La Galatea (Metastasio)

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Work data
Title: La Galatea
First part. Galatea: "Ah taci, Acide amato, Taci, che da quel sasso Polifemo non t'oda, ove s'asconde."

First part.
Galatea: "Ah taci, Acide amato,
Taci, che da quel sasso
Polifemo non t'oda, ove s'asconde."

Shape: Serenata
Original language: Italian
Music: First setting by Gioseffo Comito
Libretto : Pietro Metastasio
Literary source: Ovid : Metamorphoses and Theokritos : Idylls
Premiere: 1722
Place of premiere: Naples
Place and time of the action: Sicily, near the sea, at the foot of Mount Etna , mythical time
people

La Galatea is a libretto for a serenata in two parts by Pietro Metastasio . It was performed for the first time in the setting by Gioseffo Comito in 1722 in Naples in the house of the Duke of Monteleone Diego Pignatelli on the occasion of the baptism of their two children.

action

The libretto is based on a story from the thirteenth book of the Metamorphoses by Ovid and the idylls VI and XI by Theokritus : The nymph Galateia (called Galatea here), one of the Nereids loves the shepherd Akis (Acide). The Cyclops Polyphemus (Polifemo) also desires Galatea and kills Akis out of jealousy. In her grief, Galatea then transforms it into a river.

First part

The action takes place on the coast of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna . Galatea knows of the jealousy of her admirer Polifemo and fears for her lover Acide. She tries to get him to flee. Acide, however, shows no fear and does not want to leave Galatea.

Polifemo celebrates his unhappy love for Galatea. While looking for her, he meets Galatea's friend Glauce and talks to her about Galatea. Glauce claims to be unable to understand their refusal. She pointed out its advantages to her innumerable times in vain. Polifemo does not realize that Glauce is making fun of him. He asks her to tell Galatea that he is rich and that she can have everything from him. But if his anger breaks out, Etna will “foam”.

Glauce tells Galatea about her encounter with Polifemo. She advises her to seek salvation in flight. Acide and Galatea flee across the sea in a large conch shell.

Second part

After their escape, Acide and Galatea find themselves on a beach. Glauce comes to them and warns of the approaching Polifemo, who has already tracked them down. But while they are still debating whether to flee or hide again, Polifomo has already arrived. He still has friendly intentions and offers Galatea presents. But she insults him angrily, ignoring Glauce's warnings.

Polifemo asks Glauce whether he really deserves such insults. Glauce tries to appease him through flattery, but he now wants to show this “ungrateful” that “Polifemo is still Polifemo”. Glauce replies that revenge will not achieve anything. If he killed Acide, Galatea would mourn but not love him. The proud Polifemo, from whose anger sometimes even “the stars tremble”, cannot accept such an insult from a weak woman.

Glauce doesn't know what else she can do to appease Polifemo. The sea nymph Tetide ( Thetis ) appears and tells her about the birth of the new child of Diego (the Duke of Monteleone ) and his wife Margherita. On this happy day everything will turn out fine. Galatea comes up crying and tells of Acide's death. Polifemo tore a mighty rock out of the mountain and killed him with it. Tetide calms them down. The daughter Doris and Neroes should not suffer on this feast day . So Acide will rise again. Acide actually emerges from the clear water on the bank, the head braided with reeds, the sign of the water deities. But before Acide and Galatea can indulge in love, the occasion of the celebration must be satisfied and the emperor and his wife paid homage.

history

The first historical sources for the underlying myth come from the late 5th century BC. By the Greek poet Philoxenus of Kythera . In his satire Cyclops or Galathea he mocked the visually impaired tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse . The latter retaliated by enslaving the poet and having him work in a quarry. The Ovid version was written around 500 years later. He added the “metamorphosis” of Akis into a river god. This material achieved great popularity in the 18th century and was often set to music, u. a. by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Georg Friedrich Handel . In most cases it is about idyllic shepherd games or pastorals. Metastasio, on the other hand, deepened the motif of jealousy in order to achieve a greater dramatic effect. He added the figures of Tetide and Glauce and thereby shifted the focus away from Polifemo.

