Griselda (Vivaldi)

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Work data
Original title: Griselda
Title page of the libretto of the world premiere

Title page of the libretto of the world premiere

Shape: Number opera
Original language: Italian
Music: Antonio Vivaldi
Libretto : Apostolo Zeno , Carlo Goldoni
Literary source: Griseldis from Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio
Premiere: March 18, 1735
Place of premiere: Venice , Teatro San Samuele
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Thessaly, time indefinite
people
  • Gualtiero, King of Thessaly ( tenor ), singer at the premiere: Gregorio Babbi
  • Griselda, wife of Gualtiero ( contra-alto ), Anna Girò
  • Costanza, her daughter ( soprano ), Margherita Giacomazzi
  • Roberto, a prince from Athens ( countertenor ), Gaetano Valetta
  • Ottone, a Thessalian nobleman (countertenor), Lorenzo Saletti
  • Corrado, Roberto's brother, Gualtiero's friend (soprano, trouser role ), Elisabetta Gasparini
  • Everardo, son of Gualtiero and Griselda, silent role, unknown

Griselda is an opera ( musical drama , opera seria ) in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi . It is based on a revised version by Carlo Goldoni of the libretto by Apostolo Zeno created in 1701 on the basis of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron . The opera premiered on May 18, 1735 at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice.

Emergence

Vivaldi composed Griselda towards the end of his career. It is the only opera he created in Venice and the first to be commissioned by the Grimani family , owners of the two most important theaters in Venice, the Teatro San Samuele and the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo . This ended Vivaldi's 22-year ostracism by the great Venetian theaters, which he had incurred as impresario of the Teatro Sant'Angelo and through a dispute with the administrator of the Grimani theaters. Griselda is considered a high point in Vivaldi's late work.

After Apostolo Zeno had already fundamentally changed the character of the king in his favor (while the corresponding protagonist in Boccaccio, the Margrave of Saluzzo, only pretended to his wife Griselda that he had to cast her away because of her lowly origin, and was reprimanded by the people for his cruelty If the people actually demand this from Zeno), Vivaldi had further change requests. Michele Grimani, director of the Teatro San Samuele, commissioned the then still young, unknown Carlo Goldoni to change Zeno's libretto according to Vivaldi's needs. The main aim was to transform it into the new fashion embodied mainly by Pietro Metastasio and to adapt the role of Griselda to the vocal possibilities of the first Griselda, Anna Girò, who was praised less for her singing than for her acting skills. Vivaldi initially did not trust the young Goldoni to have the necessary skills, but he won over him with the text of Griselda's aria in the third act, composed on the spot and to his complete satisfaction.

Goldoni moved the plot from Sicily (Italy) to Thessaly (Greece), reduced the number of images , reduced the arias from 34 to 19, deleted all five duets and added a trio . He fundamentally changed Griselda's character and gave the second pair of lovers, Costanza and Roberto, more space. He provided numerous new aria texts, which opened up more possibilities for Vivaldi's typical flowery composition known from his concertos . Goldoni did not think much of Vivaldi's requests for changes and wrote in the foreword to volume 13 of his Commedie (1761) and in his autobiography Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de sa vie et celle de son théâtre (1787): “I finally have Zenos Drama murdered, just like Vivaldi wanted it to be. ”He added, however, that the opera was wonderful. The first performance was a great success.

“With this work, created as a parade opera, Vivaldi approaches the musical language of its competitors, just to emphasize its uniqueness. ... Griselda is actually anything but a collection of spectacular arias, the opera is the work of a talented dramaturge through and through. "

- Frédéric Delaméa : Supplement to the recording with the Ensemble Matheus, 2005

The British musicologist Michael Talbot states that “the particular fame of this opera is based on Vivaldi's collaboration with Goldoni for the libretto, which Goldoni vividly illustrated in his memoirs”.

