Traveling opera Girolamo Bon in Frankfurt am Main
The Italian traveling opera of the Venetian opera principal Girolamo Bon (* unknown in Venice , Veneto ; † before December 1, 1773 in Esterháza , Hungary ) made guest appearances in Frankfurt am Main in autumn 1754 and spring 1755 at the invitation of the Thurn and Taxis family . Eight original and informative theater slips of the performances have been preserved.
The theater principal Girolamo Bon
The Venetian Girolamo Bon traveled with his troupe across Europe as a “ traveling opera ” and spread modern Italian opera in the music centers and at the courts of the aristocracy. The organizational effort of the troupe was comparable to that of the German traveling theaters, which moved from place to place and presented their art on repeatedly opened wooden stages in markets and inns; however, they were among the “elite” stage artists who met the wishes of the nobility for modern music theater. Bon had the additional expense of music (musicians, instruments, sheet music), but was mostly able to perform in the princely theaters, where not, he was welcome as a stage architect. He was invited to Frankfurt at the request of the “entire noblesse of society” (Meixner), even if the city did not yet have a public theater building; this meant that Bon took care of his own stage here.
The all-round artist Girolamo Bon was a painter, stage architect, decorator and machinist, text book author, composer, principal and possibly evening game manager of his family business, to which his wife, the singer Rosa Ruvinetti-Bon, his father-in-law Stefano Ruvinetti and from around 1755 his daughter, the composer and singer Anna Bon di Venezia .
Girolamo Bons' stay in Frankfurt is documented by eight contiguous theater slips that testify to his work as an independent opera entrepreneur. They are a rare testimony to the internationally active opera impresario Girolamo Bon and show that Bon moved towards the popular taste of the citizens in creating the precious genre of opera, which was once reserved for princes.
Girolamo Bon and the Thurn und Taxis house
The Reichspost family von Thurn und Taxis , who had risen to high nobility and wealth from the 16th to the 18th centuries and settled across Europe, owned a precious palace with its own theater in Frankfurt , built between 1729–1739 under Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis . After the Bon troupe had participated in the inauguration of the opera house there in the Belgian city of Antwerp in 1752 (the Belgian headquarters of the aristocratic postal family was in Brussels ), they joined in 1753 as the “ Italian Operists Sr. Hochfürstl. Passage of Thurn and Taxis ”in the service of Prince and General Hereditary Postmaster Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn and Taxis in Regensburg, the city of the“ everlasting Reichstag ”. The invitation to the free imperial city of Frankfurt followed under the prince's protectorate. Presumably the same family relationships were decisive in leading the family to the court in Bayreuth, because the Bayreuth Margrave Friedrich was related by marriage to the Regensburg prince.
The guest performance in Frankfurt
Girolamo Bon had previously played at the invitation of princely houses. In Frankfurt, where there was not yet a permanent opera building, he demonstrated artistic skill and entrepreneurial courage as an independent opera director. Under him as director , the troupe performed intermezzi , opera serie and opéras comiques at the Roßmarkt . As an attraction, the skills of a tightrope dancer, the “ famous angel country ”, were offered several times during the breaks , who could “ walk on a board with a board ”, stand with his head on it and then balance a pyramid of 30 glasses.
The theater tickets, forerunners of today's theater posters, were attached to the stage building before the performance and listed everything important for the audience: start of the performance (" praecise at 6 am " or " half past 6 am "), price and option to purchase the tickets (between 1 Reichsthaler and 12 Kreutzern) and text books in German and Italian ( at the director in des Steinmetz Scheidels housing ) as well as particularly inviting details of the performance ( two extra beautiful dances ). However, the names of the performing artists are missing and a composer's name is only given three times, that of the Dresden court conductor Johann Adolf Hasse , the other operas remain anonymous. One or the other of these can be assigned retrospectively, including Demetrius , for which Christoph Willibald Gluck is specified at a later guest performance in Pressburg .
Even the first Frankfurt theater ticket " IL Leucippo " announces the premiere of this "great serieusen opera" by Johann Adolf Hasse, somewhat uncertainly "on its scene" with regard to the location. But below you can read “The scene is on the Roßmarckt”. Whether that means two different stages, such as the “in-house” one in the Palais Thurn und Taxis , cannot be decided. Not even whether there was already a wooden theater for wandering troops on the Rossmarkt.
Right at the beginning of the 1754 season, Girolamo Bon apparently had the bad luck that the one on the Roßmarkt did not hold up. This emerges from the text from the second theater bill on, on which the stability of the theater building and the approval of the same by a municipal builder are specially emphasized.
How long or how often the troupe played in Frankfurt as a whole is, according to the theater slips, not certain, as it is not known whether these are complete. The text of the theater bill speaks somewhat imprecisely of “all the time” “when you stay here” (1754) and “weeks or months” (1755), for which a “Tantum” ( subscription , season ticket) was offered. And whether it was played between September 19, 1754 and April 1755 cannot be proven. It was certainly planned, but initially not feasible due to the aforementioned deficient theater building on Roßmarkt. Again, nothing is known about an alternative to the theater of the Palais Thurn und Taxis. The comment on Le Philosoph on April 21, “ The last representation of this play will be ”, sounds as if there were actually more performances of this opera than there were theater tickets.
