La Didone

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Opera dates
Title: La Didone
Title page of the libretto, Venice 1656

Title page of the libretto, Venice 1656

Shape: Opera in a prologue and three acts
Original language: Italian
Music: Francesco Cavalli
Libretto : Giovanni Francesco Busenello
Literary source: Virgil : Aeneid
Premiere: Carnival season 1640/41
Place of premiere: Teatro San Cassiano , Venice
Playing time: more than 3 hours
Place and time of the action: Troy and Carthage after the Trojan War
people

prolog

action

  • Didone ( Dido ), Queen of Carthage (soprano)
  • Enea ( Aeneas ), Trojan ( tenor )
  • Anchise ( Anchises ), father Eneas (tenor)
  • Ascanio ( Ascanius ), son of Eneas (soprano)
  • Creusa ( Krëusa ), wife of Eneas (soprano)
  • Iarba ( Iarbas ), King of the Gaetulers ( old )
  • Anna, sister Didones (soprano)
  • Cassandra ( Kassandra ), Trojan (soprano)
  • Sicheo ( Sychaeus ), husband Didones, as shadow (tenor)
  • Pirro, Greek (tenor)
  • Corebo (old)
  • Sinon, Greek ( bass )
  • Ilioneo, ambassador, companion of Eneas (old)
  • Acate, confidante Eneas (tenor)
  • Ecuba ( Hecabe ), old wife of Priam (old)
  • Giove ( Jupiter ) (bass)
  • Giunone ( Juno ) (soprano)
  • Mercurio ( Mercurius ) (Alt)
  • Venere ( Venus ) (soprano)
  • Amore ( Cupid ) (Soprano)
  • Nettuno ( Neptune ) (bass)
  • Eolo ( Aiolos ), ruler of the winds (tenor)
  • Fortuna , happiness (soprano)
  • Messenger (tenor)
  • an old man (bass)
  • three Carthaginian girls (3 sopranos)
  • Jäger ( choir : alto, 2 tenors, bass)
  • Trojan (choir: 2 sopranos, alto, 2 tenors, 2 basses)

La Didone (German: Dido ) is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli (music) with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello based on Virgil's epic Aeneid . It was premiered in the Carnival season 1640/41 in the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice.

action

The scene division of the following table of contents corresponds to the Venetian libretto from 1656.

prolog

Beginning of the prologue in the score manuscript
Beginning of the first act in the score manuscript

The goddess Iride ( Iris ) explains the fall of Troy by saying that Hera had avenged herself for the judgment of Paris . She warns all mortals not to offend the gods.

first act

Scene 1. The Trojan warriors gather for a final attack on the Greeks. Creusa ( Krëusa ) realizes that the city is already lost. She begs her husband Enea ( Aeneas ) to give up the fight and flee with her, his father Anchise ( Anchises ) and their son Ascanio ( Ascanius ). However, Enea does not let herself be held back by either her or his son. He rushes into battle with the other Trojans.

Scene 2. Ascanio tries to follow his father into battle but is held back by Anchise.

Scene 3. Cassandra ( Kassandra ) is attacked in the temple by the Greek Pirro. At the last moment, Corebo appears to save her. He wounds Pirro in battle and drives him to flight, but is fatally injured himself. As he dies, he confesses his love to Cassandra.

Scene 4. Cassandra laments Corebo's death ( Lamento : “L'alma fiacca svanì”).

Scene 5. The goddess Venere ( Venus ), Enea's mother, tells her son that the city's fate is sealed. She orders him to flee the city. Since a divine command is not cowardice, it gives in. Venere promises to please the goddess of fate Fortuna .

Scene 6. Enea, Anchise, Ascanio and Creusa make their way out of town. Creusa is killed by Greeks while trying to get her jewels.

Scene 7. The old Trojan queen Ecuba ( Hecabe ) laments the fall of her empire. She just wants to die (Lamento: "Tremulo spirito"). Her daughter Cassandra recalls that she foresaw all of this, but her warnings were not heard. Ecuba would like to go to death with her. You are looking for a "friendly sword".

Scene 8. The Greek Sinon mocks the defeated Trojans and the misguided Menelao .