The story of Griselda was written before Vivaldi on the basis of Zeno's libretto by Antonio Pollarolo (1701), Antonio Maria Bononcini (1718), Alessandro Scarlatti (1721, libretto revised by an unknown author), Giovanni Battista Bononcini (1722, by Paolo Antonio Rolli revised libretto) and Tomaso Albinoni (1728) and then by Niccolò Piccinni (1793, libretto revised by Angelo Anelli ). The opera Grisélidis by Jules Massenet (1901) is also based on Boccaccio's story.

Performance history

Outside of Italy, the opera was first performed in 1982 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève . In the UK it was premiered on July 23, 1983 at the Buxton Festival in Buxton , and in the USA it was not performed until 2000.

Even today, Griselda is not part of the standard repertoire of the opera stages. In 2002 the opera was performed at the Teatro Dovizi in Bibbiena , with the Orchestra da Camara OperAperta under Sandro Volta and with Simone Polacchi, Alexandra Zabala, Maurizia Barazzoni, Susanna Bortolanei, Angelo Manzotti and Virgilio Bianconi. In 2004, as part of the Uckermark Music Weeks, there was a concert performance in the Maria Magdalenen Church in Templin with the Ensemble Harmonologia Breslau under Jan Tomasz Adamus and with Ewa Marciniec, Olga Pasiecznik, Krystian Krzeszowiak, Marzena Lubaszka, Joanna Dorakowska and Joanna Majewska. In 2005 the Ensemble Matheus performed the opera under Jean-Christophe Spinosi at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris (later transmitted by France Musique and recorded in the studio in 2005 with a slightly different cast), with Steffano Ferrari, Philippe Jaroussky , Verónica Cangemi, Sonia Prina , Blandine Staskiewicz and Iestyn Davies. Griselda was one of the outstanding productions of the 2011 season of the Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe under Grant Gershon and starring Meredith Arwady, Paul Groves , Isabel Leonard, David Daniels , Yuri Minenko and Amanda Majeski. The Pinchgut Opera performed the opera four times in November and December 2011 at the City Recital Hall in Sydney with the Orchestra of the Antipodes under Erin Helyard and with Caitlin Hulcup, Christopher Saunders, David Hansen , Miriam Allan, Tobias Cole and Russell Harcourt. In the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro , there was a concert performance with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra under Marco Pace and Luisa Francesconi, Juliana Franco, Lyz Nardotto, Razek-François Bitar, Johan Christensson and Carolina Faria in June 2012 found. The opera was performed in concert at Cadogan Hall in London on September 18, 2014, heralded the UK premiere of Giulio Ricordi's critical edition , with Opera Settecento under Tom Foster and with Andrew Watts, Hilary Summers, Erica Eloff, Ronan Busfield , Tom Verney and Kiandra Howarth.

Two arias from the opera have become well-known concert pieces that have brought singers like Cecilia Bartoli , Vivicagenaux and Simone Kermes to the stage: Agitata da due venti from the second act and Dopo un'orrida procella from the third act.

action

Years before the story begins, Gualtiero, King of Thessaly, married the poor shepherdess Griselda. The people have never forgiven her for her humble origins. When the daughter Costanza was born, the king decided to put Griselda to the public test in order to gain respect among the people. He pretended to Griselda that he had to kill Costanza to stay in power. He took her away from her, but did not kill her, but secretly brought her to his friend, Prince Corrado of Athens, who was to raise her. Griselda accepted the decision to kill Costanza, thus providing the desired proof of her loyalty to the king and her patience.

first act

The stately palace, set up for public audiences.

After the birth of his son Everardo, King Gualtiero announced, in order to reassure the people, that he would cast Griselda away and take a new wife. He gives Griselda the order to leave the palace and the son. The courtier Ottone is in love with Griselda and believes that his hour has come with her repudiation, but she rejects him. Then he snatches her son, whom she wanted to hug one last time, and flees. Griselda returns to her hut. Corrado promises her to do everything possible to find her son again. The king's proposed bride is none other than Costanza, who knows nothing of her true origins. She loves Corrado's younger brother Roberto, and the thought of marrying Gualtiero drives her to despair.

