Ercole amante
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| Title: | Ercole amante |
Title page of the libretto, Paris 1662 |
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| Shape: | “Tragedia” in a prologue and five acts |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Francesco Cavalli |
| Libretto : | Francesco Buti |
| Literary source: | Ovid : Metamorphoses |
| Premiere: | February 7, 1662 |
| Place of premiere: | Théâtre des Tuileries , Paris |
| Playing time: | Approx. 3 to 6 hours (including Lully's ballets) |
| Place and time of the action: | Oichalia in Thessaly, mythical time |
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prolog action
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Ercole amante is an opera (original name: "Tragedia") in a prologue and five acts by Francesco Cavalli (music) with a libretto by Francesco Buti based on the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses . It was premiered on February 7, 1662 at the Théâtre des Tuileries in Paris with ballets by Jean-Baptiste Lully (text: Isaac de Benserade ).
action
short version
Prolog. The goddess Cinthia ( Diana ) compares the upcoming wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Teresas of Spain with the marriage of Ercoles ( Heracles ) and Bellezzas (the beauty, Hebe ).
First act. Ercole fell in love with the Iole , but was rejected by the latter. The goddess Venere ( Venus ) promises a remedy. Her adversary Giunone ( Juno ) wants to thwart this in order to protect morale, because Ercole is already married to Dejanira ( Deïaneira ).
Act II . Iole loves Ercole's son Hyllo ( Hyllos ), although she detests his father. Ercole once murdered her father Eutyro ( Eurytus ) after he refused her hand. A page interrupts the rendezvous to invite her for a walk with Ercole. She doesn't dare to reject him. Dejanira and her servant Licco ( Lichas ) learn of Ercole's intentions through the page . Meanwhile, Giunone goes to the Sonnos (of sleep) cave and persuades his wife Pasithea to lend him to her for a while.
Third act. Venere gives Ercole a magic armchair that causes Iole to fall in love with him as soon as she sits on it. After Ercole persuades her to do so, she is ready to marry him. Giunone puts Ercole to sleep with Sonno's help and releases Iole's enchantment again. She also gives her a dagger to kill Ercole with. However, Hyllo snatches the dagger from her to protect his father. Since Ercole is woken up by Mercurio ( Mercury ) at this moment , he considers Hyllo to be the culprit. His anger is also directed against Dejanira. Only Iole's renewed vows moves him to spare them both. He casts Dejanira out and has Hyllo imprisoned in a tower on the coast.
Fourth act. The page visits Hyllo in his prison to bring him a letter from Iole, in which she explains her behavior. On the way back, the page dies in a storm. Hyllo falls desperately into the sea. Giunone persuades Nettuno ( Neptune ) to save him and travels with him back to his homeland. Iole summons the ghost of her father Eutyro to ask his forgiveness for marrying his killer Ercole. Eutyro has no understanding for this, but swears revenge on Ercole. Dejanira tells Iole that Hyllo drowned. Licco suggests giving Ercole the enchanted robe of the Centaur Nesso ( Nessos ). If he wore this, he would fall in love with Dejanira again.
Fifth act. In the underworld, Eutyro swears the shadows of the kings Clerica, Laomedonte ( Laomedon ) and Bussiride ( Busiris ) to take revenge on Ercole. Nesso's robe has a different effect than expected. When Ercole puts it on before the wedding ceremony, he suffers such pain that he jumps into the fire and dies in it. The hyllo, believed dead, appears again and can now be with Iole. Giunone announces that Ercole is alive and will marry Bellezza in heaven.
prolog
Rocky mountain landscape with the fourteen rivers of the areas ruled by France
The rivers, including the Tevere (the Tiber ), receive the goddess Cinthia on the occasion of the wedding of Maria and Ludwig. This tells of the spread of power in France and proclaims that after the war that recently ended, a time of joy is ahead. Just as Ercole married Bellezza after a long struggle, the French king will now celebrate his wedding after many heroic deeds.