Galatea is the last Neapolitan Serenata Metastasios. It was performed after the birth of the second child of the Duke of Monteleone , Diego Pignatelli and his wife Margherita Pignatelli, on the occasion of the christening of their two children. Presumably the Austrian Emperor Charles VI. or the Empress Elisabeth promised to take over the sponsorship. In the libretto, therefore, the subject of birth is connected with the fame of Austria, which at that time also ruled over the Kingdom of Naples . This motif is addressed towards the end when Tetide announces the birth of Diego and Margherita's child. The first daughter of the two is also praised. The symbol of the eagle indicates that the children were under the special protection of the emperor. The tragic end of the plot is therefore canceled by Tetides' announcement of the resurrection Acides. The risen One is, as it were, a symbol of the newborn child. In the last recitative, Galatea conjures up the image of cupids cradling the two little girls, while virtue is represented as a maternal deity. In conclusion, she prophesies a great future for the girls, as they will have all the virtues of their mother.

The performance in the Duke's palace was one of the greatest cultural events in Naples in 1722. The castrato Domenico Gizzi sang the role of Acide, the Galatea was performed by Marianna Benti Bulgarelli (called “La Romanina”). The Glauce was sung by Antonia Margherita Merighi . Giovanna Ronzani and bass Antonio Manna also took part.

In 1762 Joseph Haydn wrote his first Italian opera Acide on a libretto by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca , which is an adaptation of Metastasio's text. In this opera, composed for the wedding of Anton Esterhazy, the eldest son of Nikolaus Esterházy I , with Comtesse Erdödy, there is a happy ending in the form of a reunification of Acide and Galatea. The work is only preserved as a fragment.

Settings

The following composers set this libretto to music:

year composer premiere Performance location Remarks
1722 Gioseffo Comito 1722, home of the Duke of Monteleone Naples for the baptism of the two children of the Duke of Monteleone , Diego Pignatelli and Margherita Pignatelli Gioseffo Comito - La Galatea - titlepage of the libretto - Naples 1722.png
1740 Domenico Alberti September 30, 1740, Grand Canal Venice According to the University of Western Ontario as early as 1737; according to the libretto on September 20, 1740
1740 Christoph Nichelmann 1740
1746 Johann Georg Schürer November 8, 1746, Pillnitz Castle or Court Theater Dresden "Dramma per musica";
Also on June 28, 1747 in Pillnitz on the occasion of the Bavarian-Saxon double wedding of Max Joseph of Bavaria with Maria Anna of Saxony and Friedrich Christian of Saxony with Maria Antonio of Bavaria
1754 Francesco Antonio Uttini 1754 or 1755, palace theater Drottningholm An act
1760 Francesco Zoppis September 15, 1760, Teatro dell'Opera buffa St. Petersburg "Pastoral eroica"
1762 Giuseppe Brunetti 1762 Braunschweig "Favola pastorale"
1762 Joseph Haydn January 11, 1763 Eisenstadt Hob.XXVIII: 1;
Libretto arranged by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca as Acide , festa teatrale in one act; for the wedding of Anton Esterhazy, the eldest son of Nikolaus Esterházy I , with Comtesse Erdödy; only partially preserved;
Revised on September 25, 1774 in Eszterháza Castle
1763 Johann Gottfried Schwanenberger February 1763, court theater Braunschweig "Favola pastorale"
1764 Johann Christian Bach February 29, 1764, Spring Gardens London Johann Christian Bach - La Galatea - titlepage of the libretto - London 1764.png
1767 Hieronymus Mango 1767, court of Raymund Anton von Strasoldo Eichstatt
1779 António da Silva Gomes e Oliveira August 21, 1779, Palazzo Queluz Lisbon António da Silva - La Galatea - titlepage of the libretto - Lisbon 1779.png
1781 Ferdinando Bertoni probably 1781 Venice "Cantata"
1789 Sclart 1789 Macerata
1780s Bonaventure Furlanetto 1780s, accademia privata Venice "Azione teatrale"
1780s Jerónimo Francisco de Lima probably 1780s Lisbon
1780s Luciano Xavier Santos not listed
1802 Leopold Koželuh 1806 Prague
1804 Angelo Maria Benincori not listed "Melodramma" Galatée ou Le nouveau Pygmalion