Second act

The royal apartments, then in the country, on the side a hut.

Corrado reminds Costanza of her vows of love for Roberto. When he appears, she rejects him, saying that she is the king's bride. Ottone appears in Griselda's hut and promises to give her back her son if she hears him. Otherwise the son will die. Griselda hesitates, but rejects him again. Costanza also appears at the Griseldas hut. She believes she recognizes the lost daughter in her, and the two immediately find a close relationship. Gualtiero and his followers pass by Griselda's hut while hunting. Gualtiero prevents Ottones attempting to kidnap Griselda, who is arrested. When Griselda wants to thank Gualtiero, he rejects her. At Costanza's urging, he allows Griselda to return to court, but only as Costanza's servant.

Third act

The Costanza apartments.

Costanza and Roberto swear eternal loyalty. Griselda surprises the two and accuses them of betraying the king. He learns about it, but to everyone's surprise, his anger is not directed against the two of them, but against Griselda. He pardons Ottone and promises him to check Griselda again, her hand as soon as he himself has married Costanza. But Griselda declares that she would rather die. Moved by her loyalty, Gualtiero takes her back as his wife. He and Corrado reveal Costanza's true origins, and Gualtiero allows her to marry Roberto. Ottone is pardoned. The people sing about the love and virtue of the royal couple.

Music numbers

The opera contains the following pieces of music:

Sinfonia

  • 1st Allegro (C major); for strings and basso continuo
  • 2nd Andante (G minor); for violins I / II, viola and bass without harpsichord
  • 3. Minuet. Allegro (C major); for violins I / II, viola and basso continuo

first act

  • Scene 1. Recitative: "Questo, ò Popoli, è'Igiorno"
  • Scene 2. Recitative: "Ecoti, Sire innanzi l'umil tua serva"
  • Scene 3. Recitative: "Signor or ora al Porto"
    • Aria (Gualtiero): "Se ria procella" - Allegro (A major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Siroe, re di Persia RV 735c I: 9
  • Scene 4. Recitative: "Ecco il tempo in cui l'alma"
    • Aria (Griselda): "Brami le mie catene" - Allegro (G major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Tamerlano RV 703 II: 3rd
  • Scene 5. Recitative: "Troppo avezza è Griselda"
    • Aria (Ottone): "Vede orgoglio sa l'onde" - Largo (G major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Adelaide RV 695 I: 5; Orlando furioso (Este 1740) RV Anh 127.24; Orlando furioso (Bassano 1741) RV Anh 127.25
  • Scene 6. Recitative: "Costanza, eccoti in porto"
  • Scene 7. Recitative: "L'arcano in to racchiudi"
    • Aria (Costanza): “Ritorna à lusingarmi” - Allegro non molto (B flat major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Atabano, re dei Parti RV 706c I: 14; Il Teuzzone RV 736 II: 17; Fede tradita e vendicata (Graz 1736) RV Anh 127a.16
  • Scene 8. Recitative: "German, se avevi à tormi"
    • Aria (Roberto): “Estinguere vorrei” - Andante molto (G major); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 9. Recitative: "Infelice Roberto, ancor non sà"
  • Scene 10. Recitative: "Misera in quante guise"
  • Scene 11. Recitative: "Ecco, Griselda, il figlio"
  • Scene 12. Recitative: "Ferma, t'arresta rendimi il figlio"
    • Aria (Corrado): "Alle minaccie di fiera belva" - Allegro (F major); for two horns, strings and basso continuo; see. Farnace RV 711g II: 2; Siroe, re di Persia RV 735b II: 8
  • Scene 13. Recitative: "Infelice Griselda che più temer poss'io?"
    • Aria (Griselda): "Hò il cor già lacero" - Allegro (C minor); for strings and basso continuo; see. Ginevra principessa di Scozia RV 716 III: 9

