Il sogno di Scipione
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Scipio's dream |
| Original title: | Il sogno di Scipione |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| Libretto : | Pietro Metastasio |
| Literary source: | Cicero : Somnium Scipionis |
| Premiere: | unsure |
| Place of premiere: | unsure |
| Place and time of the action: | Royal Palace of Carthage, about 150 years before our era |
| people | |
Il sogno di Scipione (German: "The dream of Scipio ") is a serenata in one act by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , KV 126. The libretto by Pietro Metastasio was originally written for the birthday of Charles VI. created. Mozart set to music the libretto for the celebrations of Sekundiz, the fiftieth anniversary of the first Mass , the then Salzburg prince bishop Sigismund Graf Schrattenbach , but he died shortly before this anniversary. The Serenata was then dedicated to his successor.
With regard to the first performance of the work on May 1, 1772 in the Prince-Bishop's Palace in Salzburg, it is now often assumed that it was not performed in its entirety for the new occasion and that the concluding aria of homage was content. This could mean that Mozart never experienced the Serenata himself as a complete performance.
If one assumes that the work was not performed in Mozart's time, the concert premiere did not take place until January 20, 1979 in the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg. The first scenic performance took place in 1982 in an amateur production as part of the Bayreuth Youth Festival. The first professional scenic performance took place in 1984 under the direction of Christopher Hogwood at the second Festival di Vicenza.
The two-movement overture in D major also received its own KV number 161. Along with the nachkomponierten finale in D major, K. 163, it forms a complete Symphony in Three Movements , which in the 6th edition of the Kochel directory is counted as KV 141a.
Libretto and plot
Pietro Metastasio originally wrote the libretto for Il sogno di Scipione for the birthday of Emperor Charles VI. on October 1, 1735. The first setting is by Luca Antonio Predieri . The plot takes on motifs from Cicero's Somnium Scipionis .
The goddesses of happiness and constancy appear to the general Scipio Aemilianus in a dream and ask him to choose between them. They lead him to heaven, where he meets his grandfather Publio and his father Emilio , who teach him about the virtues and show him how small and insignificant the earth is. Scipio would like to stay with them, but is instructed that he still has a mission to fulfill on earth, namely the conquest and destruction of Carthage . Before doing this, he had to choose between the goddesses.
Scipio asks the goddesses how they can help him in his task. First Fortuna shows him her weapons, which makes the rich fall and stand up, but Costanza counters the persistence of values and virtue that she receives in the long run. Scipio is convinced. Although Fortuna is now threatening bad luck, he chooses persistence.
At the crowning conclusion, which is no longer part of the plot, Licenza appears and praises the virtue of the reawakened Scipio and reveals that he personifies Hieronymus von Colloredo , the Prince-Bishop of Salzburg.
Recordings and performances in recent times
- 1979: Studio recording (CD). Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg , Salzburg Chamber Choir, conductor: Leopold Hager . Singers: Peter Schreier (Scipione), Lucia Popp (Costanza), Edita Gruberová (Fortuna), Claes Haakon Ahnsjö (Publio), Thomas Moser (Emilio), Edith Mathis (Licenza).
- 2000: Live recording (CD) of a concert performance in Montreux . Freiburg Baroque Orchestra , Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, conductor: Gottfried von der Goltz . Singers: Bruce Ford (Scipione), Malin Hartelius (Costanza), Lisa Larsson (Fortuna), Charles Workman (Publio), Jeremy Ovenden (Emilio), Christine Brandes (Licenza).
- 2001: studio recording (CD). Musica ad Rhenum, Cappella Amsterdam, conductor: Jed Wentz . Singers: Francois Soons (Scipione), Claudia Patacca (Costanza), Claron McFadden (Fortuna), Terence Mierau (Publio), Marcel Reijans (Emilio), Francine van der Heyden (Licenza).
- 2006: Live recording (DVD) from the Great University Hall in Salzburg. Carinthian Symphony Orchestra, choir of the Klagenfurt City Theater , conductor: Robin Ticciati . Singers: Blagoj Nacoski (Scipione), Louise Fribo (Costanza), Bernarda Bobro (Fortuna), Iain Paton (Publio), Robert Sellier (Emilio), Anna Kovalko (Licenza).
- 2012: Staged performance by the Gotham Chamber Opera, New York. Head: Neal Goren . Singers: Michele Angelini (Scipione), Marie-Ève Munger (Costanza), Susannah Biller (Fortuna), Arthur Espiritu (Publio), Chad A. Johnson (Emilio), Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Licenza).
- 2019: Live recording (video) from the Teatro Malibran in Venice. Head: Federico Maria Sardelli . Singers: Valentino Buzza (Scipione), Francesca Boncompagni (Costanza), Bernarda Bobro (Fortuna), Emanuele D'Aguanno (Publio), Luca Cervoni (Emilio), Rui Hoshina (Licenza).
Web links
- Il sogno di Scipione : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
- Il sogno di Scipione (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Work data for Il sogno di Scipione by Mozart based on the MGG with discography at Operone
- Plot and libretto of Il sogno di Scipione on Opera-Guide target page due to URL change currently not available
- Score (Leipzig 1880) as digitized version for the International Music Score Library Project
- General information about the opera on the Zazzerino homepage
Individual evidence
- ^ Rudolph Angermüller: Il sogno di Scipione. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Vol. 4. Works. Massine - Piccinni. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-492-02414-9 , p. 283 f.
- ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings, Zeno.org , Volume 20, p. 11346.
- ↑ Gotham Chamber Opera - This Seasons Production: Il sogno di Scipione ( Memento of July 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Il Sogno Di Scipione au Teatro Malibran , accessed on July 27, 2020.
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)