Motezuma

This article describes the opera by Antonio Vivaldi. For other meanings, see Montezuma .

Work data
Title:	Motezuma
Original title:	Motezuma
Title page of the libretto, Venice 1733
Original language:	Italian
Music:	Antonio Vivaldi
Libretto :	Girolamo Alvise Giusti
Premiere:	November 14, 1733
Place of premiere:	Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice
Playing time:	2 ½ to 3 ½ hours depending on the addition made, see article
Place and time of the action:	Mexico, 16th century
people
Motezuma , ruler of Mexico ( bass ) Mitrena , his wife ( soprano ) Teutile , his daughter (soprano) Fernando , General of the Spanish Army (soprano- castrato ; mostly with soprano or countertenor) Ramiro , his younger brother ( mezzo-soprano ; trouser role ) Asprano , General of the Mexicans (soprano castrato; see above)

Motezuma is an Italian baroque opera in three acts by the composer Antonio Vivaldi and the librettist Girolamo Alvise Giusti .

libretto

Depiction of the "Motezuma Xocojotzin" from a book by the Mexican-Italian abbot Francesco Saverio Clavigero (1731–1787) on the history of Mexico

Giusti's libretto describes the last hours of the title hero in the captivity of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés , here called Fernando.

The title of the libretto refers to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II , who is known as "Montezuma" in Spanish, Italian, German and other languages. The spelling “Motezuma” is borrowed from the Nahua name “Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin” (see illustration opposite).

action

first act

Motezuma is hiding in his palace; He calls on his wife Mitrena and daughter Teutile to kill themselves if necessary; eventually the Spaniards put him in chains. But the secret love between Teutile and Ramiro, Fernando's brother, also plays a role. The Mexican general Asprano is still confident.

Second act

While the protagonists fight words, the Spaniards win the decisive battle; Fernando, however, is stuck in a tower besieged by Asprano. The Mexicans question the oracle: A Spaniard and Teutile are to be sacrificed.

Third act

Ramiro saves Fernando through a secret passage before Asprano burns the tower down; then he brings Teutile to safety. After numerous further entanglements, the victorious Fernando sets the wedding of Ramiro and Teutile. Motezuma and Mitrena realize that the oracle must have meant the sacrament of marriage, not human sacrifice.

Performance history and lore

The premiere took place on November 14, 1733 in the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice . No further performances can be proven. The opera was already considered lost during Vivaldi's lifetime.

In 1832 Carl Friedrich Zelter bequeathed a manuscript with extensive Motezuma fragments to the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin . The manuscript was moved to Silesia with the Sing-Akademie archive in 1943, the archive was later taken to the Soviet Union by the Red Army, found again in 1999 in Kiev ( Ukraine ) by Bach researcher Christoph Wolff and in 2001 it became the property of the Sing-Akademie in Berlin spent back. A year later, the musicologist Steffen Voss discovered the fragments; the second act is complete, the other two acts are only partially preserved. Eleven of the twenty-two arias and ensembles are completely preserved, four at least in fragments, and seven have been completely lost. The traditional parts of the score have been and will be supplemented variously for performances, through parody (eg Malgoire) and / or new composition (eg Curtis). Depending on which type of completion is chosen, the duration of the performance is 2½ to 3½ hours, with the longer versions being more comparable to Vivaldi's completely preserved operas. The estimated performance time for the preserved original music by Vivaldi for Motezuma is around 1½ hours.

Performances after the score has been found

A concert performance took place on June 11, 2005 in the De Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam (Netherlands) (musical direction Federico Maria Sardelli ).

A planned performance on July 18, 2005 in the baroque theater Barga (Italy) failed due to a legal dispute over copyright and performance rights. The first staged performance of the fragments, which were only slightly supplemented, took place on September 21, 2005 as part of the Altstadtherbst cultural festival in Düsseldorf (again musical director: Federico Maria Sardelli). A version completed by Thomas Leininger was performed for the first time on December 8, 2006 in the Rokokotheater Schwetzingen (musical direction Michael Form ); this production was then shown in various cities in Mexico and premiered on June 10, 2007 at the Lucerne Theater.

→ See also: editio princeps: The "Motezuma" case

Music numbers

The opera contains the following pieces of music:

first act

• Scene 2. Aria (Motezuma): "Gl'otraggi della sorte"
• Scene 3. Aria (Mitrena): "La sù l'eterna sponda"
• Scene 5. Aria (Fernando); see. Adelaide RV 695 II: 7: "Dallo sdegno, che m'accende"
• Scene 6. Aria (Teutile): "Barbaro più non sento"
• Scene 7. Aria (Ramiro): “Tace il labbro, ed il mio affetto” -… (B minor); for strings and basso continuo
• Scene 8. Recitative: "Numi, se ancor pierosi"
• Scene 9. Recitative: “Seguimi. Che ricerchi? "
• Scene 10. Recitative: "Ramiro il tempo questi ti rassembra"
• Scene 11. Recitative: "Quel silentio è mai questo?"
• Scene 12. Recitative: "German, Signor, alla vicina arena"
• Scene 13. Recitative: "Olà con ogni pompa"
• Scene 14. Recitative: "Empio, mà pria morrai"
  • Aria (Fernando): "I cenni d'un sovrano" - Allegro non molto (G major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Fede tradita e vendicata (Graz 1736) RV Anh 127a.16
• Scene 15. Recitative: "Confesso, non discerno, ove son"
  • Aria (Motezuma): "Se prescritta in questo giorno" - Andante (E flat major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Violin Concerto in B flat major RV 380: 2
• Scene 16. Recitative (strings and basso continuo): "Parte l'afflitto sposo e seco porta"
  • Aria (Mitrane): “S'impugni la spada” - Allegro (F major); for two horns, strings and basso continuo
• Scene 17. Aria (Asprano): "Nell'aspre sue vicende"

