Ormisda

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Work data
Original title: Ormisda
Title page of the libretto, London 1730

Title page of the libretto, London 1730

Shape: Opera seria
Original language: Italian
Music: Leonardo Vinci , Johann Adolf Hasse , Giuseppe Maria Orlandini , editing: Georg Friedrich Händel
Libretto : after Apostolo Zeno , Ormisda (1721)
Premiere: April 4, 1730
Place of premiere: King's Theater , Haymarket, London
Place and time of the action: Tauri in Persia , around 628
people
  • Ormisda , King of Persia ( tenor )
  • Palmira , his wife ( old )
  • Cosroe , Ormisda's son from his first marriage to Maria, in love with Artenice ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Arsace , Palmiras and Ormisda's son, in love with Artenice (old)
  • Artenice, Queen of Armenia ( soprano )
  • Erismeno, Persian satrap , confidante of Palmira ( bass )

Ormisda ( HWV A 3 ) is a dramma per musica in three acts and a pasticcio performed by Georg Friedrich Händel in London in 1730 .

Emergence

After the collapse of the first Opera Academy in 1729 and the establishment of a new commercial opera company by Johann Jacob Heidegger and Handel, his first two operas for the New Academy, Lotario (December 1729) and Partenope (February 1730), were unsuccessful. If one could accuse Handel of the Lotario that it was directly linked to the great, heroic style of many of his earlier works, with which the London audience had not been able to make friends before, Partenope was neither due to the text nor the music : The castrato Antonio Maria Bernacchi , who was preceded by a great reputation, was not up to the difficulties of his role and the London audience had the great Senesino still too fresh in their memories. So the pasticcio Ormisda , with music by Vinci , Hasse and other “moderns”, was used as a makeshift at the beginning of April and was far more successful, although Mrs. Pendarves , Handel's neighbor on Brook Street and lifelong supporter, considered it very heavy ( very cumbersome ) found.

The libretto is an adaptation of Ormisda by Apostolo Zeno , which was premiered in Vienna in 1721 with music by Antonio Caldara . The version by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini (May 1722) for the Teatro Malvezzi in Bologna (which burned down in 1745 ) is the model for the London libretto. The previous assumption in music historiography that the pasticcio Ormisda is a Handelian arrangement with the addition of its own secco recitatives has often been contradicted, and the possibility that this largely comes from Orlandini's setting of the material is considered the most likely. (e.g. Strohm , Baselt , Roberts)

The opera, like the Royal Academy's first pasticcio, L'Elpidia, ovvero Li rivali generosi , almost certainly comes from a “broadcast” from Venice by theater manager Owen Swiney at the end of 1725 , who was apparently commissioned to stage the London stage To supply material from the Italian opera metropolises. Ormisda was supposed to be performed at the beginning of the 1725/26 season, before the expected arrival of Faustina Bordoni in London in March 1726, but the pasticcio arrived too late to be feasible. This delay may also have been the reason for Handel to abandon work on Alessandro , which was supposed to be perfectly tailored to Faustina's London debut, and to begin composing Scipione , an opera with only one prima donna : Francesca Cuzzoni . Since Ormisda also had only one star soprano and did not contain a role for Faustina, the piece could not be used in the further course of the first Opera Academy until 1728.

But when Handel and Heidegger founded the second opera academy in 1729, Ormisda became part of its first season. Swiney had probably delivered the piece in 1725 as a finished pasticcio based on Orlandini's opera, but only a few of the arias in this version remained now, 1730: most of them now came from operas composed in 1726 or later and the selection of arias had been largely influenced by the singers. The recitatives have apparently been revised and greatly shortened on the basis of a text probably changed by Giacomo Rossi .

Ormisda premiered at the King's Theater on April 4, 1730 and was a great success, running for fourteen evenings by the end of the season in June 1730 - more than Handel's most recent operas Lotario (ten) and Partenope (seven).