The symbols of the royal families of France dance a ballet.
first act
Wide landscape with woods, in the background the city of Oichalia
Scene 1. Ercole has fallen in love with the young Iole, but was turned down by her. He cannot understand Cupid's whims (Ercole: “Ah Cupido io non so già”).
Scene 2. The goddess Venere descends from heaven accompanied by the graces and promises Ercole her support (Venere / choir: “Se ninfa ai pianti”). He is supposed to invite Iole for a walk in the garden in the evening, where she wants to awaken her love with her arrow (Venere: "Strale invisible"). Ercole will have no more reason to be sad (Venere / Ercole / Chor: “Fuggano a vol dal bell'impero”). Venere and the Graces disappear again in heaven.
Scene 3. Giunone, the protector of marriage, is annoyed by the interference of her rival Venere. She decides to thwart their plans. After all, Ercole is still married to Dejanira and also killed Iole's father. Iole also loves Ercole's son Hyllo. For Giunone, forced love is worthless (Giunone: "Ma in amor ciò ch'altri fura"). She asks the winds to carry her to the Sonnos (sleep) caves, from which she hopes for support.
When she leaves, Giunone hurls storms and lightning that dance the second ballet.
Second act
Great courtyard of the Royal Palace
Scene 1. Hyllo and Iole swear eternal love and don't want to be dissuaded by Ercole, the murderer of Iole's father Eutyro.
Scene 2. The page interrupts the rendezvous to invite Iole for a walk on behalf of Ercole. Iole doesn't dare to refuse, but promises loyalty to Hyllo. The two say goodbye to each other (Hyllo / Iole: "Chi può vivere un sol istante").
Scene 3. The page puzzles over the power of Cupid, whom he has not yet met himself and who seems to bring more sorrow than joy (Page: "E che cosa è quest'amore?")
Scene 4. On the way back to Ercole, the page is intercepted by Dejanira and her servant Licco, who see their suspicion confirmed that Ercole wants to cheat on his wife ("E che tu sai? Ch'Iole ad Ercole"). The page assures them that Iole doesn't love Ercole, but his son Hyllo.
Scene 5. Dejanira is appalled by Ercole's behavior, which endangers both her own happiness and that of her son (Dejanira: “Ahi ch'amarezza meschina me”). Licco advises her to watch what is going on inconspicuously.
The Sonno Cave
Scene 6. Supported by a choir of gentle winds and streams, Pasithea sings a lullaby to her husband Sonno (Pasithea: “Mormorate o fiumicelli”).
Scene 7. Giunone persuades Pasithea to leave Sonno to her for a while. Pasithea asks her to bring him back soon because people need sleep (Giunone / Chor / Pasithea: "Dell'amorose pene").
The dreams dormant in front of the cave dance the third ballet.
Third act
A garden in Oichalia
Scene 1. Venere conjures an enchanted armchair from the floor with her wand. With this, Ercole can awaken feelings of love in Iole as soon as she falls asleep on it. When Ercole points out that this love does not come from heaven but from the underworld, Venere calms him down. He shouldn't think about it, but simply enjoy it (Venere: “O di questa canzon”).
Scene 2. Ercole trembles even before meeting Iole (Ercole: “O quale instillano”). The page tells him that she is coming. Ercole only now finds out about her relationship with his son.
Scene 3. When Iole appears with Hyllo and some friends and accuses him of having murdered her father because he refused her hand, Ercole explains that under such circumstances he would have even killed the thunder god. With the words that he only obeyed Cupid's orders (Ercole: "Tutte son opre gloriose, e belle") he persuaded her to sit down. The spell works instantly and Iole falls in love with it. Hyllo is shaken. He just wants to die and announces that he will throw himself off the next cliff.
Scene 4. Iole agrees to marry Ercole, but first wants to ask permission from her dead father Eutyro in prayer.
Scene 5. Giunone puts Ercole into a deep sleep with Sonno's help, releases Iole's enchantment and gives her a dagger forged by Vulcano ( Vulcanus ) with which she can kill Ercole.
