Meroë appears in disguise with her confidante Latyrus to avenge the death of her father. They pose as Armenian fortune tellers. Meroë recognizes her lover Tigranes among the enemies and is indignant. Latyrus advises prudence because they do not yet know the background. The unrecognized Meroë tells Tigranes that she took poison and loved him to the end. But it is possible through magic that he could see her again. In gratitude, Tigranes offers to introduce the two to the queen.
Meroë sees her father's head under the temple furnishings and faints briefly from shock. She swears vengeance.
Tomyris still can't decide which of the two kings to choose and has them brought in to let them know.
Tigranes leads the supposed fortune tellers to Tomyris. Have them predict which of the two kings she will marry. They prophesy that she will not choose any of them. When Meroë wants to name Tigranes as her future husband in order to test her, she is interrupted by Tomyris.
Tomyris holds an audience for Policares and Doraspe to inform them of their decision. Tigranes is also present and is treated as equal by her. This angered the two kings, who consider Tigranes to be of low rank. Tigranes was given as a gift by a pirate to the king of Armenia as a child and is now considered his heir. Tomyris gives Tigranes a ring as a token of his merits. She wants to marry whoever he gives the stone to.
Tigranes calls on the Policares and Doraspe to a duel. The one of them who could defeat him should marry Tomyris.
Meroë and Latyrus, disguised as magicians, have prepared everything in a cave to summon the alleged spirit of Meroë for Tigranes.
Tigranes comes and the summoning can begin.
The supposed ghost of Meroë appears and accuses Tigranes of having left her. Tigranes swears that he still loves her and will return to her if she could come back to life. Meroë now reveals himself and demands that he support her in her plans for revenge against Tomyris. After some hesitation, Tigranes is ready. He is supposed to write a letter to the Persian General Milciades so that he can send his army to the border.
Tomyris has a conflict of conscience. He decides to rephrase the letter in such a way that it is recognizable as betrayal but yet proves his loyalty to both Tomyris and Meroë. He wants to dampen Meroë's thirst for revenge.
Second act
Queen Tomyris is cheered by the people in the ballroom.
She learns from Policares about the planned duel and forbids it. Tigranes gives her the ring back. Tomyris must now make the choice himself again.
Tomyris accuses Tigranes of using violence to choose her husband. She cannot yet confess her love to him. But he should stay out of all battles and send the army to the borders.
In the royal garden he shows Meroë his letter to Milciades. This proves his loyalty to her.
Tomyris talks to Meroë, who is again disguised as a fortune teller Magus, about her love for Tigranes. This tells her that Tigranes secretly loves someone else. Magus should now go to him immediately and reveal Tomyris' love to him - but without informing him that he was sent by her.
Meroë reaffirms her desire for revenge.
Tigranes instructs Orontes to send the letter to Milciades.
Tomyris instructs Orontes to distribute presents to her subjects. She goes to the bathroom with her ladies-in-waiting.
Policares, Doraspe and Tigranes reaffirm their mutual friendship.
Policares is concerned that Tomyris might decide against him.
Tomyris sends her companions away and remains alone in the bathroom and falls asleep. In the dream, the allegorical figures of vengeance, murderous addiction, fate and justice appear to her as well as the spirits of Cyrus, her son Seleucus who was murdered by Cyrus, furies and other figures.
Meroë sees the sleeping Tomyris and tries to stab her. Tigranes can stop them at the last moment. Tomyris wakes up and sees Tigranes with the dagger. She considers him to be the perpetrator and Magus (Meroë) to be her savior.
Tigranes continues to love Meroë and takes the blame on himself. Tomyris and Orontes cannot understand his motives.
Tomyris thanks Magus (Meroë) for her rescue. She should go to Tigranes and try to fathom his motive and get him to repent.
Meroë has secret plans to free Tigranes. If she doesn't succeed, she wants to kill herself.
Third act
Tigranes is on trial. Policares arrives and reports a new crime. He intercepted the letter to Milciades, which accused Tigranes even more. In this letter he asks Milciades to move the Persian army to the border and come to him in disguise so that together they can avenge Cyrus' death.
Tigranes is brought about. He confirms that he wrote the letter, but also says that the content is an illusion, the background of which he cannot yet explain. Tigranes will be taken away until the matter is finally resolved.
Policares asks Tomyris for her hand again. However, she cannot think of love now.