With the exception of IL Leucippo , all theater bills are from April 1755, the last from April 23. According to these, it was a - canceled (?) - autumn season 1754 and a spring season 1755.
Theater operations
Conclusions can be drawn about the theater construction and operation at the Roßmarkt at that time from the text of the Frankfurt theater bills. The layout of the auditorium is based on the graduation of the admission prices: box (1 Reichsthaler), ground floor (1 guilder), third place (30 kr. [User]), upper box (20 kr.) And last place (12 kr.) , therefore at least three floors, namely box, upper box and ground floor. The tickets were available " at the director of Mr. Steinmetz Scheidels dwelling ". Bon apparently lived with the artist and sculptor Scheidel.
Theater tickets 2–8 are somewhat more detailed than the first from September 19, 1754. The entrance ticket was now available at the entrance of the theater, whereas “ the books in German and Italian from the director in Herr Scheidel's house ”. Probably the textbooks and translation were the arrangement Bons himself, who probably had the books printed himself and sold at the specified location.
The actors are only occasionally named in summary form, up to 7 votes; in La serva padrona there were “many dumb people”, in IL Leucippo even choirs. It is uncertain whether the whole troupe, including the dancers, also had space in “ Scheidel's dwelling ”. The question of the indispensable instrumental musicians (opera orchestra) and a conductor cannot be answered for the stay in Frankfurt. It was customary for local musicians to take part; the members of the royal court orchestra from Regensburg or Frankfurt should be considered. Whether Girolamo Bon, who, as a good musician, also composed violin sonatas, was also an evening conductor, remains to be seen. There is no doubt that Bon’s wife Rosa Ruvinetti-Bon was the prima donna of the troupe; As a particularly successful intermezzo singer, she sang Serpina in La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi . Other names of singers in the Frankfurt troupe are not known.
The theater slips of 1755 show the dense sequence of events for a whole month (April). This also included a break between April 14th and 21st. Nevertheless, it is expressly stated that the theater is open daily.
game schedule
There was a total of at least three great operas: Il Leucippo, Demetrius and Il Negligente , the first two of which were opera series (serious operas). The French name “ Opéra comique ” is striking for almost all other performances by the Italians, as an expression of a French orientation.
This means that the “comical” folk opera predominates in this program. La serva padrona , known as the Italian Intermezzo, is announced as a “Divertissement” with an additional 3rd act, Il Quatro Amanti in un amante solo as “Intermezzo”, all others as “Opéras comiques”. These are Il Gioccatore, Il Calandrano, Le Philosophe and Il Negligente .
This program shows the efforts of the “Directeur” Girolamo Bon to offer the Frankfurt audience what had gained influence in Paris since the Buffonist dispute in 1752/54: the popular (Italian) opera buffa (intermezzo, comic opera), the the Opéra comique paved the way and the opera seria competed with the Fürstenbühne.
Content of the theater bill
| title | announcement | date | place | composer | Text author | Information about the music | In the breaks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Il Leucippo | large serieuse Opera or Pastorale (which were particularly sought after) | September 19, 1754 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | from the famous Mr. Haße ( Johann Adolf Hasse ) | Giovanni Claudio Pasquini | beautiful arias, duets, cori | Each act is decided with a tantz | |
| La Serva Padrona,
or the ruling maid |
The beautiful and incomparable divertissement [intermezzo], nunmehro in 3 acts and in 3 people | April 4, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | Giovanni Battista Pergolesi ? | Gennaro Antonio Federico ? | beautiful arias and many dumb people | strange equilibres | |
| Il Gioccatore or The Spiehler [ Il giucatore ?] | Opera Comique [Intermezzo] 3 acts | April 5, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | from Mr. Hasse | Carlo Goldoni ? Jean-François Regnard (1696)? | with many beautiful arias and duets | two extra nice dances | |
| Demetrius | extra beautiful and serieuse main opera with 6 voices [3 acts] | April 7, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | Christoph Willibald Gluck ? * Niccolo Jomelli ? ** | Pietro Metastasio ? * | with two extra nice dances | ||
| Il Quatro Amanti in un amante solo, The four lovers in one person | funny interlude in 3 departments | April 12, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | ? | ? | with the most beautiful, funniest arias and duets, also dances and ballets | ||
| Il Calandrano | Opera comique, 5 voices, 3 acts | April 14, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | from Mr. Hasse | Cazzanigo ? * | strange equilibres | ||
| Le Philosophe [ Il filosofo di campagna ?] * | brand new and big funny Opera Comique, 3 acts, last representation | April 21, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | Baldassare Galuppi ? | [Fegejo Polisseno / = Carlo Goldoni] * | the famous Engelländer | ||
| Il negligente, the negligent or the thoughtless man | brand new and large opera comique, 7 voices or people | April 23, 1755 | Roßmarkt Frankfurt / M. | Vincenzo Llimitedio Ciampi ? | Carlo Goldoni? | with arias, duets, trios and quartets | the highly famous English country | (The Washington textbook lists the contributors, including Anna and Rosa Bon.) |
* According to Zdenko Nováček: '' Hudba v Bratislave. '' Bratislava 1978, p. 172/73: indication of libretto prints by the “bookseller Landerer” at Bon's guest performance in Pressburg 1759/60.