Scene 6. Iole prays to her father's soul for strength, but Hyllo snatches the dagger from her to protect his father.
Scene 7. Mercurio, the messenger of the gods, wakes Ercole. He sees his son with a gun in his hand and thinks that Hyllo wanted to kill him. Iole tries to clear up the misunderstanding.
Scene 8. Dejanira arrives with Licco to prevent Ercole from turning on Hyllo in his anger. Since Ercole does not calm down, Iole again promises to marry him if he lets Hyllo live. Ercole accepts. However, he has Hyllo locked in a tower and casts Dejanira.
Scene 9. Dejanira and Hyllo say goodbye to each other with pity.
Scene 10. Licco and the page also say goodbye to each other, as Licco and his mistress will go into exile. He deeply detests Cupid (Licco: “Cupid, chi ha senno in sé”).
When the enchanted armchair sinks back into the earth, the ghosts trapped in it free themselves and dance the fourth ballet between the statues in the garden.
Fourth act
Sea with several towers on the shore; one of them is Hyllos prison
Scene 1. Hyllo laments his fate, which he owes only to jealousy (Hyllo: “Ahi che pena è gelosia”).
Scene 2. The page travels to the coast (Page: "Zefiri che gite") to bring Hyllo a letter from Iole. In it, she explains that in order to save his life, she consented to the wedding with Ercole. He would have preferred death. As the page makes his return trip, a storm breaks out.
Scene 3. Hyllo watches in horror as the page is swallowed up by the waves and dies. He no longer sees any meaning in life and throws himself into the sea.
Scene 4. Giunone appears in a great flying throne and begs Nettuno to save Hyllo - this is a good opportunity to annoy Ercole. Nettuno climbs out of the sea in a large shell pulled by seahorses and saves the young man. After learning the reason for his suicide attempt, he comforts him with a song (Nettuno: “Amanti che tra pene”). Hyllo boards Giunone's machine to return home.
Scene 5. During the journey, Zephyre play around Giunone's vehicle. Giunone tries to give Hyllo courage to live again (Giunone: "Congedo a gl'orridi").
After the machine ascends into the sky, the Zephyrs dance the fifth ballet.
Garden with cypress trees and royal tombs
Scene 6. Dejanira tells Licco that she wants to die and that she will make him her heir. She only wishes to be buried in a particularly gloomy grave. Licco doesn't want to hear about it. When a funeral procession approaches, he advises Dejanira to hide and to cheer up the condolences.
Scene 7. Iole has hired a group of sacrificial priests to conjure up the spirit of their father (chorus: “Gradisci o re, il caldo pianto”). She wants to ask his forgiveness for marrying his murderer. The shadow of Eutyros rises from his grave amid the rumble. At first he is indignant about the hideous offerings and resolutely rejects this marriage. When Iole points out that she only wants to marry Ercole to protect his innocent son, Eutyro explains that he wants to save him himself. Dejanira comes out of her hiding place and tells them that Hyllo is already dead. She saw him jump off the tower and drown. Eutyro then promises the two women to help them with their revenge. He disappears again. Iole is utterly desperate at the news of the death of her lover and wants to die too. Licco reminds them of the garb of the centaur Nesso. If Ercole wore this, he would fall in love with his wife again and all problems would be solved (Dejanira / Iole / Licco: “Una stilla di spene”).
Iole's ladies-in-waiting, crying near the grave, dance the sixth ballet with the shadows.
Fifth act
The underworld
Scene 1. Eutyro calls the shadows of the kings Clerica, Laomedonte and Bussiride, who each have old accounts with Ercole open, to revenge (chorus: “Su, su dunque all'armi, su, su”).
Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Giunone Pronuba
Scene 2. Before the wedding ceremony, Licco gives Iole the robe to Nesso. After the priests have wished the couple luck (chorus: “Pronuba, e casta dea”), Ercole asks Iole for the robe and puts it on to make an offering to the gods. However, it causes him such pain that he leaps into the fire for relief and dies. Licco, Iole and Dejanira are surprised but not dissatisfied with this effect.
