Imeneo

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Work data
Original title: Imeneo
Title page of the libretto, Dublin 1742?

Title page of the libretto, Dublin 1742?

Shape: Dramma per musica
Original language: Italian
Music: georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto : unknown
Literary source: Silvio Stampiglia , Imeneo (1723)
Premiere: November 22, 1740
Place of premiere: Theater Royal, Lincoln's Inn Fields , London
Playing time: 2 hours
Place and time of the action: Athens , in mythical times
people
  • Imeneo , loves Rosmene ( bass )
  • Tirinto, engaged to Rosmene ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Rosmene, engaged to Tirinto ( soprano )
  • Clomiri, loves Imeneo (soprano)
  • Argenio, Rosmenes and Clomiri's father, a wealthy Athenian (bass)
  • Guards, servants, people

Imeneo or Hymen ( HWV 41) is an opera ( Dramma per musica , Serenata ) in three acts by Georg Friedrich Händel . It is his penultimate opera before he turned entirely to the English-language oratorio . The heyday of Italian opera in London, which had a decisive influence on Handel, came to an end after almost thirty years.

Emergence

The composition of the Imeneo falls in a time of the reorientation of Handel. In 1733 he had lost a monopoly. Until then he had been the head of the only Italian opera company, the Royal Academy of Music : he was able to use the prestigious premises of the King's Theater on the Haymarket and was considered the most influential figure in the field of opera, both creatively and practically. Then a rival company, the Opera of the Nobility , conquered the King's Theater from 1734, and Handel felt compelled to move his performances to other houses. He did that first in John Rich's new theater in Covent Garden , where he held three seasons in competition with the aristocratic opera. During these years he produced some outstanding new operas, and he developed the English language oratorio genre.

Winged Hymenaios with wedding torch , Neptuntherme , Ostia Antica

But he had to fight for his audience: Not enough that there were too few opera fans and patrons in London to maintain two houses, the new aristocratic opera had also managed to poach Handel's best singers and lure the famous castrato Farinelli to London . In the years 1737/38, when the economic collapse of both companies through the ruinous competition became evident, attempts were made to unite the remains of both competitors, and Handel agreed to work on behalf of the company that remained in the King's Theater, which is now "theirs “Farinelli had lost writing some Italian operas. Faramondo and Serse , performed for the first time in the first half of 1738 , were only moderately successful and it became increasingly clear that the Italian opera was going downhill in London.

The response to the subscription for the next season, which Handel's business partner Heidegger offered in May, was then so low that the project had to be canceled and he announced his withdrawal in a London newspaper:

“WHEREAS the Opera's for the ensuing season at the King's Theater in the Hay-Market, cannot be carried on as was intended, by Reason of the Subscription not being full, and that I could not agree with the Singers, tho 'I offer' d One Thousand Guineas to One of them: I therefore think myself oblig'd to declare, that I give up the undertaking for next year, and that Mr. Drummond will be ready to repay the money paid in, upon the delivery of his receipt ; I also take this opportunity to return my humble Thanks to all Persons, who were pleas'd to contribute towards my endeavors of carrying on that entertainment. J. J. Heidegger. "

“Because the operas at the King's Theater on Haymarket cannot continue as planned in the coming season, after the subscriptions have not been sold out and I could not come to an agreement with the singers, even though I offered one of them a thousand guineas [probably Caffarelli ], see I forced myself to declare that I will be leaving the company next year and that Mr. Drummond will refund the money paid on presentation of the receipt; I would also like to take this opportunity to express my most humble thanks to all those who have been so kind as to support me in my endeavors to continue the events. J. J. Heidegger. "

