Il re pastore
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The king as a shepherd |
| Original title: | Il re pastore |
| Shape: | Serenata |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| Libretto : | Pietro Metastasio |
| Literary source: | Curtius Rufus: Historiae Alexandri Magni Macedonis, Diodor: Bibliotheca, Justin / Pompeius Trogus: Historiae Philippicae |
| Premiere: | April 23, 1775 |
| Place of premiere: | Salzburg |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | The Phoenician royal city of Sidon , around 332 BC. Chr. |
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Il re pastore (“The King as Shepherd”) is a serenata in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( KV 208), the libretto of which was originally edited by Pietro Metastasio . It deals with an episode in the life of Alexander the Great : the elevation of Abdalonymus as king of Sidon .
Orchestral line-up
According to the New Mozart Edition , the orchestra provides the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes , two oboes or English horns , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets
- Violino principale (solo violin)
- Strings
- Timpani
- Continuo in the recitatives : harpsichord , violoncello
action
The action takes place in Phenicia 332 BC. - Aminta is looking forward to the upcoming marriage with his lover Elisa. Alessandro comes by, who has just freed the Phoenician city of Sidon from its tyrant Strato. Alessandro wants to reinstate the rightful King of Sidon. Agenore tells Alessandro that this king is none other than Aminta, who knows nothing of his origins and lives unrecognized as a shepherd. Alessandro now not only wants to raise Aminta to king, but also to give him Tamiri, the daughter of the fallen Strato and lover of Agenore, as his wife. While Agenore and Tamiri decide to obey the king's command for reasons of common sense, and Elisa has already come to terms with the loss of her lover, Aminta resists: He tells Alessandro that he would rather give up the throne than Elisa . The touched Alessandro now agrees that Aminta may marry his Elisa as king. He wants to look for another kingdom for Agenore and Tamiri, who have shown such great nobility, so that they too can prove their virtue as rulers.
music
Il re pastore is a serenata designed in accordance with its contemporary conventions. This is shown in the consistently simple diction and structure of the entire score and the choice of themes from the circle of idyllic Arcadian poetry . Great dramatic scenes and extreme affects are missing. Instead, an intimate, moderate and balanced tone prevails. The forms are concise and concentrated. The overture is in one movement and continues without interruption into the first scene of the first act. This Andantino, a kind of arioso in open form, was later used by Mozart in a purely instrumental form as an internal section when he expanded the overture to a fully composed symphony (similar to KV 318 and KV 184).
The musical highlight of the opera is Aminta's aria L 'amerò, sarò costante in the second act, which is given a very unique timbre thanks to a solo violin and two English horns . Aminta's aria Aer tranquillo in the first act shows a clear thematic relationship to the first movement of Mozart's Violin Concerto in G major, K. 216.
Mozart's music for Il re pastore was and is often rated as a more conventional casual work (e.g. Wolfgang Hildesheimer ). On the other hand, the opinion is also held that it is a masterful composition in its youthful freshness and liveliness.
Emergence
Mozart was commissioned to compose Il re pastore on the occasion of the visit of Archduke Maximilian Franz , a son of Empress Maria Theresa , to Prince Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo in Salzburg . The libretto Metastasios from 1751 on which the Serenata is based was originally in three acts. Mozart set a version (probably by Giambattista Varesco ) that was edited and reduced to two acts. Mozart began composing in March 1775. The premiere took place on April 23, 1775.
literature
- Daniel Brandenburg a. a .: Mozart's operas. Everything from "Apollo and Hyacinth" to the "Magic Flute" . Piper Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-492-04789-0 (special print from Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater , Vol. 4)
- Stefan Kunze: Mozart's operas . Reclam, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-15-010416-5
- Silke Leopold: Il re pastore . In: Silke Leopold u. a., Mozart Handbook . Bärenreiter, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-7618-2021-6
- Arnold Werner-Jensen: Reclam's music guide Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . Reclam, Stuttgart 1990, Volume 2, vocal music , ISBN 3-15-010360-6
Web links
- Il re pastore : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
- Libretto (in German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b NMA II / 5/9: Il re pastore. Sheet music edition. Petrobelli / Rehm, 1985, p. 2.
- ↑ The timpani are not listed in the NMA, but are mentioned in Operone: work data for Il re pastore based on the MGG with discography in Operone
- ↑ Silke Leopold: Il re pastore . In: Silke Leopold u. a., Mozart Handbook . Bärenreiter, Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-7618-2021-6 .
The Obligation of the First Commandment (1767) | Apollo et Hyacinthus (1767) | Bastien and Bastienne (1768) | La finta semplice (1769) | Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770) | Ascanio in Alba (1771) | Il sogno di Scipione (1772) | Lucio Silla (1772) | Thamos, king in Egypt (1774) | La finta giardiniera (1775) | Il re pastore (1775) | Zaide (fragment) (1780) | Idomeneo (1781) | The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) | The theater director (1786) | Le nozze di Figaro (1786) | Don Giovanni (1787) | Così fan tutte (1790) | La clemenza di Tito (1791) | The Magic Flute (1791)