Partenope (metastasis)
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Partenope |
Image from the libretto |
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| Shape: | Festa teatrale |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | First setting by Johann Adolph Hasse |
| Libretto : | Pietro Metastasio |
| Premiere: | September 9, 1767 |
| Place of premiere: | Vienna |
| Place and time of the action: | The place where the city of Partenope was later built |
| people | |
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Partenope is a libretto for a festa teatrale in two acts by Pietro Metastasio . The two-part work was performed for the first time in the setting by Johann Adolph Hasse on September 9, 1767 on the engagement of King Ferdinand IV of Naples to Archduchess Maria Josepha in Vienna.
A German translation of the libretto by Johann Anton Koch appeared in 1775 in the seventh volume of his unfinished complete edition Des Herr Abbot Peter Metastasio Kayserl. Royal Court Poet's Dramatic Poems.
action
The Serenata is about the preparations for the founding of the ancient city of Partenope in what is now Naples .
“There is still a very old legend among poets that the siren Parthenope, a daughter of the muse Calliope, chose that pleasant area of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the river Sebeth flows, as her favorite stay; that she was not only venerated there, and that she had demanded divine respect from the inhabitants of the neighboring regions, but that they were also encouraged by the Cuman people, as the first originators of the great idea, with the name of their patron goddess, the city of Parthenope have built on the very same place where the city of Naples stands out among the most famous cities to this day; It is also otherwise from historical conjectures, and from various old gender names, which have not yet sunk into oblivion there, credible that many noble descendants of strange heroic families had already populated these happy corridors in the most distant times; and that they were either compelled by domestic causes to leave their hometowns; or that they had been enticed by the fertility and convenience of this new region.
On these grounds are the probabilities by which the fortunate foundation of the city of Parthenope was put into action, which is the main plot of the present dramatic poem. "
The following table of contents is based on the German translation of the libretto by Johann Anton Koch.
first act
Exterior view of the magnificent Temple of Partenope on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea , on which the city of the same name was later built
1st scene. A raised space, accessible by two flights of stairs and separated by flower-decked arcades, offers a view of the calm sea. The residents of the area celebrate the annual Partenope feast day with dancing and singing and ask for a blessing for the celebrations for the foundation of the new city. The chief priest Alceo steps forward and points out the good omens for the project. He also announces two engagements: his daughter Elpinice is to marry the Heraclean Cleanto, the prince of Cumae . Ismene, the princess of Posidonia ( Paestum ), is married to Filandro, the prince of Miseno . The couples are expected to arrive shortly.
2nd scene. Elpinice interrupts her father and announces the arrival of the Cuman and Posidon ships. Alceo goes to the temple to ask heaven for his favor.
3rd scene. Elpinice expresses her delight at the arrival of her lover Cleanto.
Ground floor row of rooms in the Alceos apartment
4th scene. Cleanto and Filandro arrived unnoticed before the main ships arrived to surprise their fiancés Elpinice and Ismene. Since Isemene does not seem to have arrived yet, Filandro sets out to look for her inconspicuously.
5th scene. Elpinice and Ismene meet Cleanto. Elpinice goes to inform her father personally of the arrival of the men.
6th scene. Ismene confirms to Cleanto how happy she is about this day. At the same time, however, she thinks back to her childhood, as she was adopted as a foster child and lovingly raised in this place.
7th scene. Filandro reports that Alceo has locked himself in the temple and Elpinice is waiting for him at the entrance to the temple. Cleanto decides to go there too to be with his lover.
8th scene. Filandro and Ismene confirm their love for each other. Ismene is impatient because Alceo is so long in coming. Filandro knows a shortcut to the temple and goes to see what's going on.
9th scene. Ismene doesn't understand why she is so worried.
Walkways at ground level with statues on the seashore
10th scene. The Cuman and Posidon ships anchor on both sides. In the distance you can see the shores of the Gulf of Naples with forests, mountains and rocks and the Sebeto River. Cleanto and Elpinice greet Alceo, who finally comes out of the temple. However, Alceo is saddened by a new command from the goddess. Cleanto should use the sacred plow to mark the boundaries of the new city, but he should not marry Elpinice.
11th scene. After Ismene and Filandro have also arrived, Alceo explains the deity's message: Cleanto should combine with Ismene in order to unite the blood of Heracles with that of Dardanos . Everyone is upset. Alceo explains that one cannot resist such a clear voice of the gods. After he leaves, the four bride and groom declare that they will oppose the judgment.