- Johann Jacob Heidegger : The London Daily Post , London, July 26, 1738

But Handel had recognized the danger in good time: two days earlier he had started work on his oratorio Saul , which apparently caused him considerable problems, as can be seen from the numerous corrections and rejected numbers. Although the work on Saul was well advanced, he seemed overwhelmed by it for the time being and put the score aside at the beginning of September to begin another Italian opera, Imeneo , for the performance of which was actually no prospect, because he lacked both the singers, as well as the theater and the audience. His entries in the autograph read: "Overture, 9 September 1738, Son̄abend" ; "Fine dell'Atto l mo the 14th Sept. 1738" ; "Fine dell'Atto 2 do the 17th September" and "Fine dell'Opera the 20th September" 1738 " . The opera was not yet complete, however, as he only wrote most of the arias in the work, but hardly any of the recitatives. When he realized that he lacked suitable singers to perform the next season, he put the work aside. At this stage the part of Imeneo was provided with a tenor clef , as if Handel had expected the English singer John Beard to perform the part.

Regardless of the point of view from which one looks at Handel's career in retrospect, one fact always stands out: his stubborn refusal to give up the theater, his real calling. There were no financial or health disasters on the other hand, even in the face of a disinterested audience, a changed taste in music and rumors about his dwindling power, he remained steadfast.

As can be seen in a letter of September 19, 1738 from Charles Jennens , Saul's librettist , he soon took up the oratorio again and finished it on October 27. After Heidegger's withdrawal, Handel went back to his old principle of planning seasons and programs himself. Nonetheless, he was faced with two practical problems: firstly, it was necessary to find the right space, and secondly, a good group of singers had to be put together. For the time being he could stay at the King's Theater. Just a few days after the Saul was completed , he began work on Israel in Egypt - one of the very different works - which he completed on October 11th.

In January 1739, Handel brought out Saul at the Haymarket , followed by resumption of the Alexander Festival in February and March , the world premiere of Israel in Egypt in April and an attempt with the Pasticcio Giove in Argo ( Jupiter in Argos ), but again Italian opera to place in the game board. In the meantime he dealt with the score of Imeneo again , made significant revisions and also wrote several recitatives - apparently in the hope of being able to perform the piece at the end of the current season. It seems that at this point he also wanted to sign some Italian singers. But the expectations were dashed.

With Saul and Israel, however , the phase of experimentation was not over: on September 24, 1739, John Dryden's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day came to an end. For the new season, Handel rented the smaller theater in Lincoln's Inn Fields from John Rich , which he opened on the day of St. Cecilia, November 22, with a program that included his new ode and parts of the Alexander Festival . But the bad weather on the one hand, and the war against Spain on the other, reduced his chances of success. With a view to the exceptionally cold winter, in which one could roast oxen on a spit on the frozen Thames , the theater administration promised in the Daily Post: When Handel repeated the ode a month later, this time coupled with Acis and Galatea , it said:

“Particular Care has been taken to have the House well-air'd; and the Passage from the Fields to the House will be cover'd for. "

"Special precautions are being taken to keep the house warm, and the passage between the fields and the house should be roofed over for convenience."

- The London Daily Post , London, November 22, 1739

When Handel repeated the ode a month later, this time coupled with Acis and Galatea , it was said:

"Particular Care will be taken to have Guards plac'd to keep all the Passages clear from the Mob."

"Efforts will be made to set up guards everywhere to keep the mob out of the passages."

- The London Daily Post , London, November 27, 1739

Handel kept fighting, but obviously he was the only one. In a letter, the poet Richard West, who died early, reports in a frustrated tone:

“Plays we have none, or damned ones. Handel has had a concerto this winter. No opera, no nothing. All for war and Admiral Haddock. Farewell and adieu! "

“There are no plays, or only miserable ones. Handel has a concert this winter [d. H. a series of concerts]. No opera, nothing. All because of the war and because of Admiral Haddock . Bye and see you!"

- Richard West : Letter to Horace Walpole , London, December 13, 1739

The New Year was just as bad. Although curtains were drawn in front of every door and there was constant heating, a repetition of Acis and Galatea had to be postponed:

"Two chief singers being taken ill."

"Two of the most important singers are sick."