Scene 9. In search of his wife, Enea encounters her shadow. He informs him of her death and promises him that Ascanio will rule over Italy.

Scene 10. Venere asks Fortuna to fill the sails of Enea's ships with wind so that he can make a quick trip to Italy. Fortuna foresees that Enea will get caught in a terrible storm. She will make sure that he gets safely to the African coast.

Second act

Beginning of the second act in the score manuscript

Scene 1. Iarba ( Iarbas ), the king of the Gaetulians , has fallen madly in love with the Carthaginian queen Didone ( Dido ). He wore civilian clothes so that he could approach her unnoticed (Iarba: “Chi ti diss'io”).

Scene 2. When Didone comes by with her ladies-in-waiting, Iarbas reveals himself to her and confesses his love to her. She rejects him on the grounds that she is still mourning her deceased husband Sicheo ( Sychaeus ) and wants to remain loyal to him (Didone: "Il mio marito" - Iarba: "Rivolgo altrove il piede").

Scene 3. Didone tells her sister Anna about a dark dream in which a sword pierced her heart and Carthage perished.

Scene 4. Giunone ( Juno ), who is still angry with the Trojans, asks the wind god Eolo ( Aiolos ) to destroy Enea's ships with a storm.

Scene 5. Eolo's unauthorized action on his territory enrags the sea god Nettuno ( Neptune ). He hires sea nymphs to save the Trojans' ships.

Scene 6. The goddess Venere, disguised as a nymph, awaits the arrival of her son Enea in Africa. She asks her other son Amore ( Cupid ) to take the form of Ascanios and gently wound Didone with his arrow so that she falls in love with Enea. The real Ascanio, whom she has already put to sleep, is kept hidden by the Graces in her mountain.

Scene 7. Enea enters the country with his companion Acate and the rest of the Trojans. He is sure that they owe their fast journey and miraculous rescue to the gods.

Scene 8. Driven by motherly love, Venere reveals herself to Enea and points out to him the beauty of the local queen. A messenger reports that Anchise was captured by locals. Enea asks Acate to go to the royal court with Ascanio and ask for help there.

Scene 9. Didone warmly welcomes the Trojan ambassadors and allows them to enter the city. Ascanio / Amore points out the approaching Enea. Didone is immediately fascinated by its radiant and elegant appearance.

Scene 10. When Enea Didone asks for protection, she does everything possible to make the Trojans' stay as pleasant as possible.

Scene 11. Three ladies-in-waiting are happy that their queen has obviously fallen in love again. They want to follow their example (trio: “Udiste, o mie dilette”).

Scene 12. Iarba realizes that Didone's excuse was fake and that she prefers Enea to him. He goes insane from jealousy.

Scene 13. An old man is sorry for the unfortunate Iarba.

Third act

Beginning of the third act in the score manuscript

Scene 1. Didone confides in her sister Anna that she is suffering from remorse over her love for Enea, as it hurts the memory of Sicheo. Anna explains her concerns and advises her to surrender to love (Anna: "O regina, o mia Didone"). On a joint hunting trip with the Trojan, she can turn her complaints into joy.

Scene 2. The insane Iarba flirts with two ladies-in-waiting.

Scene 3. Hunters look forward to the outing ahead.

Scene 4. Giove ( Jupiter ) orders the divine messenger Mercurio ( Mercurius ) to bring Enea to her senses so that he does not fall into love.

Scene 5. Enea and Didone have retired to a secluded cave where Didone fell asleep. Mercurio reminds Enea of ​​his fate to found a new kingdom in Italy and urges him to leave.

Scene 6. Enea is torn between duty and love. Finally, he decides to do duty and, before setting off, wistfully looks at the sleeping Didone (Enea: “Dormi cara Didone”).

Scene 7. When Didone wakes up, she is shocked to see Enea's betrayal, but all pleading is unsuccessful and she faints from pain.

Scene 8. The shadow Sicheo accuses Didone of forgetting him and swears revenge.

Scene 9. The three ladies-in-waiting quickly get over the departure of the men because they take love lightly.

Scene 10. Mercurio heals Iarba of his madness and promises him a happy life with Didone.

Scene 11. Didone desperately wants to throw herself into her sword (Didone: “Porgetemi la spada”), but Iarba prevents her.