Second act
A sacred forest near the temple with bright and carefully manicured paths
1st scene. Elipinice laments fate, since she and Cleanto were in love with each other from childhood. Alceo advises her to accept it. Whoever was born and raised in this holy place must remain innocent. The decisions of heaven cannot be measured and understood by human standards. He asks his daughter not to oppose fate and also to persuade Ismene to give in. He goes.
2nd scene. Cleanto tries to comfort Elpinice. He assures her that he will remain loyal to her even if he cannot marry her. But he wants to follow her advice. Elpinice is too confused to be comforted. She goes.
3rd scene. While Cleanto is still brooding, Ismene comes to him. She too does not feel able to turn her love to anyone other than Filandro. But she recognizes Clanto's worth.
4th scene. Filandro arrives and reports that Elpinice is on the way to her old foster mother Euriclea to ask her advice. Cleanto asks his friends to help her. He goes.
5th scene. Filandro asks Ismene to take care of Elpinice while he tries to help Cleanto. Ismene is amazed at his magnanimity, as he cares more about others than about himself. After reassuring her of his love for her, he leaves.
6th scene. Ismene is certain that she could never love anyone other than Filandro.
Rock cave on the coast, covered in various places with moss, shells and seaweed; in between there is a narrow path to the shore with a small boat
7th scene. Cleanto has decided to leave the country.
8th scene. Filandro comes and reports that everything has turned out well. Elpinice is already waiting for him as a bridegroom at the altar. But in the rush he could not find out the details.
A magnificent forecourt to the elevated temple
9th scene. In a smaller temple are the golden statue of the protective goddess and the burning sacrificial table, with priests, priestesses, noble youths and virgins, nymphs, shepherds and people. Elipinice, Alceo and Ismeno stand at the altar. The choir asks the goddess to bless Ismene and Cleanto. Alceo points out that before the wedding one has to map out the boundaries of the new city and wonders where Cleanto is. However, Ismene already sees him in the distance. The choir repeats its singing.
Last scene. Cleanto and Filandro approach each other in a good mood. However, when they hear the choir call the names Ismene and Cleanto, they stop, confused. Cleanto feels betrayed. Elpinice calms him down, however. Alceo now explains that Elpinice has become Ismene. When Posidonia was invaded by the Phoenicians, Ismene's father hid her in the temple and then made her sole heir to his kingdom. She was then raised together with Elpinice by their governess Euriclea. However, Ericlea had a preference for her first foster child, Elpinice, and switched the names of the two to secure her Ismenes legacy. It was only the desperation of the two that made them confess their crime. The now legal heiress Elpinice explains to Ismene that she has no interest in the rule and only wants her real name. She herself is satisfied with the heart of Cleanto. Before the expressions of joy stretch too long, Alceo urges them to hurry. While the choir asks Heaven for the promised happiness, clouds appear at the top of the stage, from which a heavenly choir answers and confirms the promise. Everyone is amazed, and Alceo announces that the gods will also attend the celebration. The clouds are slowly clearing away. The goddess of love Venus appears with Hymenaios , Cupid , goddesses of grace and a festive crowd of heavenly spirits. Venus gives the final speech and promises a happy future for the new city of Partenope. Hymenaios will now connect the descendants of the Dardanids and the Heraclids. Cleanto should mark the city limits as king, priest, donor and bridegroom. This area will always be the home of lofty spirits of loyalty, humanity and love, and fate is already forging the noble chains with which it will connect the Bourbon and Austrian heroes. At the end, both choirs jointly affirm the blessing.
history
Partenope is Metastasio's last serenata. When Maria Theresa commissioned him to write a seal for the wedding of Archduchess Maria Josepha and Ferdinand IV of Naples in the winter of 1766/67 , he was reluctant to accept it, as he actually wanted to retire at that time. On September 7th he attended the dress rehearsal and on September 8th the work was performed with music by Johann Adolph Hasse in the presence of the rulers at court. The premiere in the Vienna Burgtheater took place on September 9th. It sang Giuseppe Tibaldi (Alceo), Elisabeth Teyber (Elpinice), Giacomo Veroli (Cleanto), Clementina Baglioni Poggi (Ismene) and Venanzio Rauzzini (Filandro). The sets were designed by the Galliari brothers .
The Neapolitan equipment of the stage sets, which Metastasio described in detail in the text, is of particular importance. Since he celebrated his first successes in Naples, he probably had nostalgic memories here. His relationship at the time with the singer Maria Anna Benti Bulgarelli , the "Romanina", may also have played a role.