- The London Daily Post , London, February 14, 1740

Handel had started the new year full of energy. While the residents of London sat by their log fires, he used the free time and began work on a text again written by Jennens for the third secular ode of this season, the allegorical oratorio L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato , which he Completed on February 4, 1740 and first performed on the 27th of the same month. L'Allegro was played five times and together with the resumption of Saul , Esther and Israel in Egypt , Handel had ended the sizeable season. But even these partial successes were not enough to save him from the dilemma in which he was now. He had tried the opera, then the oratorio, and finally the ode - now it looked as if all attempts had failed. The ode was an undramatic form, limited in its possibilities, and only very few suitable texts were found. The oratorio was at a disadvantage, as the Earl of Shaftesbury put it in his Memoirs of Handel (1760), that

"[...] his Singers in general not being Capital, nor the Town come into a relish of this Species of Musick."

"[...] the singers are generally not stars and the city does not yet know how to enjoy this kind of music."

- Earl of Shaftesbury : Memoirs of Handel , London 1760

It had turned out that opera, which was Handel's real love, was untenable, but it was the only way to attract the great singers he was used to working with and on whom the success of his other projects depended. Perhaps the hope of finding a new troupe of opera singers to solve the dilemma was the reason for Handel's trip abroad in the summer of 1740. He is only mentioned once during this time, when he played the organ in Haarlem on September 9th , otherwise it is Trip hardly documented. A note from the Hamburger Relations Courier shows that he was on his way to Berlin, perhaps with the intention of trying to get a job at the court of Frederick II . If this was the case, one can conclude from this that a return to Germany, even at this late point in time, must have been attractive for Handel, who had long since been an English citizen.

Immediately after his return, Handel resumed work on Imeneo , which he had started two years earlier. He finished the opera on October 10th and started a new one on the 27th of that month: Deidamia , which said goodbye to a genre that had been the center of his English career for thirty years. A second time he rented the Theater Royal in Lincoln's Inn Fields; his intention was to have more theatrical performances in the new season. On November 8th he performed the Serenata Il Parnasso in Festa , and only on November 22nd did another and this time theatrical performance follow, namely the world premiere of Imeneo .

La Francesina John Faber after George Knapton , 1737, Foundling Museum, London


Cast of the premiere


With the castrato Andreoni, who had performed for the first time at the Haymarket in the previous season, and the soprano "Francesina", Handel was able to bring two first-class artists who are experienced in the field of Italian opera to the stage. The youthful Imeneo was sung by William Savage, who sang as a boy soprano for the first time under Handel in 1735 and was so successful with his performance in the oratorio Athalia that he created the role of Oberto in Alcina for him . Now the boy was a young man and his voice fell into the bass register. For the character of the young Clomiri, whose longing for Imeneo is not fulfilled because he wants to conquer Rosmene, Handel engaged Miss Edwards, who was greatly encouraged by the London actress Kitty Clive , but who could not prevent her protégée from a contemporary like a "little girl" occurred. Apparently, a few last minute revisions to the score were needed to make up for the young Miss Edwards' humble musical experience. She later married the actor Thomas Mozeen.

libretto

The libretto is an anonymous, minor adaptation of Silvio Stampiglia's two-part "componimento drammatico" Imeneo , created on the occasion of the wedding of a nobleman from the Kingdom of Naples , which in 1723 with the music of Nicola Porpora (later Handel's rival in London) in Naples and in a three-act version when Imeneo in Atene was performed in Venice in 1726 . Imeneo, the opera's title character, is the Greek god Hymenaios , the god of marriage. The figure of Argenio, Clomiri's brother in the original Neapolitan libretto, now became her father, and this simple change in the original contributed to a much more realistic interpretation of the characters.

Handel's work was only seen once in London, on December 13, 1740,

"[...] By Command of his Royal Highness the Prince of WALES [...]"