Cast of the premiere

Ormisda was resumed for five performances at the beginning of the next season between November 28 and December 8, 1730. Senesino sang the role of Cosroe and Giovanni Commano that of Erismeno for the singers Bernacchi and Riemschneider, who have since left the ensemble. Senesino received four new arias, all of which come from Orlandini's Adelaide , in which this singer had performed in Venice in 1729, and with which he had Bernacchi's original arias replaced. The music publisher John Walsh published twelve songs from the first series of performances of the Ormisda in 1730 .

libretto

The libretto Apostolo Zenos is a fusion of Jean Rotrous Cosroès (1649) and Pierre Corneilles Nicomède (1650). The learned court poet, who was very familiar with the dramatic literature of France and who borrowed quite a few subjects from it for his operas, had recognized the close relationship between the two French pieces and had used both of them fairly equally. While he owes more to Rotrou for the fable, in the treatment of it, especially in the conciliatory outcome, he decidedly agrees with Corneille, who, with the melodramatic coloring of his Nicomède, had prepared a lot for an opera. Zeno used the names of the people very freely, which leads to some confusion when comparing the course of action with history: he calls the old Persian king Ormisda (Hormizd) instead of Cosroe (Chosrau), but this was the name of his father Hormizd IV.Syra (Schirin) has received the name of her greatest rival: Palmira; Mardesanes (Merdanschah) is called Arsace here; Syroäs (Siroe, main character in Handel's opera Siroe , 1728) bears his father's name here: Cosroe. The reason for these name changes remains unclear, perhaps Zeno wanted to withhold his borrowing, because in the “Argomento” for his Ormisda he doesn't mention what he owes to the two French poets, rather he suggests that he drew on the sources himself .

action

Sassanid relief Taq-e-Bostan - one of the oldest cataphracts - representations. Above it, Chosrau II (in the play Ormisda), framed by the deities Ahura Mazda and Anahita, is probably depicted.

Historical and literary background

The story of the Persian great king Chosrau II from the Sassanid dynasty , who ruled from 590 to 628, who wanted his second-born son Merdanschah from his marriage to Shirin to be his successor and therefore from his first-born son Kavadh II Siroe from a previous marriage has been passed down not only in Arabic chronicles, but also in historiographical writings of the West since the anonymous Eastern Roman Chronicon Paschale , written around 630 . The love between Chosrau and Schirin was also known from numerous literary works such as the epic Chosrau and Schirin by the Persian poet Nezami from around 1200 and the fairy tales from the Arabian Nights .

first act

King Ormisda has two sons, Cosroe and Arsace. The former is the son of his first wife, the latter the son of the second wife Palmira. This, an ambitious, vicious woman, bypassing the heir to the throne Cosroe, wishes the crown for her son Arsace and persecutes her stepson in every possible way. But the two princes love each other, and even the fact that they are both in love with one and the same beauty, Artenice, the youthful queen of Armenia, cannot divide them. The father of this princess had set the condition at his death that Artenice must extend her hand to the heir to the throne of Persia. Although she loves Arsace, she is also ready to marry Cosroe if he takes the throne. Palmira tries to thwart this at all costs. Cosroe, victorious in a war against Pontus , returns to the capital of Persia, Tauri , without his father's permission , thereby angering the old king. Palmira tries to capitalize on it and incites the weak monarch against his son. Cosroe wants to obey his father's orders and return to the camp, but demands that Artenice, whose hand he claims heir to the throne, follow him there. Palmira resists this, and Ormisda, swaying to and fro in tenderness for the son and love for the wife, is unable to come to a decision. Arsace meanwhile nobly wants to renounce Artenice's hand so that the beloved could ascend the throne. However, the princess refuses to accept the sacrifice. She moves away when she sees Cosroe approaching. This prince explains to his brother how sorry he is to have to tear the beautiful bond between him and Artenice. Then Palmira appears and promises the throne and her lover to Arsace. With respect, but resolutely, Cosroe contradicts the stepmother. But this flares up and threatens him. This scene is interrupted by Ormisda, who demands that Arsace be cleared up. But the latter refuses to speak because he cannot defend his brother without accusing his mother. Cosroe, meanwhile, protests his innocence and the king believes him.

Palmira has won over the satrap Erismeno and induced him to approach Cosroe with allegedly treacherous intent and then to tell him that she had instigated him to do so. Erismeno obeys the order, and Cosroe forgives the satrap on condition that he repeat his testimony to the king.

