La Calisto
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| Title: | La Calisto |
Title page of the libretto, Venice 1651 |
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| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Francesco Cavalli |
| Libretto : | Giovanni Faustini |
| Premiere: | November 28, 1651 |
| Playing time: | about 3 hours |
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prolog action
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La Calisto is an opera (Dramma per Musica) in three acts and a prologue by Francesco Cavalli .
introduction
The libretto comes from Giovanni Faustini and is based on the Metamorphoses (2nd book) by Ovid . The nymph Callisto from Diana’s entourage , and therefore obliged to chastity, is seduced by Jupiter in the form of Diana and is therefore transformed into a bear by the jealous Juno (Jupiter’s wife). She later transforms Jupiter into the constellation of the Great Bear . Interwoven with this is the subplot of Endymion , with whom Diana (in the original saga the moon goddess Selene , but who is mostly identified with Diana) is in love. With Linfea and the little satyr (and Mercury) there are also elements of the Commedia dell'Arte. It is the last of nine operas from Cavalli's successful collaboration with the librettist Faustini in the 1640s (and Cavalli's 15th opera) and was premiered in Venice the same year he died (Faustini died on December 19). The premiere took place in the smallest theater in Venice, which Faustino, who was also an opera entrepreneur, had rented with two partners the year before (they had performed Cavalli's operas L'Ormindo and Rosinda there the previous season ). In the season at the end of 1651 they wanted to perform the Cavalli Faustino operas La Callisto and Eritrea . The premiere took place on November 28th, one month before the start of Carnival on December 26th, the usual date for operas in Venice.
The manuscript is preserved in a single copy in the Contarini collection of the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice (partly made by Cavalli's wife Maria).
The manuscript (and the invoice for the premiere) provide information on the instrumentation: harpsichord, spinet , theorbo for the continuo and three strings (two violins, one violon ).
action
prolog
The Cave of Eternity in Arcadia
Nature and eternity are celebrated by those who have climbed the stony path to Parnassus . Fate (Destino) arrives and asks Callisto to add to the constellations. The others ask for a reason, and Destino tells about Jupiter's mission (Calisto all place).
first act
A withered forest by the dried up source of a river
The earth has been destroyed by wars, and Jupiter is coming with his companion Mercury to re-green it. He sees the nymph Callisto (daughter of the warrior Lykaon), who mourns the destruction of the earth, falls in love with her and woos her, supported by Mercury. He proves his power, which can destroy the earth at will and fill it with life again by making the source bubble again. Callisto, however, wants to remain in Diana's entourage as a virgin and rejects him. Mercury advises Jupiter to deceive. He is supposed to approach Callisto as Diana. Callisto returns to the only source, succumbs to Jupiter's advertisement in the form of Diana. You step down and Mercury argues cynically about the value of deception in love. The shepherd Endymion enters the newly greened forest and tells of his unfulfilled love for Diana. This also appears, accompanied by her junior companion Linfea, a nymph. Diana is moved by Endymion's lawsuit, but cannot break her code of chastity because of Linfea. Callisto reappears and tries to approach Diana again in the newly won familiarity, but is harshly rejected by her and banished from her entourage. Callisto leaves, distraught and heartbroken. Linfea is concerned with emotional distress. A little satyr who hears this offers her amorous services, but receives the same rebuff as Callisto. The satyr is offended and angry. Pan appears, the satyr and Silvano (the god of the woods) in the wake, and meets Diana, whom he makes advances. She sharply rejects him. Pan suspects a rival.
Second act
Summit of the Latmos
Endymion serenades the moon and sings of his love for Diana. After he falls asleep, she appears and kisses him. He wakes up and they confess their love. But she gets a remorse and leaves him with the promise to come back. The little satyr has observed everything on Pan's behalf and makes cynical remarks about Diana's double face.
Plane of the erymanthos
Juno, the long absence of Jupiter means no good, and she is looking for him on earth. She meets Callisto, who describes her confusion and immediately suspects Jupiter's disguise. Diana-Jupiter and Mercury reappear as confirmation and renew their attempts to get closer to Callisto, initially not noticing Juno. Callisto feels delighted and loved again by Diana-Jupiter. They arrange to meet in a quieter place and Callisto leaves. Juno appears and plays her game with Diana-Jupiter with blunt hints. After she leaves, Jupiter, in a dialogue with Mercury, lets his displeasure with jealous wives run free. Endymion appears and approaches Diana-Jupiter with passion. The embarrassing scene for Jupiter (which, however, amuses Mercury) is interrupted when Pan and his entourage (choir of satyrs) appear and Endymion, in whom he believes he has recognized his rival, is dragged away. In the end, Linfea appears, who is now looking for a man while she is young. The little satyr urges his friends to take her for him (rape is implied).