Scene 12. Iarba wants to kill himself too, but Didone hold him back. She is now ready to marry him (duet: "Son le tue leggi, Amore").

layout

The surviving score of the opera requires a five-part string ensemble and basso continuo . Horns and trumpets may have been used in some places . Ellen Rosand pointed out that a three-part string composition was common in Venice at the time of the premiere and that this score belongs to a later production in another city.

The modernity of Didone's textbook is clearly evident in comparison with Giacomo Badoaro's almost simultaneously composed libretto for Claudio Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria . While the latter continues the classic educational tradition and adheres closely to the literary model, Busenello treats Virgil's epic very freely. In the first act there are hard changes of scene and a variety of locations. Here even a duel (Pirro / Corebo) and a murder (of Ecuba) are shown on the open stage. This was long avoided in Italian opera for a long time. The plot of the second act is heavily embellished compared to the original. In the third act there are again abrupt changes in the image and the plot has little to do with the Aeneid . The disrespectful treatment of the leaders is also unusual: King Iarba is ridiculed as a madman, and the title character fails in her suicide and, as a punishment, has to marry the previously rejected Iarba. In the foreword, Busenello explicitly pointed out that he made use of poetic freedoms. He invoked the "Spanish custom" ("all'usanza Spagnuola") to justify the departure from the three Aristotelian units of place, time and action.

In contrast to Cavalli's predecessor opera Gli amore di Apollo e di Dafne, whose libretto was also by Busenello, the scenes are arranged more logically here. Often several scenes form dramatically related units. Jane Glover cited a possible reason for this that it is not immortal, but human characters, whose story can be told more directly than the more random celestial events of the other work. The division of the plot into the locations Troy and Carthage corresponds to that of Hector Berlioz 's opera Les Troyens . The tragedy of Cassandra is also included here. The title character Didone only appears in the second act.

The opera contains some very dramatic recitatives. The lamentos of the Cassandra (“L'alma fiacca svanì”, I: 4) and the Ecuba (“Tremulo spirito”, I: 7), both of which run over ostinato basses with descending tetrachords , have a special effect . Despite the similar basic scheme, both lamenti are musically designed individually.

  • Beginning of Cassandra's Lament:
    {\ set Score.tempoHideNote = ## t \ new PianoStaff << \ new Staff {\ clef soprano \ key g \ major \ time 4/4 \ tempo 4 = 60 r4 bes'4.  bes'8 r a '(a'8) a' rg 'a'2 r4 r8 bes' bes' bes' r d' 'd''4 r8 cis'' d''4 r r4 r8 d '' e ' 'e' 'g''4 d''4 r8 cis' 'e''4 r r4 e' 'e' 'd' 'r8 d''4 cis''8 a'4 r r4 c' 'c' '8 c' 'c' 'c' 'c''4 c' 'r8 e' 'c' 'b' b'4 b 'r8 b' b 'b' b'4 b 'b'8.  b'16 c''8 c '' a'2 a '} \ addlyrics {L'al - ma fiac - ca sva - ni.  La vi - ta ohi - mè, spi - rò.  Co-re-bo, o dio mo-ri.  e so - la mi la - sciò per spo - "sa ei" mi vo - le - va e io qui pian - go: pri - ma che spo - sa ve - do - va ri - man - go.  } \ new Staff {\ clef bass \ key g \ major \ time 4/4 r4 d 'cis' c' b4 bes a2 r4 g fis f e4 es d2 r4 d cis cb, 4 bes, a, 2 r4 g, fis , f, e, 4 es, d, 2 a, 1 a, 1 g sharp, 2 g, f sharp, 2 f, e, 2 a,} >>}
  • Beginning of the lament of the Ecuba:
    {\ set Score.tempoHideNote = ## t \ new PianoStaff << \ new Staff {\ clef violin \ key f \ major \ time 3/2 \ tempo 4 = 120 d'2.  es'4 d'2 d'2.  es'4 d'2 d'2.  cis'4 c'2 c'2.  b4 bes2 g'2.  bes4 a2 bes2.  g4 g2 r1.  } \ addlyrics {Tre - mu - lo spi - ri - to Fle - bi - "le, e" lan - gui - do E-- sci - mi su - bi - to .  Va - da - si l'a - ni - ma, Ch'E - re - bo tor - bi - do cu - pi - "do a" - spet - ta - - la.  } \ new Staff {\ clef bass \ key f \ major \ time 3/2 g, 2 g1 f sharp2 f1 e2 es1 d2 c1 b, 2 c1 d2 d, 1 g, 1.  } >>}