Scene 3. Hyllo, believed dead, appears and tells of his miraculous rescue by Giunone. Nothing stands in the way of his connection with Iole. Despite everything, the four of them mourn Ercole.
Scene 4. Surrounded by the harmony of heaven, Giunone appears in the highest part of it and announces that Ercole lives there and will marry Bellezza (Giunone: “Su, su allegrezza”). There is no longer any reason to be sad.
Scene 5. A chorus of planets praises the heavenly bride and groom. Bellezza and Ercole promise that one day a Gallic Ercole will marry an Iberian beauty on the banks of the Seine (Chor / Bellezza / Ercole: "Quel grand'eroe, che già laggiù tanto penò sposo della beltà").
The influences of the seven planets dance down on the stage, followed by a choir of stars.
layout
orchestra
The instrumental line-up for the opera consists of at least two trumpets , a string ensemble of up to six parts and basso continuo . In comparison to his earlier works, which mostly only provided for a three-part accompaniment, Cavalli relied on a fuller orchestral sound. He retained this lush cast in his following three operas Scipione affricano , Mutio Scevola and Pompeo magno .
music
The text set to music by the Venetian Francesco Cavalli combines allegorical and mythological elements with a novel-like plot and comic episodes. In this he corresponds more to the Roman operatic customs than the Venetian. The detailed instrumental pieces and the many self-contained solos are typically French. The large form with prologue and five acts also corresponds to the French model. The end of the last picture is to be understood as an epilogue. The two frame parts are dramaturgically superfluous, but are characterized by their particular splendor. They combine the opera plot with a homage to Louis XIV.
Due to the mixture of Italian and French characteristics, the Ercole amante is stylistically very diverse. The page's aria “Zefiri che gite” (IV: 2), for example, is in the style of a French chanson . The opera contains several extensive choirs. These were almost never mentioned in Cavalli's earlier operas and have a special meaning here in his homage to the French king. Particularly noteworthy are the chorus of the rivers in the prologue, the priest scene in the fourth act and the four-part lament after the death of the title hero. The choirs are partly executed like madrigals (both in homophonic and polyphonic notation). Some, however, are more reminiscent of French dance songs. As was typical for Cavalli at the time, the recitatives are also extremely varied. They have flowing transitions to the arioso and arias.
The distribution of the voices is turned upside down for an Italian opera. The hero Ercole is a bass, and at the premiere the castrati took on the comic roles of Licco and the page and Giunone as a travesty role.
Work history
Francesco Cavalli's “Tragedia in musica” Ercole amante based on a text by Francesco Buti was commissioned by Cardinal Jules Mazarin and based on motifs from the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses on the occasion of the celebrations for the wedding of the French King Louis XIV with the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa on September 9th June 1660. At the same time it was planned to inaugurate the Théâtre des Tuileries (the Salle des machines) designed by Gaspare Vigarani with this opera . However, there were delays in its construction, so that instead on November 22nd in the Louvre Cavallis opera Serse from 1654 was played in an arrangement based on the French style.
The work was premiered almost two years later, on February 7, 1662, in the now completed Théâtre des Tuileries. Giuseppe Meloni (Cinthia), Vincenzo Piccini (Ercole), Hylaire Dupuis (Venere), Antonio Rivani (Giunone), Giuseppe Agostino Poncelli (Hyllo), Anna Bergerotti (Iole), Leonora Falbetti Ballerini (Dejanira), Giuseppe Chiarini (Co ), Bordoni (Pasithea), Tagliavacca (Mercurio), Paolo Bordigoni (Nettuno and Eutyro), Zanetto (Bussiride), Vulpio (Laomedonte), Anne de La Barre (Clerica and La Bellezza) and Beauchamps (Tevere). The king, queen and members of the court also performed in the ballets. The audience success was only moderate, as the acoustics were poor and many viewers rejected the Italian style. In addition, the client Mazarin had died the previous year, and there was an intrigue by the court composer Jean-Baptiste Lully , who adapted the opera to the French style. The ballets composed by Lully (text: Isaac de Benserade ) and the splendid equipment, also organized by Lully, were accordingly more popular with the audience than Cavalli's music. There were ten more performances until the beginning of May. Contemporary resumptions cannot be proven. After this failure, Cavalli returned to Venice disappointed, and the Italian singers also left. From then on, Lully dominated the musical scene at the French court. The backdrops were reused in 1671 for his ballet tragedy Psyché (text: Molière with Pierre Corneille and Philippe Quinault ).