Partenope cannot completely convince qualitatively. The Metastasio editor Bruno Brunelli criticized mainly linguistic deficiencies, but the main problems lie in the plot of the piece itself. In the first part in particular, the characters have little else to do than celebrate their love and the happiness of their reunion. A dramatic plot only develops in the third image (scene 10) when Alceo proclaims the oracle of Partenopes. In the second part, the expected psychological and moral conflicts between a sense of duty and love gradually emerge. But even these are not worked out consistently. The heroic motif quickly gives way to the power of passion. For example, Elpinice gives up her resolve to urge her lover to leave her in favor of Ismenes. In Alceo's dialogue with his daughter, too, the motif of sacrifice for the common good is only sketchily hinted at, making way for banalities about the necessary obedience to the gods. Only in the final scene does Metastasio manage to combine the demands of a dramatic plot with the content of the solemnity. Cleanto, already attuned to a happy ending, is discouraged by the words of the choir when the choir asks for a blessing for Ismene and Cleanto, but Ismenes and Elpinice's happy faces don't seem to go with that. Metastasio delays the dissolution until the end and thus creates a maximum moment of surprise.
The treatment of the choir is worth mentioning. For the first time in a Serenata Metastasios, he himself takes on the role of a theater character. In earlier works such as Il Parnaso accusato e difeso or Egeria it only served to dramatically emphasize certain allegorical issues. In Partenope, on the other hand, the people celebrate with dancing and singing right from the start. The meaning of the chorus words in the final scene has already been mentioned.
The resolution in the final scene is clearly reactionary. There is simply no reason to refuse to obey the goddess. Analogously, this means that no revolutionary changes are necessary for the well-being of humanity and the monarchy can continue to exist. This attitude is also made clear by the appearance of the gods, who personally confirm that everything is in order because heaven itself ensures the happiness of mankind. This is also how the character of Venus is to be understood, who does not appear here as a friendly goddess, as in other works by Metastasius, but appears as a mistress. It is a symbol of the ruler who lets his benevolent face shine on his loyal subjects.
Settings
The following composers set this libretto to music:
| year | composer | premiere | Performance location | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1767 | Johann Adolph Hasse | September 9, 1767, Burgtheater | Vienna | “Festa teatrale” for the engagement of King Ferdinand IV of Naples to Archduchess Maria Josepha ; revised in 1775 in the theater of Sanssouci in Potsdam |
| 1782 | Vicente Martín y Soler | February 1782, Accademia di musica | Naples | "Componimento drammatico" |
| 1798 | Antonio Peregrino Benelli | Carnival 1798, Teatro dei Fiorentini | Naples | "Dramma" in one act |
| 1814 | Giuseppe Farinelli | August 15, 1814, Teatro San Carlo | Naples | "Festa teatrale" |
| 1826 | Giovanni Pacini ? | 1826 |
literature
- Jacques Joly: Les fêtes théâtrales de Métastase à la cour de Vienne, 1731–1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2845160194 , pp. 428-447 ( partly online at Google Books)
Web links
Digital copies
- ^ A b c Johann Anton Koch: The abbot Peter Metastasio Kayserl. Royal Court Poet's Dramatic Poems, translated from Italian. Seventh volume. Krauss, Frankfurt and Leipzig in 1775 as digitization at the Munich digitization center .
- ^ Libretto (Italian) of the Serenata by Johann Adolph Hasse, Vienna 1767 as a digitized version on Google Books .
- ↑ Score of the Serenata by Johann Adolph Hasse as digitized version with the International Music Score Library Project .
- ^ Libretto (Italian) of the Serenata by Antonio Peregrino Benelli, Naples 1798 as digitized version at the Munich Digitization Center .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Don Neville: Metastasio [Trapassi], Pietro (Antonio Domenico Bonaventura). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ a b Joly p. 429
- ^ Partenope (Johann Adolf Hasse) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on April 14, 2015.
- ↑ Joly p. 430
- ↑ Joly p. 430 f
- ↑ Joly p. 435
- ↑ Joly p. 437
- ↑ Joly p. 439
- ↑ Joly p. 442
- ↑ Joly p. 443
- ↑ Joly p. 431
- ↑ Joly p. 445
- ↑ Joly p. 446
- ↑ Partenope (Johann Adolph Hasse) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on April 10, 2015.
- ^ List of stage works by Johann Adolf Hasse based on MGG at Operone, accessed on September 29, 2014.
- ↑ Partenope (Vicente Martín y Soler) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on April 10, 2015.
- ^ Partenope (Antonio Benelli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on April 10, 2015.
- ↑ Partenope (Giuseppe Farinelli) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on April 10, 2015.