Second act

  • Scene 1. Recitative: "Dimmi, come amorosa à Gualtier corrispondi?"
    • Aria (Corrado): “La Rondinella amante” - Allegro (A minor); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 2. Recitative: "Pria, che d'amar ti lasci"
    • Aria (Costanza): "Agitata da due venti" - Allegro (B flat major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Adelaide RV 695 I: 17
  • Scene 3. Recitative: "E nel cuor di Costanza"
    • Aria (Roberto): “Dal tribunal d'amore” - Larghetto (D major); for violins I / II, viola and basso continuo; see. L'Atenaide RV 702b II: 11; Farnace RV 711g II; 3
  • Scene 4. Recitative: "Andiam Griselda andiamo"
  • Scene 5. Recitative: “Ferma Griselda. Che importuno "
    • Recitative (strings and basso continuo): "Oh d'un seno infelice parto più sventurato"
    • Recitative: "Se deluda l'indegno"
    • Aria (Griselda): "Nò non tanta crudeltà" - Allegro (F major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Adelaide RV 695 III: 2; Siroe, re di Persia RV 735b I: 15
  • Scene 6. Recitative: "Sprezzami quando sai, vedrai superba"
  • Scene 7. Recitative: "Perdonami Griselda, se coll'amor t'offendo"
    • Aria (Ottone): "Scocca dardi l'oldo tuo ciglio" - Allegro molto (C major); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 8. Recitative: “Fuggi. Perchè? Non posso senza colpa mirarti "
    • Aria (Roberto): “Che legge che legge tiranna!” - Allegro (E minor); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 9. Recitative: "Sola sebben mi lasci"
  • Scene 10. Recitative: "Dè tuoi bei sguardi, ò cara"
  • Scene 11. Recitative: "Avisato, che Otton ver questa parte"
    • Aria (Gualtiero): "Tu vorresti col tuo pianto" - Largo ma poco (F major); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 12. Recitative: "Ecco Otton, sola, inerme, che far posso?"
  • Scene 13. Recitative: “L'impone il Rè? Sè troppo difo Ottone "
  • Scene 14. Recitative: “Qual grazie posso… Alla pietà le rendi”
    • Trio (Costanza, Griselda, Gualtiero): “Non più Regina ma, Pastorella” - Andante molto (G minor); for strings and basso continuo

Third act

  • Scene 1. Recitative: “Risoluta è quest'alma. Di partir? "
  • Scene 2. Recitative: "E per semper vi unisca, amanti fidi"
  • Scene 3. Recitative: “Griselda. Il Rè "
    • Aria (Griselda): “Son infelice tanto” - Allegro (E flat major); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 4. Recitative: “Temo. Pavento. Eh non estingua adesso "
    • Aria (Roberto): "Moribonda quest'alma dolente" - Allegro (D major)
  • Scene 5. Recitative: "Posso Roberto amar?"
    • Aria (Costanza): "Ombre vane ombre vane ingiusti orrori" - Larghetto (C major); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 6. Recitative: “L'empio t'ascolti. Forse dall'amot di costei "
    • Aria (Ottone): “Doppo un orrida procella” - Allegro molto (F major); for two horns, strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 7. Recitative: "Soffri Griselda ancora"
    • Aria (Gualtiero): "Sento, che l'alma teme" - Allegro molto (A major); for strings and basso continuo
  • Scene 8. Recitative: "Ministri accelerate l'apparato"
  • Scene 9. Recitative: "Griselda Altro non manca"
    • Choir (all sopranos in unison): “Imeneo, che se d'amore” -… (D major); for trumpet, violins I / II, viola / basso continuo; see. Feraspe RV 713 III: 9; Motezuma RV 723 III: 12

Unused pieces from the original version

  • Scene I: 5. Aria: "Dolce ferita mi lusinga il dio d'amor" (variant of the aria "Vado si ma la mis pena" from Adelaide RV 695 I: 15, only the end preserved)
  • Scene I: 10. Recitative: “Misera… Mà che veggo? Il mio Signor "
  • Scene II: 4. Recitative: "Se la dolce memoria del perduto" (beginning with crossed out)
  • Scene II: 8. Recitative: "E 'deliquio di core ò stanchezza"
    • Aria (Griselda): "Sonno se pur sei sonno e non orrore" - Andante (C minor); for violins I / II and viola; see. Tito Manlio RV 738

