Le metamorfosi di Pasquale
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| Title: | Le metamorfosi di Pasquale |
Title page of the libretto, Venice 1802 |
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| Shape: | “ Farsa giocosa per musica” in one act |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Gaspare Spontini |
| Libretto : | Giuseppe Maria Foppa |
| Premiere: | January 16, 1802 |
| Place of premiere: | Teatro San Moisè Venice |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Italy |
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Le metamorfosi di Pasquale, o sia Tutto è illusione nel mondo is an opera (original name: " farsa giocosa per musica") in one act by Gaspare Spontini (music) with a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa . It was premiered on January 16, 1802 at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice and was considered lost until its rediscovery in 2016.
action
Secluded park with trees near the baron's castle
Scene 1. The Marchese meets secretly with his lover Costanza, the baron's daughter. He brought his servant Frontino with him, she her maid Lisetta. While the Marchese and Costanza indulge in their feelings of love, Frontino Lisetta makes court. This has bad news for the couple: Although the baron has not yet met the Marchese, he declines his daughter's relationship with him because of an old enmity with the family. Instead she should marry the Cavaliere. The two women quickly withdraw when they see the Cavaliere approaching.
Scene 2. The Cavaliere demands that the Marchese give up Costanza. When he refuses, the Cavaliere challenges him to a duel.
Scene 3. Frontino watches the duel. The Cavaliere fires the first shot, but misses his target. The Marchese then deliberately shoots in the air. The Cavaliere's servant runs to the castle to report the incident. Frontino fears that his master will be arrested and rushes to his aid.
Scene 4. The adventurer Pasquale wants to return to his former lover Lisetta after many years of hapless wandering (Cavatine Pasquale: “Senza un soldo al suo comando”). He takes off his coat and falls asleep under a tree.
Scene 5. Frontino warns his master and advises him to flee. The Marchese exchanges his clothes for Pasquale's coat.
Scene 6. When Pasquale wakes up, he's amazed at the change in clothes. He likes it because it makes him slimmer and seems to belong to a nobleman.
Scene 7. Frontino has been secretly watching Pasquale. He steps forward and treats him like his master, the Marchese, who has apparently lost his memory. He reminds him that he has just killed his rival in a duel for the baron's daughter.
Scene 8. The baron's guards, led by a sergeant, meet and arrest Pasquale when he confirms that he is the marquis (duet Pasquale / Frontino: “Ah furbo bricconaccio” - “Oh povero padrone”).
Ground floor hall in the baron's palace with a view of the garden through the entrance door
Scene 9. The Marchese in disguise has meanwhile arrived at the palace and asks Costanza to keep him hidden until he sees the right moment (Arie Marchese: “Sol per te, mio diletto tesoro”).
Scene 10. Lisetta angrily informs Costanza that her father met the Marchese in the garden.
Scene 11. The baron leads in the Marchese. He treats him kindly because he did not recognize him. He informs the two women that the (alleged) Marchese will be brought to him shortly.
Scene 12. When Pasquale disguised as Marchese, Frontino and the soldiers arrive, everyone is confused. Lisetta recognizes her former lover Pasquale immediately, of course, but is not sure about her feelings. Frontino asks them to pretend Pasquale really is the Marchese. This confirms to the baron that he loves his daughter more than anything. He behaves so strangely that the baron cannot understand what Costanza finds in him. Out of hospitality, he orders the soldiers to release him. He goes out with Costanza. The Marchese goes in search of the Cavaliere.
Scene 13. Lisetta introduces Pasquale Frontino as her lover. Pasquale reacts angrily. Frontino, on the other hand, is happy about this declaration of love. He does not want to tolerate a rival (Aria Frontino: "Come! Cosa! Questa ragazza amabile").