Recordings and performances in recent times

Web links

Commons : La Galatea  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Digital copies

  1. ^ Libretto (Italian) of the Serenata by Gioseffo Comito, Naples 1722 as digitized version at the Munich Digitization Center .
  2. ↑ Score of the Serenata by Johann Georg Schürer, Dresden 1746 as digitized version on internetculturale.it .
  3. ↑ Libretto (Italian) of the Serenata by Johann Christian Bach, London 1764 as a digitized version on Google Books .
  4. ^ Libretto (Italian) of the opera by António da Silva, Lisbon 1779. Digitized in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Don Neville:  Metastasio [Trapassi], Pietro (Antonio Domenico Bonaventura). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  2. ↑ Metastasio, Pietro in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart , p. 50861 ff (cf. MGG vol. 9, p. 229 ff.) Bärenreiter-Verlag 1986 ( digital library volume 60).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i University of Western Ontario : Galatea. ( Online, PDF )
  4. ↑ a b Manfred Huss: CD supplement to Haydn: Acide , BIS-SACD-1812, 2008.
  5. ↑ a b Jacques Joly: Les fêtes théâtrales de Métastase à la cour de Vienne, 1731-1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2845160194 , p. 72 ff.
  6. ^ Domenico Gizzi - Interprete delle Serenate Celebrative L'Angelica e La Galatea. Biography (Italian) on handelforever.com , accessed February 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ La Galatea (Giuseppe Comito) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  8. ↑ La Galatea (Domenico Alberti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  9. ↑ La Galatea (Johann Georg Schürer) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  10. ↑ La Galatea (Johann Georg Schürer) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed February 12, 2015.
  11. ^ Alfred Loewenberg : Annals of Opera 1597-1940. John Calder, London 1978, column 205 ( Online on the Internet Archives ).
  12. ^ List of the stage works by Francesco Antonio Uttini based on the MGG at Operone, accessed on September 29, 2014.
  13. ↑ La Galatea (Francesco Antonio Uttini) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed February 12, 2015.
  14. ^ La Galatea (Francesco Zoppis) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  15. ^ Libretto record of the favola pastorale by Giuseppe Brunetti at WorldCat , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  16. ^ Acide (Joseph Haydn) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 13, 2015.
  17. ↑ Work data on Acide Joseph Haydn based on the MGG with discography from Operone, accessed on February 13, 2015.
  18. ↑ La Galatea (Johann Gottfried Schwanenberger) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  19. ↑ Galatea (Johann Christian Bach) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  20. ↑ Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers ... SIU Press, 1973, ISBN 978080930517-9 , p. 195 ( online at Google Books) .
  21. ^ List of the stage works by Hieronymus Mango based on the MGG at Operone, accessed on October 14, 2014.
  22. ^ La Galatea (António da Silva) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  23. ^ Library data set for Ferdinando Bertoni's cantata at sebina.it , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  24. ↑ FURLANETTO, Bonaventura, ditto Musin. In: Dizionario Biografico - Treccani , accessed February 12, 2015.
  25. ^ La Galatea (Luciano Xavier Santos) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 12, 2015.
  26. ↑ List of the stage works by Luciano Xavier Santos based on the MGG at Operone, accessed on October 18, 2014.
  27. ↑ Review of the performance of Bertonis Serenata on Drammaturgia.it (Italian), accessed on February 12, 2015.
  28. ↑ CD data set on Haydn's Acide at haydn.or.at , accessed on February 13, 2015.