Le cinesi

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Work data
Title: The Chinese girls
Original title: Le cinesi
Performance at Piccola Scala, Milan 1973 (music by Christoph Willibald Gluck)

Performance at Piccola Scala, Milan 1973
(music by Christoph Willibald Gluck)

Shape: Componimento drammatico
Original language: Italian
Music: First setting by Antonio Caldara
Libretto : Pietro Metastasio
Premiere: 1735
Place of premiere: Vienna
Place and time of the action: A city in China
people
  • Lisinga , elegant young Chinese, sister of Silangos
  • Sivene , Lisinga's friend, Silango's beloved
  • Tangia , friend of Lisinga
  • Silango , young Chinese, brother Lisinga, lover Sivenes, after his return from a trip to Europe

Le cinesi (German: "The Chinese Girls") is a libretto for a componimento drammatico in one act by Pietro Metastasio . It was performed for the first time in the setting by Antonio Caldara in the carnival season of 1735 in the private apartments of the imperial residence of Favorita in Vienna as an introduction to a "Ballo cinese" by Georg Reutter . The executives were the young Archduchesses Maria Theresa and Maria Anna as well as a lady-in-waiting.

In 1786 the composer and music writer Johann Adam Hiller published a German translation under the title The Chinese Girls in his book Ueber Metastasio und seine Werke: in addition to some pieces translated into German .

action

The following table of contents is based on the translation by Johann Adam Hiller .

A Chinese-style room with a table and four chairs in the Lisingas house

Lisinga and her two friends Sivene and Tangia sit bored at the table, drink tea and think about how they could pass the time. Lisinga's brother Silango arrives unnoticed and listens for a while through a door that is not completely closed. When he finally walks into the room, the girls are shocked that he has broken a Chinese ban. Silango knows this, but noticed on his trip to Europe that people laugh at this custom everywhere there. Worried about their reputation, the girls ask him to leave. He also says goodbye, but is held back by them. After assuring him that no one saw him, Lisinga decides that he should not leave until after dark.

After that has been resolved, Lisinga suggests playing a theater scene to pass the time. Silango agrees and explains that this art has so far only been practiced in European countries and is completely unknown in China. He suggests choosing a subject that is common in Europe. Since everyone has different preferences, there are finally three small scenes.

Lisinga chooses a heroic theme about Andromache , Hector's widow . This is harassed by Pyrrhus ( Neoptolemus ), who threatens to kill her son Astyanax if she does not want to answer him.

Sivene decides to do pastoral work with the beautiful shepherdess Licoris, who laughs at the tears of her unhappy admirer Thyrsis because she does not know love. Silango takes on the role of the shepherd.

Tangia has chosen a comedy. She has noticed Silango's crush on Sivene and wants to make fun of him. In her scene she therefore plays a “graceful” young man who has returned from a trip. He sits in front of a mirror, prepares himself and blaspheme about the local way of life, which has nothing to do with what he got to know in Paris.

Now you want to decide which type of seal is the best. Sivene likes the tragedy best, but it is not just a pastime. Silango suggests the shepherd game, but Tangia misses variety. She recommends the comedy. However, Lisinga fears that this could offend someone. Finally, as a solution, Silango suggests that musicians come and perform a ballet.

history

In 1735, Metastasio wrote four occasional works in addition to his oratorio Gioas re di Giuda : Le cinesi , Le grazie vendicate , Il palladio conservato and Il sogno di Scipione . Except for the last, they were intended for amateur performances by the Archduchesses Maria Theresia and Maria Anna and a lady-in-waiting - the first version of Le cinesi only contained the three female characters. The commission for the work came from Empress Elisabeth Christine . It was intended as an introduction to a Chinese ballet by Georg Reutter . In one of his letters, Metastasio recalled how satisfied he was with the material and artistic quality of the performance. The archduchesses would have "recited and sung like angels" ("Esse hanno recitato et cantato come angeli"). In contrast to Metastasio's previous works, Le cinesi has neither a mythological nor a purely courtly character. The role of Lisinga is tailored to the heiress Maria Theresa. She is more serious than the other characters and the actual protagonist. In addition, she is neither in love like Sivene nor superficial like Tangia.