Magus (Meroë) prophesies to Tomyris that Tigranes will not die. She wanted to go to him and use magic to find out the background for his deeds. However, she secretly plans to free him.
Tomyris decides to go to Tigranes himself to get him to repent and love.
In prison, Tigranes and Meroë affirm their mutual love.
Tomyris joins them. She wants to free Tigranes herself and gives him the prison key. However, he refuses it.
Tigranes was left alone in his cell. He has no regrets because he acted solely out of honor and love.
The execution in the court square is imminent. Meroë tells Latyrus that she wants to confess her guilt in order to save Tigranes. He replies that this would break her oath of vengeance.
Tomyris asks Magus (Meroë) for a spell so that she can relieve her pain and forget about Tigranes.
Doraspe points out to Tomyris that the people can no longer tolerate the postponement of the execution.
Tigranes is brought about. He continues to maintain his loyalty to Tomyris and the people. He is tied to a pillar so that soldiers can shoot him with arrows.
Meroë has taken off her disguise, appears in the courtroom and confesses her guilt. Tigranes is untied.
Orontes joins them. He intercepted another letter from Tigranes to Milciades, in which he told him that he should ignore the first letter because it was written as a deception. With that his innocence is fully proven.
Policares appears with new messages. He has found out that Tigranes is really Tomyris' missing son Archinto. As a child he was kidnapped by the robber Lurco and sent to Armenia. Tomyris now realizes where her love for him came from. She is touched and also forgives Meroë so that she can marry Tigranes. She herself wants to marry Policares because he has brought her son back to her. Scythians and Persians celebrate the happy ending together.
Performance history
The first performance of the first version took place in 1717 in the opera on Gänsemarkt in Hamburg. The title role was sung by the then famous soprano Margaretha Susanna Kayser . The revised version was given there in 1723.
Some performances and a CD recording are documented from more recent times:
- In 1978 the opera was performed in concert for the 300th anniversary at the Hamburg State Opera under the direction of Jürgen Jürgens . Soloists included Faye Robinson , Gabriele Fuchs and Anthony Rolfe Johnson .
- In April 1988 there was a series of performances in the Theater im Pfalzbau , Ludwigshafen am Rhein with the Linde Consort under Hans-Martin Linde . Gabriele Fontana (Tomyris), Marianne Hirsti (Meroë), Stefan Dahlberg (Policares), Christoph Prégardien (Tigranes), Oskar Pürgstaller (Latyrus), Alan Cemore (Doraspe) and Wolfram Krohn (Orontes) sang . A live recording of these performances has been released on record and CD.
- In 2010 there was a production at the Stadttheater Gießen under the musical direction of Michael Schneider and the direction of Roman Hovenbitzer . The actors were Odilia Vandercruysse (Tomyris), Matthias Ludwig (Doraspe), Patrick Henckens (Policares), Christian Zenker (Tigranes), Carla Maffioletti (Meroë), Alexander Herzog (Latyrus), Tomi Wendt (Orontes / messenger of the gods), Chi Kyung Kim (Jupiter), Neivi Martinez (The Vengeance) and Eun Mi Suk (The Justice).
literature
- Klaus Zelm (Ed.): Reinhard Keizer. The generous Tomyris. (The Opera: Critical Edition of Major Works in Opera History, I.), G. Henle, Munich 1975.
- Heinz Wagner: The great manual of the opera , second, greatly expanded edition, Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven, 1991, ISBN 3-930656-14-0 , p. 355.
Web links
- Libretto from 1717 and libretto from 1723 as a digitized version in the list of prints published in the German-speaking area of the 18th century .
- Work data for Die grossmüthige Tomyris based on MGG with discography at Operone
- Detailed table of contents from musirony , accessed on July 31, 2014.
- Factory data on operabaroque (French), accessed on July 31, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus Zelm: Reinhard Keiser's operas , Katzbichler, 1975, pp. 183-185. Referenced on Ethesis.net , accessed August 1, 2014.
- ↑ Review of the Hamburg performance of 1978 in the period of January 20, 1978, accessed on July 31, 2014.
- ↑ Review of the CD recording from 1988 in MusicWeb International, accessed on July 31, 2014.
- ↑ website director Roman Hovenbitzer with images of Giessen performance , accessed on July 31, 2014.
- ↑ Review of the Giessen performance from 2010 in the Online Musik Magazin, accessed on July 31, 2014.