Inserted (not in the libretto)

  • Scene II: 7. Aria (Ottone): "Dovresti esser contento" - Allegro (G major); for strings and basso continuo

Discography

  • Soloist Montpellier-Moscou under Francesco Fanna, with Helen Centner, Maria Gabriella Cianci, Elizabeth Lombardini-Smith, Gabriella Morigi, Anna Bonitatibus and Leslie Poleri-Tosi; Arkadia AK 122.3 (3 audio CDs), 1992 (live recording)
  • Orchestra da Camera OperAperta under Sandro Volta, with Simone Polacchi, Alexandra Zabala, Maurizia Barazzoni, Susanna Bortolanei, Angelo Manzotti and Virgilio Bianconi; Encore 3024 (DVD), 2002
  • Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi , with Marie-Nicole Lemieux , Steffano Ferrari, Philippe Jaroussky , Verónica Cangemi, Simone Kermes and Iestyn Davies; Naïve OP30419 (3 ​​audio CDs), 2005
  • Aradia Baroque Ensemble under Kevin Mallon, with Marion Newman, Giles Tomkins, Lynne McMurtry, Carla Huhtanen, Colin Ainsworth and Jason Nedecky; Naxos (3 audio CDs, 8.660211-13), 2006
  • Pinchgut Opera under Erin Helyard, with Caitlin Hulcup, Christopher Saunders, Tobias Cole, Miriam Allan, David Hansen and Russell Harcourt; Pinchgut Opera (2 audio CDs), 2012

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Boccaccio, Giovanni. Collection of novels. The decameron. Tenth day. Tenth story. In: Zeno.org .
  2. ^ A b Holden, Talbot: The New Penguin Opera Guide. 2001, p. 1017 f.
  3. ↑ a b Antonio Vivaldi. Griselda. In: www.haendel.it (ital.).
  4. ^ Rita Laurance: Antonio Vivaldi. Griselda, opera in 3 acts, RV 718. In: AllMusic.
  5. ↑ Eric Cross: Griselda (iv). In: Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (paid online version of 2001 edition).
  6. ↑ Holden, Talbot: The New Penguin Opera Guide. 2001, p. 1017.
  7. ^ Alain Zürcher: La Griselda. In: L'Atelier du Chanteur. September 21, 2005 (review of the 2005 performance at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées).
  8. ^ Anthony Tommasini: One Cruel King, by Way of Vivaldi. In: The New York Times . August 10, 2011 (review of 2011 Santa Fe performance).
  9. ^ Carolyn McDowall: Vivaldi's Griselda - Pinchgut Opera, a Decade of Excellence. In: The Culture Concept Circle. December 1, 2011 (review of the 2011 Sydney performance).
  10. ^ Maria Luiza Nobre: Première brasileira de 'Griselda' de Vivaldi. In: Jornal do Brasil. June 22, 2012 (review of the 2012 performance in Rio de Janeiro).
  11. ^ Robert Hugill: Opera Settecento in Vivaldi's Griselda. In: Planet Hugill. September 19, 2014 (review of the 2014 performance in London).
  12. ^ Peter Ryom : Vivaldi catalog raisonné. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-7651-0372-8 , pp. 433-438.
  13. ^ Work information based on the Ryom catalog on musiqueorguequebec.ca, accessed on November 2, 2019.
  14. ^ Raymond Tuttle: Antonio Vivaldi. Griselda, RV718. In: Classical Net (review of the Naïve recording, English).
  15. ↑ Griselda on YouTube (Naxos image from 2006).
  16. ↑ Dominic McHugh: Vivaldi: Griselda. In: MusicalCriticism.com (review of the Naxos recording from 2006, English).