"[...] by order of Sr. Königl. Your Highness the Prince of Wales [...] "

- The London Daily Post , London, December 13, 1740

played after a performance planned for November 29th had to be canceled due to an illness of "Francesina". Handel took Imeneo with him on his trip to Ireland and performed the opera in the course of the Dublin subscription events in March 1742 twice in a concert version as "Serenata" under the English title Hymen in the New Musick Hall on Fishamble Street. These were the last public performances of an Italian work under his direction. For these performances he made various musical interventions, which are quite interesting, but do not change the fact that the score of the London performances of 1740 provides the best version of the work, both dramaturgically and musically. Due to the multiple revisions, the musical sources are difficult to interpret; In addition, it has only recently been possible to reconstruct the entire genesis of the work.

The reactions to the opera were very mixed. In the press the new work was called "Operetta". Although the work was described as "very pleasant" after the rehearsals, the audience could not be won over. Exactly this tenor can be found in a letter from attorney Thomas Harris, an ardent supporter of Handel who witnessed the premiere evening, to his brother, the philosopher James Harris :

“I have just now am at Mr. Handel's operetta, at which were the King and all the St. James's royall family […] I don't think it mett with the applause it deserves, as I think there are a great many good songs in it [...] ”

“I have just been to Mr. Handel's operetta, as have His Majesty the King and the entire royal family of St. James […] But I don't think they [the opera] received the appropriate applause, although it did great abundance of good chants can be found. "

- Thomas Harris : Letter to James Harris , London, November 22, 1740

Charles Jennens, however, with whom Handel had been working on the Saul at the time Imeneo was created, disagreed and wrote to James Harris:

"We have had nothing new yet but the Operetta of Hymen, in my opinion the worst of all Handel's Compositions, yet half the songs are good."

"So far we have nothing new, except for the Operetta Hymen , in my opinion the worst of all Handelian compositions, even if half of the arias are good."

- Charles Jennens : Letter to James Harris , London, December 29, 1740

The first Imeneo production in modern times premiered on March 13, 1960 in the State Theater of Halle (Saale) and ran there on 24 evenings. Waldtraut Lewin and Kurt Hübenthal had created a German version of the text . Horst-Tanu Margraf was the musical director . The piece was first performed again in the original language and in historical performance practice at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University in Lewisburg (Pennsylvania) on April 25, 1988 with the Brewer Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Rudolph Palmer.

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music

The plot is unheroic and straightforward; the mood borders on the comic; accordingly Handel's music is melodious, with a striking preference for short phrases and an elegance in the uncomplicated. Only Rosmene's feigned madness in the last scene of the third act is reminiscent of the usual intensity of the Academy operas .

Compared to many of Handel's earlier operas, it is almost a chamber opera : the dramatic tension is based on the simple yet powerful interplay of a few figures, the moderate orchestral line-up is limited primarily to strings and oboes, and the entire performance is one probably performed with the set of the first scene. Handel compensates for this modest means by allowing individual choruses to play their own roles, but above all by the extremely attractive music that so aptly illuminates the individual characters and situations. It is conceivable that the possibilities of an intimate play like Imeneo corresponded to Handel's mood at the time far more than the prospect of another drama full of spectacular effects. Furthermore, there are elements in the Imeneo that - like some other operas of the later years - suggest a rather ironic handling of the conventions of a genre that had played such a central role in the life of the composer until then.

Musically, the opera clearly favors Tirinto; However, Rosmene does not follow the voice of her heart: she chooses Imeneo, the young hero, not her lover and thus fulfills the public's expectations: duty and gratitude. The arias of Tirinto, Sorge nell 'alma mia (No. 14) and Pieno il core di timore (No. 21) are great pieces.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the opera is that the music, despite its intricate and laborious genesis, has a freshness that conveys the different moods of the characters just as vividly as the increasing dramatic tensions. Imeneo could, of course, appear strange to an audience that had made friends with the master's more spectacular, virtuoso and heroic operas in earlier years, because Handel deliberately ignores the conventions of the opera seria in the composition and brings an unusually simple and relatively stringent plot with a particularly humorous effect on the stage.