Second act

• Scene 1. Recitative: "Vani consigli sono"
  • Aria (Asprano): “Glasses ran per noi più belle” -… (C major); for strings and basso continuo
• Scene 2. Recitative: "Principio à respirar"
• Scene 3. Recitative: “Grav'è l'impegno mio”
  • Aria (Ramiro): “Quel rossor ch'in volto miri” - Largo (B flat major); for strings and basso continuo
• Scene 4. Recitative: "Fernando il gran congresso s'avvicina"
• Scene 5. Recitative: "E guerra avrai, dammi una spada"
  • Trio (Fernando, Mitrena, Motezuma): “A battaglia t'aspetta il mio brando” - Allegro (E flat major); for strings and basso continuo
• Scene 6. Recitative: “Consolatevi amici; è gia vicino il appointment prescritto "
• Scene 7. Recitative: "Lo faccia, e s'ha corraggio"
  • Aria (Fernando): "Sei troppo troppo facile" - Allegro (F major); for strings and basso continuo; see. Adelaide RV 695 I: 16
• Scene 8. Recitative: "Mi deride, mi sprezza"
  • Aria (Asprano): "S'ira, e furor armato" - Allegro (D major); for trumpet, strings and basso continuo
• Scene 9. Recitative: “Fermati, non fuggir; se tanto be invincibile "
  • Abbatimento (without music)
• Scene 10. Recitative: “Che fate? Ove correte? "
  • Aria (Ramiro): “In mezzo alla procella” -… (B flat major); for violins I / II, violas I / II and basso continuo; see. Feraspe RV 713 I: 11
• Scene 11. Recitative: “Vanne crudel; distruggi con empio cor "
• Scene 12. Recitative: "Fermati il ​​tuo destino"
• Scene 13. Recitative: "Principessa, Signora ... ahi qual funesto caso"
  • Aria (Teutile): “Un guardo oh Dio” - Andante molto (C major); for strings and basso continuo
• Scene 14. Recitative: "Vanne, che vendicata"
  • Aria (Mitrena): “La figlia lo sposo” - Allegro molto (C minor); for strings and basso continuo; see. Catone in Utica RV 705 III: 2; Feraspe RV 713e II: 9

Third act

• Scene 1. Aria (Fernando): “L'aquila generosa” - Allegro molto (G major); for violin I and?
• Scene 2. Aria (Ramiro); see. Adelaide RV 695 III: 13: "Anche in mezzo dei contenti"
• Scene 3. Aria (Asprano; cf. Adelaide RV 695 III: 11): "Dal timor, dallo spavento"
• Scene 4. Aria (Mitrena): "Nella stagion ardente"
• Scene 5. Aria (Teutile): “L'agonie dell'alma afflitta” -… (G minor); for violins I / II?, viola and basso continuo
• Scene 6. Recitative: "Figlis una volta ancora"
  • Recitative (strings and basso continuo): "Donque è un errore degl'occhi tuoi"
  • Recitative: “Madre infelice. Oh Dio! "
• Scene 7. Recitative: “Ah v'ingannate. Sacrilegio che fai? Lasciami ingrato "
• Scene 8. Recitative: “Vo seguir l'indelice”
• Scene 9. Recitative (strings and basso continuo): "Ed ho cor di soffrir"
  • Recitative: "Ferma sposa la destra"
• Scene 10. Recitative: “Stelle vinceste; ecco un esempio "
  • Aria (Motezuma): "Dov'è la figlia, dov'è il mio trono?" - Allegro (E minor); for strings and basso continuo; see. Tamerlano RV 703 II: 8
• Scene 11th choir (Fernando, Ramiro, Teutile): “Al gran denio guerriero” - Allegro (D major); for trumpet, strings and basso continuo
• Scene 12th choir; see. Feraspe RV 713 III: 9; RV 718 III: 9: "Imemeo, che sei d'amori"

Pieces as amended

• Scene I: 16. Aria (Mitrena): "A svenare il mostro gl'empi" (only text preserved)
• Scene II: 2. Aria (Teutile): "Il nocchiero coraggioso" (only text preserved)

Varia

In 1974 the writer Alejo Carpentier referred to Vivaldi's opera in his novella Concierto barroco (Baroque Concerto) . In 1980/81 the director José Montes-Baquer shot the television film Montezuma based on Carpentier's novella.

In 1992 the conductor Jean-Claude Malgoire recorded his own attempt at reconstruction for the Astree label , which was based on the original libretto and music from other Vivaldi operas using the so-called pasticcio method. In the same year and on Malgoire's basis, the television opera Montezuma by director Maté Rabinovski was created .

In 2006 the first recording of Vivaldi's music was released on the Deutsche Grammophon label (complete implementation of the libretto with musical borrowings from other Vivaldi operas by Alessandro Ciccolini , musical director Alan Curtis ).

literature

• Steffen Voss: The score of Vivaldi's opera “Motezuma” (1733). In: Studi Vivaldiani 4-2004, Florenz 2004, pp. 53-73

Web links

Commons : Motezuma (Vivaldi)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Motezuma (Antonio Vivaldi) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Ryom : Vivaldi catalog raisonné. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-7651-0372-8 , pp. 449-452.
2. ^ Work information based on the Ryom catalog on musiqueorguequebec.ca, accessed on November 2, 2019.