Scene 14. After Frontino leaves, Pasquale tries to win Lisetta back. However, she pretends not to recognize him and tells him about a certain Pasquale who once abandoned her and whom she now deeply detests. Pasquale explains to her that he has always loved her and has only traveled to return to her as a rich man. Then he fell asleep and woke up as a Marchese. He asks her to become his wife. Although Lisetta rejects him, he leaves believing that she loves him (duet Lisetta / Pasquale: “Parla, Lisetta mia”).
Scene 15. The Marchese tells Lisetta that the Cavaliere has recovered and wants to speak to him in the garden. She leads him back.
Scene 16. The baron still cannot believe that his daughter should have fallen in love with such an uncouth man. Costanza says that he shouldn't believe the appearance (Aria Costanza: "Deh in questo core leggete appieno").
Scene 17. The baron suspects that the Marchese is up to something, scolds Pasquale and leaves the room.
Scene 18. Lisetta leads the Cavaliere into the garden. When she returns, Pasquale tries to win her over with references to his alleged wealth. Lisetta makes it appear.
Scene 19. Frontino rushes up excitedly and warns Pasquale that he is suspected of fraud and that he is about to be beaten. Lisetta tries to comfort Pasquale with tender affectionate words, but secretly whispers to Frontino that she actually means him (Aria Lisetta: "Ah dov'è chi ha l'ardimento"). She leaves them laughing.
Scene 20. Pasquale fears that his disguise has been recognized. He asks Frontino to help him out of this predicament and promises him his marquisate as a reward. Frontino agrees. He thinks Lisetta knows what to do.
Scene 21 (“ultima”). The Marchese and the Cavaliere return from the garden together. In gratitude that the Marchese spared his life, the Cavaliere voluntarily renounces Costanza and also wants to convince her father that the Marchese is the right man for her. Lisetta tells them about the prank she and Frontino Pasquale want to play: They persuaded the adventurer that he would have to dress up as an old woman in order to save himself. Marchese and Cavaliere promise to play along. The two are withdrawing for the time being. Pasquale appears in this guise with a large bonnet. Since he can hardly hide his nervousness, Lisetta advises him to pretend he's been weak. Frontino gets him a chair. But when the Baron, the Marchese, the Cavaliere and Costanza enter, he jumps up in a panic and loses his hood. He has no choice but to reveal his true identity. He still hopes to marry Lisetta, but she announces that she has meanwhile become engaged to Frontino. Pasquale has to accept his situation and join the joy choir to celebrate the upcoming double wedding.
layout
The opera consists of a total of ten musical numbers linked by recitatives. There are three ensemble movements (the introduction, a sextet, and the finale) as well as two duets and five arias (one for each leading role).
- No. 1. Introduction (scene 1)
- No. 2. Cavatine (Pasquale): "Senza un soldo al suo comando" (scene 4)
- No. 3. Duet (Pasquale / Frontino): "Ah furbo bricconaccio" - "Oh povero padrone" (scene 8)
- No. 4. Aria (Marchese): "Sol per te, mio diletto tesoro" (scene 9)
- No. 5. Sextet
- No. 6. Aria (Frontino): “Come! Cosa! Questa ragazza amabile "(scene 13)
- No. 7. Duet (Lisetta / Pasquale): "Parla, Lisetta mia" (scene 14)
- No. 8. Aria (Costanza): "Deh in questo core leggete appieno" (scene 16)
- No. 9. Aria (Lisetta): "Ah dov'è chi ha l'ardimento" (scene 19)
- No. 10. Finale
Stylistically, the music corresponds to the Neapolitan tradition. Compared to Spontini's previous operas, there are some more daring modulations , more frequent fallacies, and excessive chords.
Work history
Gaspare Spontini's “ Farsa giocosa per musica” Le metamorfosi di Pasquale, o sia tutto è illusione nel mondo is his last opera for an Italian theater. The libretto is by Giuseppe Maria Foppa .