The character of Tangia is one of Metastasio's most successful creations. With her naivete and quick-wittedness she is reminiscent of the figure of Silvia in his later work L'isola disabitata , who, like her, is both frightened and attracted by the men. Their desires are regularly thwarted by the authority of their sisters and their own inexperience. Their jealousy gave Metastasio the opportunity to ironically process Sivene's passion for Silango.

In 1749 Metastasio was asked by his friend, the singer Farinelli , to revise the text and add a male role. This version was first performed in 1750 with new music by Nicola Conforto and repeated in other cities in the following years. Although the content of the work was not significantly changed by the new character Silango, the text was given a new dramatic dimension through his unexpected arrival in the women's room. Silango now takes the initiative for the plot together with Lisinga. In particular, it is he who makes the proposal at the end to perform a ballet - this was originally an idea of ​​Lisinga.

The most frequently performed setting today is by Christoph Willibald Gluck . It was created in 1754 on the occasion of Maria Theresa's invitation by the Prince of Saxony-Hildburghausen to his Schloss Hof estate , where a festival lasting several days was celebrated (→ Le cinesi (Gluck) ).

In 2010, the composer Karsten Gundermann edited Gluck's setting and added interludes in the style of the Beijing opera of the 18th century. This version was performed at the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival and in Beijing.

Settings

The following composers set this libretto to music:

year composer premiere Performance location Remarks
1735 Antonio Caldara Carnival 1735, private apartments of the imperial residence of Favorita Vienna "Componimento drammatico" Antonio Caldara - Le cinesi - titlepage of the libretto - Vienna 1735.png
1750 Nicola Conforto Spring 1750, Teatro Regio Ducale Milan "Azione drammatica";
also in 1751 as La festa cinese in the royal palace in Aranjuez; 1753 in a country seat of the Prince of Saxony-Hildburghausen
1754 Christoph Willibald Gluck
→ Le cinesi (Gluck) 		September 24, 1754, Hof Palace Vienna "Azione teatrale";
also in 1761 in the Teatro del Giardino della Corte in Saint Petersburg 		Christoph Willibald Gluck - Le cinesi - titlepage of the libretto - Saint Petersburg 1761.png
1756 Ignaz Holzbauer Spring 1756, court theater Mannheim “Componimento drammatico”;
possibly also in May 1756 in Schwetzingen;
Libretto possibly edited by Mattia Verazi
1757 Luis Misón 1757 Madrid “Composición drammatica” Fiesta chinesa or Festa cinese
1757 Pietro Pompeo Sales January 1757, corte vescovo d'Augusta augsburg "Componimento drammatico"
1765 Niccolò Jommelli 1765, Ducal Court Theater Ludwigsburg
1769 Davide Perez 1769, Palazzo Queluz Lisbon "Componimento drammatico" Davide Perez - Le cinesi - titlepage of the libretto - Lisbon 1769.png
1773 Gennaro Astarita June 13th 1773, Teatro dell'Accademia degli Ingegnosi Florence “Componimento drammatico”; together with L'Isola disabitata listed Gennaro Astarita - Le cinesi - titlepage of the libretto - Florence 1773.png
1781 Giuseppe Colla 1781
1784 Anton, King of Saxony February 27, 1784 "Componimento drammatico" for the birthday of Princess Maria Anna of Saxony (1761-1820)
1789 Giovanni Battista Cedronio November 13, 1789 Naples
1780 Giuseppe Millico probably in the 1780s, royal palace Naples?
1831 Manuel García 1831, private performance London composed for his singing students

Recordings and performances in recent times

Web links

Commons : Le cinesi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Digital copies