Second act

Ormisda and his whole court offer a sacrifice to the idol Mitra , then the king lays the crown on the altar and tells Artenice to choose one of his two sons as husband so that he can also become king of Persia. This solution to the burning question seemed to the king the best. But Artenice refuses to make a choice and, in order not to continue to cause a dispute between father and son, brother and brother, she decides to return to Armenia and await her chosen husband there. After the departure of the princess, another dispute arises between the parties involved. Cosroe, in order to touch the stepmother sensitively, asks Erismeno to speak, but the traitor, instead of accusing the queen of the attempted murder against the stepson, conversely accuses Cosroe of pushing him to murder Palmira. The wrongly accused defends himself in vain, Ormisda does not believe him and lets the guard take him away.

No sooner has Cosroe left than Palmira storms the weak king, so that for her and her son's safety he may have Arsace crowned king, and Ormisda gives the order to assemble the Persians and Armenians, because to this day Arsace becomes the throne of Persia and the hand Artenices preserved. At first Artenice is happy that she will finally get Arsace and the throne, but finally nobility wins the upper hand: She considers Cosroe to be innocent and moves Arsace to stand up for her brother. Arsace soon has the opportunity to convince himself of Cosroe's innocence because he overhears the conversation between his mother and Erismeno. Immediately he wants to tell his father what he has heard, but consideration for the guilty mother forbids it. He even swears to them to keep the matter secret and not to do anything against Erismeno. But he resolves to save Cosroe at all costs.

Third act

Ormisda wants to save the son's life. He lets him come and tries to persuade him to ask Palmira for forgiveness. He should then receive the throne of Persia, only he would have to cede Artenice and Armenia to Arsace. Cosroe firmly rejects these suggestions and prefers to return to the dungeon. Suddenly Erismeno reports that the army has been stirred up to free Cosroe. Ormisda is furious and says that Cosroe is about to die. In the meantime, Arsace tries hard to get his brother's pardon from his wavering father. The old king finally approves it, but only on condition that Cosroe renounce Artenice. Arsace, equipped with a secret key to the prison, goes there accompanied by Artenices. In the meantime, Erismeno had appeared there with the guard, and the couple arrives in time to snatch his murder victim from him. Even now Cosroe refuses to renounce Artenice. Nevertheless, and despite Erismeno's objection, the noble Arsace sets his brother free.

The tide has turned: Cosroe is at the head of the army, Ormisda, Palmira and Arsace are his prisoners. Cosroe first lets the queen appear before his judge's seat. Palmira is unbowed in misery and refuses to beg Cosroe for mercy. Ormisda, who then appears before his son, does not rise to the height of her father's majesty either.

Erismeno was murdered by the people or the soldiers; To the regret of Prince Cosroe, the mouth that had been able to testify to his innocence has fallen silent. But Artenice has heard the dying man's last words that reveal the truth. She is about to prosecute the Queen, but Cosroe interrupts her. He kneels down in front of his father and declares that he wants to return to the dungeon, that Ormisda should forgive the soldiers and their leaders for indignant pity for him. But Ormisda, defeated by his son's nobility, declares him king and husband of Artenices. Cosroe cannot be surpassed when it comes to nobility. He cedes Artenice and Armenia to his brother. Palmira also shares the delight and admiration of those present for the noble deed of the prince: she renounces her hatred and wants to see Cosroe as her son in future.

music

The director's score contains two different overtures : the first planned, but then canceled before the premiere sinfonia goes back to Leonardo Vinci's opera Flavio Anicio Olibrio (Naples 1728), the overture, which was later recorded as a replacement, should be noted ( Ouverture del S r Conti. ) in the surviving original harpsichord part by Francesco Bartolomeo Conti . In addition to the recitatives, there are also four arias from Orlandini's setting. These and all other arias, most of which were identified by Reinhard Strohm , appear to have been largely chosen by the singers. Bernacchi and the Merighi only sang arias that were composed for them, the four arias for Bernacchi from Orlandini's Ormisda were evidently already part of the score that Swiney sent to London. In addition to the chants of Orlandini, Ormisda contains arias by Hasse, Vinci, as well as by Andrea Stefano Fiorè , Giovanni Antonio Giay , Nicola Porpora , Domenico Sarro , Geminiano Giacomelli and Leonardo Leo . In contrast to Elpidia , where these were taken from their original surroundings with unchanged text, many arias in Ormisda received a new text. For the benefit performance on April 21st for the benefit of the Strada, ten arias, the final chorus and probably the overture were replaced by other numbers.