In the version that he produced two years later for the performances in Dublin , Handel added two more duets for Rosmene and Tirinto, the “original” lovers: Vado e vivo colla speranza (No. 9c) from Faramondo (1738) im first act (there Vado e vivo ) and Per le porte del tormento (No. 29, from Sosarme , 1732) as a bittersweet farewell duet before the final chorus. To do this, he cut three arias and shortened the recitatives.

The last scene

Stampiglia's story of the wedding god Hymen is not quite as clear as the occasion of a princely wedding would actually have meant. Because the beautiful Rosmene loves another; but is now supposed to marry Imeneo for reasons of state, who desires her and demands her as a price for rescuing a ship full of Athenian virgins from the hands of pirates. The whole opera is about the entanglements around her decision and finally culminates in a scene of acted madness in which Rosmene makes her surprising decision - surprisingly not because she chooses against love and for duty (because such a decision was in courtly circles a matter of course), but the fact that Rosmene's choice seems so absurd is mainly due to the way Handel musically characterizes the lover Tirinto and the ultimately chosen bridegroom Imeneo.

It starts with the cast: Tirinto is a castrato role, Imeneo is a bass. But Handel had never written an opera in which a bass sang a youthful hero. Basses embodied fathers and villains (sometimes in personal union), and they were available for supporting roles. Simply by choosing the pitch, the composer sided with the “wrong one”, who he believed was actually the “right one”. The fact that Tirinto is musically much more differentiated and touching contributes not insignificantly to the impression that Rosmene would have done better to make a different decision.

But that's not all. Handel, who did not write Imeneo for a specific occasion and therefore did not have to be careful to avoid similarities with living people and current situations, added another musical commentary on this obvious mesalliance , which was the one before , when he was resumed in Dublin in 1742 rather than a comical portrayed situation suddenly gave a tragic tone. Before Rosmene goes mad, Tirinto and Imeneo push for a decision. You do this in the words of a little Arioso:

Si la mia pace a me vuoi togliere,
barbara, toglimi la vita ancor.

If you want to rob me of my peace,
cruel ones, take my life too.

First Imeneo Rosmene intervenes: The music of this Arioso , which seems almost like a small folk song, is rather unspecific and harmless. It lives from a dance-like ⅜ time and from the dotted turns of the three consecutive dactylic words tógliere - bárbara - tóglimi . After Imeneo leaves, Tirinto comes, sings the same Arioso an octave higher and leaves. Finally they both come back and sing their song together in a little duet, always alternating and briefly together at the cadences. That Rosmene is now taking refuge in the pretended madness seems plausible afterwards. In the original London version, the opera ended with Rosmene's decision and a short and implausible recitative, before a final chorus commented in detail on the decision between reason ( ragione ) and love ( amore ):

(Rosmene da la mano ad Imeneo)

Imeneo
Fortunato Imeneo

Rosmene
Tirinto datti pace
e non dispiaccia a te ciò che a me piace.

(Rosmene offers Imeneo his hand)


Happy Imeneo


Tirinto, make your peace,
and you shall not be displeased with what I like.

On closer reflection, Handel seems to have found this conclusion all too unsatisfactory musically and especially dramatically. Although he had already put a musical question mark behind Rosmene's decision by choosing the not necessarily cheerful key of E minor for the final choir, he made a serious change for the Dublin version. Between the recitative and the final chorus, he inserted one of the most beautiful and moving love duets that he had ever composed: Per le porte del tormento (Through the gates of torment) is at its original location, in Sosarme , the musical climax of an unusual situation: The wounded titular hero lying on a bed is cared for by his lover Elmira, who is not in despair about his condition, but just happy to have him alive with her, whom she previously believed to be dead. In this situation, Sosarme and Elmira sing a duet that is about pain and bliss:

Per le porte del tormento
passan l'anime a gioir.

Sta il content
del cordoglio sul confine,
non v'è rosa senza spine
nè piacer senza martir.


The souls pass through the gates of torment to joy.

Contentment is
at the limit of sorrow ,
there is no rose without thorns
and no pleasure without sorrow.