  1. ^ A b Johann Adam Hiller: Ueber Metastasio und seine Werke , Leipzig 1786, as digitized version at the Munich digitization center .
  2. ^ Libretto (Italian / French) of the opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Saint Petersburg 1761. Digitized in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  3. ^ Libretto (Italian) of the opera by David Perez, Lisbon 1769. Digitized in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  4. ^ Libretto (Italian) of the Serenata by Gennaro Astarita, Florence 1773 as a digitized version in the Internet Archive .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e 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. ^ List of the stage works by Antonio Caldara based on the MGG at Operone, accessed on October 14, 2014.
  4. ↑ a b Jacques Joly: Les fêtes théâtrales de Métastase à la cour de Vienne, 1731-1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2845160194 , p. 160.
  5. ^ Pietro Metastasio: Critical Edition , Volume III, 1. 90, p. 121. Quoted from Jacques Joly: Les fêtes théâtrales de Métastase à la cour de Vienne, 1731–1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2-84516-019-4 , p. 137.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Jacques Joly: Les fêtes théâtrales de Métastase à la cour de Vienne, 1731–1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2845160194 , pp. 135 ff.
  7. ↑ a b Le cinesi (Nicolò Conforti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  8. ↑ a b Website for the performance of Karsten Gundermann's adaptation of the Gluck opera ( memento of October 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ Le cinesi (Antonio Caldara) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  10. ↑ Le cinesi (Christoph Willibald Gluck) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  11. ↑ Le cinesi (Ignaz Holzbauer) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  12. ^ List of the stage works by Ignaz Holzbauer based on the MGG at Operone, accessed on September 29, 2014.
  13. ^ Rainer Kleinertz: Fundamentals of Spanish music theater in the 18th century . Edition Reichenberger, 2003, ISBN 978-3-935004-74-9 , p. 110.
  14. ↑ Le cinesi (Pietro Pompeo Sales) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  15. ↑ Le cinesi (Niccolò Jommelli) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed February 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ Le cinesi (David Perez) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  17. ↑ Le cinesi (Gennaro Astarita) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  18. ^ Anton, King of Saxony - Le Cinesi. Library record in RISM-OPAC , accessed February 26, 2015.
  19. ↑ Le Cinesi (Cedronio). Library record on WorldCat , accessed March 2, 2015.
  20. ↑ Le cinesi (Giuseppe Millico) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 26, 2015.
  21. ↑ Le cinesi (Manuel García) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed February 26, 2015.
  22. ↑ Belcanto Opera Festival Rossini in Wildbad - schedule 2015 ( memento of April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 10, 2015.
  23. ^ Nicola Conforto. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings, Zeno.org , Volume 20, p. 3108.
  24. ↑ Thomas Molke: Comedy versus tragedy and shepherd game. Review in Online Musik Magazin, accessed on August 10, 2015.
  25. ↑ a b c d Christoph Willibald Gluck. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings . Zeno.org , Volume 20, pp. 5485 ff.
  26. ^ Contrasti ad "Amore e Psiche". In: Corriere della Sera , March 1973.
  27. ^ Christoph Willibald Gluck: Le Cinesi - Lamberto Gardelli. CD information from Allmusic , accessed March 1, 2015.
  28. ^ Christoph Willibald Gluck: Le Cinesi - René Jacobs, Isabelle Poulenard. CD information from Allmusic , accessed March 1, 2015.
  29. ↑ Thomas Molke: Le Cinesi - the winner is the dance. Review in Online Musik Magazin, accessed on March 1, 2015.
  30. ↑ Le Cinesi in Schlosshof ( memento of April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the International Gluck Society, accessed on March 1, 2015.
  31. ↑ Le cinesi - Les Arts. Performance information from the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía , accessed November 25, 2017.
  32. ↑ Le Cinesi. Video stream and work information ( memento from December 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) on OperaVision (video no longer available), accessed on November 25, 2017.