The autograph has not survived. Copies are in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. The libretto in Italian and French was published by Ballard in Paris in 1662.
It was not revived until three centuries later, when the work was shown in an edition by Riccardo Nielsen in Venice in 1961. In 1979 it was played in an arrangement by Luciano Sgrizzi with a production by Jean-Louis Martinoty in Lyon. The conductor was Michel Corboz . In 1980 there was a concert performance at the English Bach Festival in London. In 1981 it was played in Paris and in 1997 in Ravenna.
A production of the Festival d'Ambronay, which also included Lully's ballets, was also shown in 2006 in the theater of Bourg-en-Bresse , in the Opéra de Vichy, in the Opéra de Toulon , in the Grand Théâtre de Reims, in the Salle Gaveau in Paris and shown in the Opéra de Besançon.
In 2009 the Nederlandse Opera showed a production by David Alden , which was subsequently released on DVD.
The Paris Opéra-Comique presented the work in 2019 with the Ensemble Pygmalion under Raphaël Pichon . Directed by Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq. Laurent Peduzzi was the stage designer. The production was also shown at the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles and made available as a video recording on Arte Concert on the Internet.
Recordings
- January 1980 - Michel Corboz (conductor), English Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra, English Baroque Festival Chorus.
Marilyn Hill-Smith (Cinthia), John Tomlinson (Tevere and Nettuno), Ulrik Cold (Ercole), Colette Alliot-Lugaz (Venere and Bellezza), Yvonne Minton (Giunone), Keith Lewis (Hyllo), Felicity Palmer (Iole), Agnès de Crouzat (Page), Patricia Miller (Dejanira), Riccardo Cassinelli (Licco), Rosemary Hardy (Pasithea), Michel Corboz (Mercurio), Malcolm King (Eutyro and Bussiride), Michael Goldthorpe (Laomedonte), Eiddwen Harrhy (Elena = Clerica).
Studio shot.
Erato CD: 0603 12980-2, Erato LP: ZL 30718 (3 LPs). - October 9, 2006 - Gabriel Garrido (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Académie Baroque d'Ambronay.
Ingeborg Dalheim (Cinthia, Belezza and Vénus française), Ismaël Gonzales (Ercole), Lauren Armishaw (Venere), Mariana Flores or Maria Hinojosa (Giunone), David Hernandez Anfrus (Hyllo), Magali Arnaud or Iulia Elena Surdu (Iole), Ricardo Ceitril (Page), Jana Levicova or Delphine Terrier (Dejanira), Adrian George Popescu (Licco), Juliette Perret (Pasithea), Vincent Vantghem (Eutyro), Raphael Pichon (Bussiride), Lior Leibovici (Laomedonte and Ruscello), Emmanuelle de Negri (Clerica).
Live from Paris. - January 15 and 20, 2009 - Ivor Bolton (conductor), David Alden (production), Paul Steinberg (equipment), Constance Hoffman (costumes), Adam Silverman (lighting), Concerto Köln , choir of the Nederlandse Opera .
Johannette Zomer (Cinthia, Pasithea and Clerica), Umberto Chiummo (Tevere, Nettuno and Eutyro), Luca Pisaroni (Ercole), Wilke te Brummelstroete (Venere and Bellezza), Anna Bonitatibus (Giunone), Jeremy Ovenden (Hyllo), Veronica Cangemi ( Iole), Tim Mead (Page and Bussiride), Anna Maria Panzarella (Dejanira), Marlin Miller (Licco), Mark Tucker (Mercurio and Laomedonte).