** According to Michaela Krucsay: '' Between Enlightenment and Baroque Magnificence '' 2015. Textbook Pressburg 1760, title illustration p. 151.
literature
- Otto Bacher: The history of the Frankfurt Opera in the 18th century . Englert and Schlosser, Frankfurt / M. 1926, DNB 578789191 , pp. 12/13.
- Christoph Meixner: Music theater in Regensburg in the age of the everlasting Reichstag . Studio Verlag, Sinzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-89564-114-5 . , therein the chapter Girolamo Bon.
- HC Robbins Landon: Haydn. Chronicle and Works. Volume I: the early years 1732-1765. and Volume II: at Esterháza 1766-1790 . Indiana University Press, Bloomington / London 1980 (I) ISBN 0-253-37001-9 ; 1978 (II) ISBN 0-253-37002-7 . (Pioneering work with a lot of material about the receipts)
- M. Frédéric Faber: Histoire du Théatre Francais en Belgique depuis son origine jusque a nos jours, d'apres des Documents inédits reposant aux archives générales du Royaume. Tome deuxième, Bruxelles / Paris 1879, here p. 21.
- Zdeněk Novácek: Hudba v Bratislave . Bratislava 1978.
- Mátyás Horányi: The Esterhazy Fairy Kingdom . Contribution to the Hungarian theater history of the 18th century. Hungarian Academy of Sciences Publishing House, Budapest 1959.
- Albert Gier : The libretto. Theory and history of a musical genre. Insel Verlag. Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34366-0 . (including The Opera buffa , The French opéra comique. and The Opera seria and Pietro Metastasio )
- Johannes Hösle: Goldoni, his life, his work, his time . Piper, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-492-03211-7 .
See also
Remarks
- ↑ He died in the service of Prince von Esterházy in Hungary, see letter of December 1, 1773: " The late Bunon " in: Landon II 1978, pp. 65 and 201.
- ^ University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg , Music, Theater, Film Department of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main .
- ^ Wilhelm Pfannkuch: Organizations of Music In: Music in history and present (MGG 1) Volume 10, 1962, column 206.
- ↑ See there under “ The Palais as the seat of the Thurn and Taxis house ”.
- ↑ It was badly damaged in the last war, rebuilt and restored in our time, see Palais Thurn und Taxis .
- ↑ See Meixner, who describes Girolamo Bons work in Regensburg. There is no evidence as to whether the voucher troupe gave performances in the theater of the Frankfurter Palais, which may have been lost when the palace was destroyed in the war. Since when exactly has Bons Wanderoper been given the title Operisten Sr. Hochfürstl. By Thurn und Taxis is unclear.
- ^ Friedrich's eldest sister Sophie Christiane Luise von Brandenburg-Bayreuth married Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt in 1731. In 1756 Bon was appointed professor of architecture and perspective at the newly founded Academy of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Bayreuth, his wife Rosa sang at the court opera from that year and his daughter Anna received the title " Virtuosa di Musica di Camera " from the margrave .
- ↑ He spent several years at the imperial and tsarist courts in Russia, then in Dresden, Berlin, Antwerp, Regensburg, Frankfurt, Bayreuth, Pressburg and Esterhaza (Hungary).
- ↑ Gluck see Horanyi, p. 28 and Novácek, p. 172,173.
- ↑ see the playlist “Il Negligente”.
- ↑ Except for “Il Leucippo” and “La serva padrona”, the graduation goes up to “fifth place”, compare the theater bill “Il Leucippo” and “Il Negligente”.
- ↑ See the playlist "Il Negligente"
- ↑ He earned his merits as a librettist in Antwerp in 1752 together with the composer Johann Friedrich Agricola in the production of the opera La Citadella ingannata .
- ↑ published by Balthasar Schmidt in Nuremberg 1762/64, see RISM.
- ↑ See Otto Bacher and Meixner.
- ↑ possibly owed to the nobility.
- ↑ Johannes Hösle: Goldoni. Register of persons and works, pp. 401–427, p. 412: Il giucatore ? (1750).
- ↑ Johannes Hösle: Goldoni. Register of persons and works, pp. 401–427, p. 412: Il filosofo di campagna ? (1754). The first performance of a dramma giocoso under the same title by Baldassare Galuppi took place on October 26, 1754 in the Teatro San Samuele in Venice.
- ↑ Frankfurt theater ticket and text book on Il Negligente by Ciampi / Goldoni in the Library of Congress Washington seem to refer to one and the same play.