Giambattista Varesco

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Idomeneo by Varesco and Mozart, first print of the libretto (first version) from 1781

Giambattista Varesco , sometimes Gianbattista Varesco , Giovanni Battista Varesco and Girolamo Giovanni Battista Varesco (born November 26, 1735 in Trento , † August 25, 1805 in Salzburg ) was an Italian priest . He became known as the librettist of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Idomeneo , a text book that is ultimately based on the libretto for the tragédie lyrique Idoménée ( Antoine Danchet after Prosper Jolyot Crébillon , set to music by André Campra ).

Life and work

Varesco was born the son of Giuseppe Lorenzo Varesco, who is said to have been a cathedral musician in Trento. Nothing is known about his education, but he probably went to school at a Jesuit college and then embarked on a priestly career. His title Abate (Italian) or Abbé (French) identifies him as a member of the lower clergy . In 1766 he was employed by Prince Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach as court chaplain in Salzburg. His priestly duties were limited to the Benefician S. Nicolai at the Salzburg Cathedral , which goes back to the Pilgrim chaplain foundation of 1393. This position was intended for musically talented beneficiaries, which is fitting that Varesco also introduced himself as a musician in his application letter. Details of his musical activities are not known at the moment, but two violins, a viola and a viola d'amore are documented in Varesco's estate.

Mozart received the order for Idomeneo in 1780 from Karl Theodor von Bayern . Leopold Mozart acted as a mediator for his son and negotiated with Varesco about change requests from the composer. The correspondence between the parties underscores the composer's dissatisfaction with the original. Varesco accepted a reduced version of the text for setting, but it was printed in Varesco's version. In the older Mozart literature, the weaknesses of the libretto were unanimously accused of Varesco, but Daniel Heartz, as editor of Idomeneo in the context of the New Mozart Edition (1971), was able to prove that many of the criticized aspects were specifications of the Munich court as the client. Varesco also had to consider many changes and shortening requests from Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which he faithfully carried out - albeit with grumbling - until the end of the collaboration. Where Varesco deviated from the French model in the libretto, he added motifs from ancient literature from Homer to Sophocles to the sober material, thus proving his profound humanistic education. Ulrich Konrad is in the encyclopedia The music in the past and present , Varesco "did his thankless task quite respectably and overall with skill".

Mozart's first collaboration with Varesco may have already taken place in 1775, as Varesco probably revised Pietro Metastasio's libretto Il re pastore for Mozart 's opera of the same name (KV 208). For the opera buffa L'oca del Cairo (The Goose of Cairo) KV 422, which Mozart began in 1783 but did not complete, Varesco provided the libretto at Mozart's request, which was also unfinished. He also wrote the libretto for the opera Andromeda e Perseo (1787) by Michael Haydn and for a cantata for the enthronement of Ferdinand III. 1804 to the German Elector , which was set to music jointly by three Salzburg musicians.

Varesco lived in modest, if not poor, circumstances, and when he died he left a substantial debt of 640 guilders. Leopold Mozart's verdict on him "the guy is full of debts, including his good income" was probably spoken in ignorance of Varesco's actual income situation.

literature

  • Attila Csampai , Dietmar Holland (ed.): WA Mozart. Idomeneo. Texts, materials, comments. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1988, ISBN 3-499-18405-2 .
  • Norbert Dubowy:  Varesco, Giovanni Battista. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, supplement for both parts. Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-1139-9  ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  • Daniel Heartz : Mozart's Idomeneo. Origin and first performances. In: NMZ II / 5/11 , Kassel 1971.
  • Kurt Kramer: Giovanni Battista Varesco, attempt at a biography. In: Acta Mozartiana 27 (1980), Issue 1, ISSN  0001-6233 , pp. 2-15.
  • Kurt Kramer: Antiquity and Christian Middle Ages in Varesco's "Idomeneo", the libretto to Mozart's opera of the same name. In: Mitteilungen der Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum 28 (1980), Issue 1–2, ISSN  0541-2331 , pp. 6–20.
  • Kurt Kramer: The libretto for Mozart's “Idomeneo”. Sources and transformation of the fable. In: Robert Münster (ed.): Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Idomeneo. 1781-1981. Essays, research reports, catalog. (= Exhibition catalog of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek; 24). Piper, Munich / Zurich 1981, ISBN 3-492-02648-6 , pp. 7-43.
  • John A. Rice:  Varesco, Giovanni Battista. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gernot Gruber, Joachim Brügge (Ed.): The Mozart Lexicon. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2005, ISBN 3-89007-466-9 , p. 843 f.
  2. ↑ Idomeneo : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
  3. ^ Ulrich Konrad :  Mozart, (Joannes Chrysostomus) Wolfgang. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 12 (Mercadante - Paix). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1122-5 , Sp. 591–758, here Sp. 622 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  4. ↑ Il re pastore : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
  5. ^ L'oca del Cairo : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
  6. ^ Letter of January 22, 1781 to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Varesco, Giambattista
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Varesco, Gianbattista; Varesco, Giovanni Battista; Varesco, Girolamo Giovanni Battista
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian poet and opera librettist
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1735
PLACE OF BIRTH Trent
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 1805
Place of death Salzburg