The fact that Handel composed the recitatives can almost be ruled out on the basis of style-critical investigations. Whoever composed it must be the same one who wrote the recitatives for Venceslao , which was written around the same time but was saved for the next season.

The resumption in the following season brought further changes: Senesino sang a number of new arias, apparently because he wanted to avoid direct comparison with Bernacchi. However, a few weeks later he saw no reason to change one of Bernacchi's arias in the Pasticcio Venceslao . The fact that Handel was in possession of the director's score and the harpsichord score probably means that he was in charge of the performances. However, the manuscripts show no traces of his hand.

Handel and the pasticcio

The pasticcio was a source for Handel, of which he made frequent use in the following years. They were not new to London or the continent, but Handel had only released one, L'Elpidia, in 1724. Now he would deliver seven more: Ormisda , Venceslao in 1730/31, Lucio Papirio dittatore 1731/32, Catone in 1732/33, and no less than three, Semiramide riconosciuta , Caio Fabbricio and Arbace in 1733/34. Handel's working method in the construction of the pasticci was very different, but all materials are based on libretti by Zeno or Metastasio , which are familiar in the European opera metropolises and which many contemporary composers had adopted - above all Leonardo Vinci , Johann Adolph Hasse , Nicola Porpora , Leonardo Leo , Giuseppe Orlandini and Geminiano Giacomelli . Handel composed the recitatives or adapted existing ones from the chosen template. Very rarely did he rewrite an aria, usually in order to adapt it to a different pitch and tessit . For example in Semiramide riconosciuta , where he completely recomposed an aria for an old castrato Saper bramante (No. 14) for bassist Gustav Waltz , because a simple octave transposition (which has been common since the 1920s until today) was not an option for him. Wherever possible, he included the repertoire of the singer in question in the selection of arias. Most of the time the arias had to be transposed when they were transferred from one context to another or transferred from one singer to another. They also got a new text by means of the parody process . The result didn't always have to make sense, because it was more about letting the singers shine than producing a coherent drama. Aside from Ormisda and Elpidia , who were the only ones to see revivals , Handel's pasticci weren't particularly successful - Venceslao and Lucio Papirio dittatore only had four performances each - but like revivals, they required less work than composing and rehearsing new works could well be used as a stopgap or start of the season, or step in when a new opera, as was the case with Partenope in February 1730 and Ezio in January 1732, was a failure. Handel pasticci have one important common feature: the sources were all contemporary and popular materials that had been set to music in the recent past by many composers who set in the “modern” Neapolitan style. He had introduced this with the Elpidia of Vinci in London and later this style merged with his own contrapuntal working method to the unique mixture that permeates his later operas.

orchestra

Two oboes , two trumpets , strings, basso continuo ( violoncello , lute , harpsichord ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Ormisda  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Editing management of the Halle Handel Edition: Documents on life and work. , in: Walter Eisen (Hrsg.): Handel manual: Volume 4 , Deutscher Verlag für Musik , Leipzig 1985, ISBN 3-7618-0717-1 , p. 179.
  2. ↑ Christopher Hogwood : Georg Friedrich Handel. A biography. From the English by Bettina Obrecht (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655), Insel Verlag , Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 172.
  3. ↑ Reinhard Strohm : Handel's pasticci. In: Essays on Handel and Italian Opera , Cambridge University Press 1985, Reprint 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-26428-0 , p. 172.
  4. ↑ a b c Bernd Baselt : Thematic-systematic directory. Instrumental music, pasticci and fragments. In: Walter Eisen (Ed.): Handel manual: Volume 3 , Deutscher Verlag für Musik , Leipzig 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0716-3 , p. 353
  5. ↑ a b c d John H. Roberts: Ormisda. In: Annette Landgraf and David Vickers: The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia , Cambridge University Press 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-88192-0 , pp. 469 f.
  6. ↑ a b c d Arthur Ludwig Stiefel: Jean Rotrous 'Cosroès' and his sources. In: Dietrich Behrens (Ed.): Journal for French Language and Literature , Volume 23, Verlag Wilhelm Gronau, Berlin 1901, pp. 173 ff.
  7. ^ Silke Leopold : Handel. The operas. Bärenreiter-Verlag , Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3 , p. 289
  8. ↑ Winton Dean : Handel's Operas, 1726-1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006. Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 . P. 128 f.