Third act
Source of the Ladon
Callisto waits for Diana-Jupiter, but Juno and her furies take revenge on her and turn her into a bear. Juno returns to Olympus satisfied.
Forest
Endymion is tortured by Pan and his comrades after Pan unsuccessfully asked him to renounce Diana. Diana appears and saves him. Pan and entourage give way to their threat. Diana and Endymion swear eternal, albeit platonic, love.
Empyrean Jupiter, Mercury, Callisto, choir of heavenly spirits
Callisto finds her place in the stars at Jupiter's behest.
Performances
The world premiere took place in the Teatro Sant'Apollinare in Venice (Cavalli sat at the harpsichord), which was equipped with new stage machinery for the opera. In the 11 performances from November 28 to December 31, 1651, only 1200 visitors came (the theater had 400 visitors), which corresponded to an average occupancy of less than a third. The opera was a failure and did not have a good star, since the singer of Endymion, Bonifatio Ceretti (a well-known alto singer from San Marco), fell ill before the premiere and died a little later. In the premiere, Margarita da Costa sang Callisto and Catterina Giani sang Diana. Like Cavalli (and the singer of Endymion), both received the highest salary of 1860 Venetian lire each. Male singers were also considered for female supporting roles (with a comic note). Mercury and Jupiter were sung by men.
The first re-performance took place in Glyndebourne in 1970 by Raymond Leppard (directed by Peter Hall ), who at the time gained new listeners with his orchestration ("Realization") of the baroque opera. The opera is performed quite often. The German premiere was in 1975 at the Schwetzingen Festival by Jesús López Cobos, followed by the Hanover State Opera in 1976 and Frankfurt am Main in 1978. In 2010 the opera was performed both under Philipp Himmelmann in Geneva and under Marco Storman at the Wilhelma Theater (conductor: Michael Klubertanz) in Stuttgart and Jan Bosse in Theater Basel (conductor: Andrea Marcon ), and in 2016 as a work by Cordula Däuper at the Staatstheater Darmstadt . In 2019 the opera was staged by Jens-Daniel Herzog at the Nuremberg State Theater under the musical direction of Wolfgang Katschner .
Recordings
- Raymond Leppard , Decca / Argo 1972, Glyndebourne, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera Chorus, Janet Baker (Diana), Ileana Cotrubaș (Kallisto), Peter Gottlieb (Merkur), Ugo Trama (Jupiter), James Bowman (Endymion ), Hugues Cuénod (Linfeo), Teresa Kubiak (Juno), Janet Hughes (little satyr), Federico Davià (Pan), Owen Brannigan (Silvano), Isla Brodie (Echo), Marjorie Biggar (La Natura), Enid Hartle (L Eternita), Teresa Cahill (Il Destino). In the booklet the text of the libretto is printed in Italian and an English translation.
- René Jacobs , Harmonia Mundi 1996, Theater Royal de La Monnaie, Brussels, with María Bayo (Callisto), Marcello Lippi (Jupiter), Louise Winter (Diana, Destino), Hans Peter Kammerer (Merkur), Graham Pushee (Endymion), Barry Banks (Pan, Natur), Reinhard Dorn (Silvano), Sonia Theodoridou (Juno), Robin Tyson (Furie), as CD and DVD.
literature
- Àlvaro Torente Die Bärenoper - To the edition of La Calisto , program booklet State Opera Munich 2005, program booklet State Opera Hanover 2008
- Raymond Leppard , Liner Notes for La Calisto (Glyndebourne), Decca / Argo 1972
Web links
- La Calisto : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Libretto (Italian), Venice 1651. Digitized at Google Books
- Work information and libretto (Italian) as full text on librettidopera.it
- La Calisto (Francesco Cavalli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
Remarks
- ↑ His brother Marco then took over the management. He became a well-known opera impresario in Venice.
- ^ Following the table of contents for the recording and staging by Leppard
- ↑ It only existed from 1651 to around 1661 in a former residential building and was at today's Corte Petriana
- ↑ The other opera of the Eritrea season, on the other hand, was very successful with almost three times as many visitors and 23 performances
- ↑ They only found a soprano singer as a replacement. Cavalli's transcription notes can be found in the manuscript.
- ↑ It is not clear whether she also sang Jupiter in the disguise of Diana. After Torrente she might take on the role of Juno, otherwise the fee for the role was too high
- ^ Cavalli received this sum as a composer. For playing the harpsichord he received 40 lire per evening. With a successful opera, Cavalli earned around three times his annual salary as the second organist in San Marco.