Notable pieces in the second act are the three consecutive stanza arias of Didone ("Udiste, o mie dilette", II: 2) and Iarba ("Chi ti diss'io", II: 1 and "Rivolgo altrove il piede", II: 2) and the trio of the three court ladies in the second act (“Udiste, o mie dilette”, II: 11).

In the third act, the stanza aria of Anna ("O regina, o mia Didone", III: 1), Enea's lullaby and farewell aria ("Dormi cara Didone", III: 6), Didone's desperate lament before her suicide attempt ( “Porgetemi la spada”, III: 11) and her final love duet with Iarba (“Son le tue leggi, Amore”, III: 12) are worth mentioning.

Work history

Title page of the libretto, Genoa 1652

La Didone is the second collaboration between the composer Francesco Cavalli and the librettist Giovanni Francesco Busenello . Virgil's epic Aeneid processes its text, making it the first opera to be played in Venice whose content is based on a supposedly historical source.

The first performance took place in the Carnival season 1640/41 in the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice. There were contemporary performances in Naples in 1650, in Genoa in 1652, in Piacenza in 1655 and in Milan in 1660.

The opera's autograph has not survived. However, the copy of the score from one of the subsequent productions in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice has survived (I-Vnm, Contarini IV, 355 [= 9879]). It was created by two copyists under Cavalli's supervision and corrected and supplemented by him personally. Only the scenario has survived from the premiere production in 1641. Busenello's text did not appear in print until 1656 in his libretto collection Delle ore ociose . In addition, printed libretti from the various subsequent productions have been preserved, as well as a libretto manuscript, the text of which does not completely match any of the other editions.

On June 21, 1952 there was the first performance in more recent times in the courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence in a version by Riccardo Nielsen. The production was done by Gustaf Gründgens , the choreography by Léonide Massine . Under the direction of Carlo Maria Giulini sang a. a. Clara Petrella, Teresa Stich-Randall , Alessandro Ziliani and Italo Tajo .

Other productions were:

Recordings

  • Year unknown - Bernhard Klebel (conductor), Ensemble Musica Antiqua Wien, Wiener Motettenchor.
    Brigitte Poschner-Klebel (Iride and Venere), Marjana Lipovšek (Didone), Peter Schreier (Enea), Robert Kerns (Anchise and Nettuno), Edith Schmid (Creusa), James Bowman (Iarba), Diane Elias (Anna), Elisabeth Richards (Cassandra), Marius van Altena (Sicheo), Rudolf Katzböck (Pirro), Werner Krenn (Corebo and Eolo), Helmut Wildhaber (Ilioneo and Mercurio), Wilfried Gahmlich (Acate), Margarita Lilowa (Ecuba), Guido Pikal (Bote) .
    Live, in concert, arrangement by Berhard Klebel.
  • 1997 - Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor), Balthasar Neumann Ensemble .
    Leonore von Falkenhausen (Iride and Fortuna), Yvonne Kenny (Didone and Cassandra), Laurence Dale (Enea), Peter-Jürgen Schmidt (Anchise and old man), Uta Schwabe (Ascanio and Amore), Judith Howarth (Creusa and Giunone), Alexander Plust (Iarba), Katharina Kammerloher (Anna), Hermann Oswald (Sicheo and Pirro), Hans Jörg Mammel (Corebo and Eolo), Kwangchul Youn (Sinon, Giove and Nettuno), Rosemarie Lang (Ecuba), Bernhard Landauer (Mercurio) , Wessela Zlateva (Venere).
    Studio shot.
    Harmonia Mundi 05472-77354-2 (2 CDs).
  • May 1997 - Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor), Peter Messer (production), Balthasar Neumann Ensemble .
    Cast as in the studio recording of the same year.
    Live from Schwetzingen.
  • May 8, 2004 - Gabriel Garrido (conductor), Ensemble Elyma.
    Betsabée Haas (Iride, Fortuna and lady-in-waiting), Emanuela Galli (Didone), Furio Zanasi (Enea), Stephan Imboden (Anchise and Giove), Philippe Jaroussky (Ascanio and Amore), Blandine Staskiewicz (Creusa and Anna), François-Nicolas Geslot (Iarba), Rebecca Ovenden (Cassandra, Giunone and lady-in-waiting), Mario Cecchetti (Pirro, Acate and Jäger), Stephan Van Dyck (Corebo, Eolo and Jäger), Alicia Berri (Ecuba and lady-in-waiting), Fabián Schofrin (Mercurio), Elisabeth Holmertz (Venere), Iván García (Nettuno and Jäger), Joseph Schlesinger (Jäger).
    Live from the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
    Broadcast on NPO Radio 4 .
  • 13-19 September 2006 - Fabio Biondi (conductor), Carlo Majer (Faculty of Design, Venice University of Art, staging), Europa Galante.
    Maria Grazia Schiavo (Iride and Venere), Claron McFadden (Didone), Magnus Staveland (Enea), Antonio Lozano (Anchise, Eolo and Sicheo), Isabel Alvarez (Ascanio, Fortuna and Amore), Donatella Lombardi (Creusa and Anna), Jordi Domènech (Iarba and Corebo), Manuela Custer (Cassandra and Giunone), Gian-Luca Zoccatelli (Pirro and Acate), Filippo Morace (Sinon and old man), Marina de Liso (Ilioneo, Ecuba and Mercurio), Roberto Abbondanza (Giove and Nettuno).
    Video; live from the Teatro Malibran in Venice.
    Dynamic 33537 (2 DVDs).
  • 2011 - William Christie (conductor), Clément Hervieu-Léger (production), Éric Ruf (stage), Les Arts Florissants .
    Claire Delbono (Iride and Venere), Anna Bonitatibus (Didone), Kresimir Spicer (Enea), Victor Torres (Anchise), Terry Wey (Ascanio and Amore), Tehila Nini Goldstein (Creusa and Giunone), Xavier Sabata (Iarba), Mariana Rewerski (Anna and Fortuna), Katherine Watson (Cassandra), Valerio Contaldo (Corebo and Eolo), Mathias Vidal (Ilioneo and Mercurio), Maria Streijffert (Ecuba).
    Video; live from the Théâtre de Caen.
    Opus Arte OA 1080 D (DVD).

Digital copies

Web links

Commons : Didone (Cavalli)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. The soprano parts correspond in scope to today's mezzo-soprano. See Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Length of recording by Gabriel Garrido , Amsterdam 2004.
  2. a b c d e Wolfgang Osthoff: La Didone. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 514-515.
  3. ^ A b "Didone: One Score and Many Librettos". In: Ellen Rosand: Readying Cavalli's Operas for the Stage: Manuscript, Edition, Production. Routledge, London / New York 2017, pp. 41–45 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  4. a b c Silke Leopold : The opera in the 17th century (= handbook of musical genres. Volume 11). Laaber, 2004, ISBN 3-89007-134-1 .
  5. Jane Glover : Cavalli. BT Batsford Ltd, London 1978, ISBN 0-7134-1007-8 , p. 43.
  6. a b c d Ellen Rosand:  Didone ('Dido'). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  7. Program book (PDF, Italian) for the production of the Teatro La Fenice Venice, season 2005/2006, p. 89.
  8. ^ Ellen Rosand: Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice - The Creation of a Genre. University of California Press, Berkeley 1991/2007, ISBN 978-0-520-25426-8 , p. 593.
  9. Didone (Francesco Cavalli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on May 2, 2020.
  10. a b c information on the work on operabaroque.fr, accessed on May 2, 2020.
  11. a b c d Pier Francesco Cavalli. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005.
  12. Information about CD Harmonia Mundi 05472-77354-2 on the website of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble , accessed on May 1, 2020.
  13. ^ Boris Kehrmann: Il faut être beau. Review of the DVD Opus Arte OA 1080 D. In: Opernwelt , February 2013, p. 21.
  14. Judith Malafronte: Review of the DVD Opus Arte OA 1080 D. In: Opera News, February 2013, accessed May 1, 2020th