Video; live from De Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam.
Opus Arte. - November 6, 2019 - Raphaël Pichon (conductor), Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq (director), Laurent Peduzzi (scene), Vanessa Sannino (costumes), Christian Pinaud (light), Ensemble Pygmalion.
Giulia Semenzato (Cinthia, Venere and Bellezza), Nahuel di Pierro (Ercole), Anna Bonitatibus (Giunone), Krystian Adam (Hyllo), Francesca Aspromonte (Iole), Ray Chenez (Page), Giuseppina Bridelli (Dejanira), Dominique Visse ( Licco), Eugénie Lefebvre (Pasithea and Clerica), Luca Tittoto (Nettuno and Eutyro), Nicolas Brooymans (Bussiride, Ruscello and sacrificial priest).
Video; live from the Opera-Comique Paris .
Video stream on Arte Concert .
Web links
- L'Ercole : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Libretto (French / Italian), Paris 1662. Digitized by Gallica
- Ercole amante (Francesco Cavalli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Work information and libretto (Italian) as full text on librettidopera.it
- Photos of the Paris performance in 1981 at Gallica
- Work information (French) on operabaroque.fr
- Francesco Cavalli: Ercole Amante. Work information and video stream at Arte Concert , video available until November 30, 2020
Remarks
- ↑ The range of the soprano parts corresponds to that of today's mezzo-soprano .
- ↑ According to Clerica's text in the libretto, Ercole killed her and her family after the Trojan War . In Michel Corboz's CD recording , she is called Elena ( Helena ?).
Individual evidence
- ^ Duration of the video recordings by Ivor Bolton and Raphaël Pichon .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Wolfgang Osthoff : L'Ercole amante. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 524-525.
- ↑ a b c d e Rainer Pöllmann: Ercole amante (Hercules as a lover). In: Attila Csampai , Dietmar Holland : Opera guide. E-book. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 2015, ISBN 978-3-7930-6025-3 , pp. 50–54.
- ↑ a b Work information and libretto (Italian) as full text on librettidopera.it, accessed on December 12, 2019.
- ^ A b c Philippe Beaussant : Lully ou Le musicien du Soleil. Gallimart, 1992, ISBN 978-2070724789 , pp. 234-235.
- ^ A Venetian Opera for Paris. In: Supplement to Ivor Bolton's DVD. Opus Arte, pp. 20-25.
- ↑ a b c d e Martha Novak Clinkscale: Ercole amante. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ a b c Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. From the beginning to the French Revolution. 2nd Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-0899-2 , pp. 73-74.
- ↑ a b c Catherine Cessac : Marc-Antoine Charpentier. English translation: E. Thomas Glasow. Amadeus Press, Portland 1995, ISBN 0-931340-80-2 (Original: Librairie Arthème Fayard, Paris 1988), p. 41.
- ^ Silke Leopold : The opera in the 17th century (= manual of musical genres. Volume 11). Laaber, 2004, ISBN 3-89007-134-1 , pp. 178-179.
- ↑ a b Ercole amante. In: Reclams Opernlexikon (= digital library . Volume 52). Philipp Reclam jun. at Directmedia, Berlin 2001, p. 749.
- ↑ Information on the production in Ambronay 2016 , accessed on December 12, 2019.
- ↑ a b Supplement to the DVD by Ivor Bolton. Opus Arte.
- ^ Elisabeth Richter: Diversity of styles and musical splendor. Review of the performance in Versailles 2019 on Deutschlandfunk , November 25, 2019, accessed on December 16, 2019.
- ↑ a b Francesco Cavalli: Ercole Amante. Work information and video stream at Arte Concert , accessed on December 12, 2019.
- ↑ a b Pier Francesco Cavalli. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005.