The first performance took place during the carnival season on January 16, 1802 in the Teatro San Moisè in Venice. Spontini's work was combined with the Farsa Non credere alle apparenze by Raffaele Orgitano, which has been played since the previous autumn , the text of which was also by Foppa. The singers were Nicola Manni (Baron), Elena Conti (Costanza), Clemente Acquisti (Cavaliere and Sergeant), Orsola Fabrizzi Bertini (Lisetta), Giambattista Benelli (Marchese), Cesare Biscossi (Frontino), Giovanni Battista Brocchi (Pasquale).
The work had only moderate success and was canceled on January 22nd. Spontini then gave up his activity in Italy and began a new and far more successful career in Paris the following year.
Of the fifteen operas from his Italian period attributed to Spontini, only the autograph by Li puntigli delle donne and copies of four other pieces were known for a long time . The other works were considered lost. Le metamorfosi di Pasquale was found in the library of Ursel Castle in Hingene (Flanders) in the spring of 2016, together with three other Spontini scores. The binding suggests that these works come from the estate of Spontini's widow Céleste Érard, who died in Paris in 1878. Due to some errors in the order of the arches, it can be assumed that the binding was only carried out after Spontini's death. There is also an autograph sketch of Cavatine Pasquales and the sextet. The sinfonia and a bow of the finale with 87 bars are missing. As a sinfonia, Spontini most likely used a version of the opera La fuga in maschera he had composed two years earlier for Naples . In the following years he used them several times: 1800 in Palermo for Il quadro parlante , 1801 in Rome for Il geloso e l'audace and 1805 in Paris for Julie, ou Le pot de fleurs . Some themes from it also appear in the finale of Le metamorfosi di Pasquale.
For the reconstruction, a version of this symphonia was created, the instrumentation of which was based on the Venetian orchestra of that time and the other versions. The missing bars in Finale could not simply be replaced by existing music, as this is a complex concertato piece. They were therefore newly composed in the style of Spontini. A critical edition was published by Federico Agostinelli.
The first scenic new production of the opera was in January 2018 by the ensemble of the Teatro La Fenice in the Teatro Malibran in Venice. In September of the same year performances at the Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi followed.
Recordings
- January 2018 - Gianluca Capuano (conductor), Bepi Morassi (staging), Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice.
Francesco Basso (Baron), Michela Antenucci (Costanza), Christian Collia (Cavaliere and Sergeant), Irina Dubrovskaya (Lisetta), Giorgio Misseri (Marchese), Carlo Checchi (Frontino), Andrea Patucelli (Pasquale).
Video; live from the Teatro Malibran in Venice.
Video stream on the Teatro La Fenice website . - September 22, 2018 - Giuseppe Montesano (conductor), Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini.
Carlo Feola (Baron), Michela Antenucci (Costanza), Daniele Adriani (Cavaliere, Sergeant), Carolina Lippo (Lisetta), Antonio Garés (Marchese), Davide Bartolucci (Frontino), Baurzhan Anderzhanov (Pasquale).
From the XVIII Pergolesi Spontini Festival from the Teatro GB Pergolesi in Jesi.
Critical edition by Federico Agostinelli.
Dynamic CDS7836.02.
Web links
- Libretto (Italian), Venice 1802. Digitized from the Library of Congress
- Libretto (Italian) as full text (PDF) on accademiavenezia.it
- Le metamorfosi di Pasquale, o sia Tutto è illusione nel mondo (Gaspare Spontini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Information on the production of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice (DOC, Italian)
Remarks
- ↑ In the libretto from 1802, scene 16 is missing. The numbers that follow the 15 are therefore increased by one.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Supplement to CD Dynamic CDS7836.02.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Federico Agostinelli: Metamorfosi resurrected. In: Supplement to CD Dynamic CDS7836.02, pp. 19–24.
- ↑ a b c Record of the world premiere in 1802 in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on February 2, 2020.
- ↑ Vincenzo de Vivo: Spontini Rediscovered. In: Supplement to CD Dynamic CDS7836.02, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Documents on the production of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice , accessed on February 2, 2020.