Handel turned this text into an almost overly long duet - as if Elmira and Sosarme wanted to savor this moment of happiness to the limit. The siciliano gesture , which Handel reserved for pastoral as well as extremely desperate situations, refers equally to a special, prominent moment like the key of E major. Embedded in a lusciously flowing string section, Elmira and Sosarme also often sing in the usual parallel sixths and with the familiar suspensory dissonances; In addition, Handel enriches this duet with numerous, Arcadian-pastoral organ points, which underline the paradisiacal nature of this gift of togetherness.

Handel put this duet in front of the final chorus in Imeneo . What an unheard-of situation - Rosmene holds Imeneo's hand and sings a love duet with Tirinto. The siciliano's tone, which alternates between joy and sorrow, is transformed into a hopeless farewell scene. The fact that Imeneo was only performed in concert in Dublin relieved Handel of the embarrassment of having to stage such a triangular story. But the music reveals what those present suspected: This marriage cannot be happy. The harmony of feelings, canceled out in harmony of voices, does not apply to the future husband. The bass is not suitable for a duet with the soprano. In this respect, this love duet confirms the idea of ​​casting the lover's roles with high voices, both in the old and in the new.

Success and criticism

"[...] Imeneo is a little masterpiece, the best of the post- Alcina operas with the exception of Serse ."

"[...] Imeneo is a small masterpiece, the best of his operas after Alcina with the exception of Xerxes ."

- Winton Dean : Handel's Operas, 1726–1741. , London 2006

orchestra

Two oboes , strings, basso continuo ( violoncello , lute , harpsichord ).

Discography

Handel Festival Orchestra Halle ; Dir. Horst-Tanu Margraf (56 min, shortened)
English Chamber Orchestra ; Gov. Anthony Lewis
  • Brilliant Classics 99777-19 / 20 (1985): John Ostendorf (Imeneo), D'Anna Fortunato (Tirinto), Julianne Baird (Rosmene), Beverly Hoch (Clomiri), Jan Opalach (Argenio)
Brewer Chamber Orchestra ; Dir. Rudolph Palmer (112 min)
  • Pro Musica Camerata 025 (1999): Wojciech Adalbert Gierlach (Imeneo), Jacek Laszczkowski (Tirinto), Olga Pasichnyk (Rosmene), Marta Boberska (Clomiri), Andrezej Klimcszak (Argenio)
Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense; Dir. Władysław Kłosiewicz
Capella Augustina Cologne; Dir. Andreas Spering

literature

swell

Web links

Commons : Imeneo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Donald Burrows: Handel. Imeneo . From the English by Eckhardt van den Hoogen, CPO 999915-2, Osnabrück 2003, p. 8 ff.
  2. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition : Documents on life and work. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Händel-Handbuch: Volume 4 , Deutscher Verlag für Musik , Leipzig 1985, ISBN 3-7618-0717-1 , p. 298.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Christopher Hogwood : Georg Friedrich Händel. A biography (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655). From the English by Bettina Obrecht, Insel Verlag , Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 266 ff.
  4. ↑ a b c Bernd Baselt : Thematic-systematic directory. Stage works. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Handel Handbook: Volume 1 , Deutscher Verlag für Musik , Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 . Unchanged reprint, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-7618-0610-4 , p. 491 f.
  5. ↑ Christopher Hogwood : Georg Friedrich Handel. A biography (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655). Translated from the English by Bettina Obrecht, Insel Verlag , Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 250.
  6. ↑ a b c Handel Reference Database 1739 . ichriss.ccarh.org. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  7. ↑ a b c Handel Reference Database 1740 . ichriss.ccarh.org. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  8. ↑ Handel Referenze Database 1760 Shaftesbury's Memoirs of Handel . ichriss.ccarh.org. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ a b Silke Leopold : Handel. The operas. Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3 , p. 250 ff.
  10. ^ Handel House Museum . www.handelhouse.org. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g Silke Leopold : Handel. The operas. Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3 , pp. 165 ff.
  12. ↑ Winton Dean : Handel's Operas, 1726-1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006. Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 . P. 450.