During the festivities of the Santo Natale
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Per la Festività del Santo Natale |
Title page of the libretto from 1727 |
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| Shape: | Sacro componimento drammatico |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | First setting by Giovanni Battista Costanzi |
| Libretto : | Pietro Metastasio |
| Premiere: | 1727 |
| Place of premiere: | Rome |
| people | |
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Per la festività del Santo Natale (German: To celebrate Christmas ) is a libretto for a “sacro componimento drammatico” ( oratorio ) in a prologue and two parts by Pietro Metastasio . It was set to music more than 10 times. It was performed for the first time in a setting by Giovanni Battista Costanzi in 1727 in the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome.
action
prolog
In the prologue, the heavenly spirit appears with other spirits on a cloud that represents a transparent royal palace to proclaim great joy to the people. God decided to forgive mankind of their sins. His son was born as a pledge for peace. The cloud rises and reveals the stage for the actual cantata.
First part
Now the allegorical figures of Divine Love, Faith and Hope appear. The “plot” of the first part consists of a theological dispute between faith and hope. After everyone has welcomed the long-prophesied arrival of the Savior, Divine Love - which believes itself to be the guiding force behind the Incarnation - wants to find out which of the two virtues has more reasons to be happy about it. Hope answers first. She declares that she offers the most reliable support against an adverse fate. She had already stood by Noah during the flood , Abraham during the sacrifice of his son Isaac and Moses during the exodus from Egypt . Divine Love relates these events to the present. They correspond to the bond of believers, God's sacrifice for the salvation of mankind and the victory over evil through the liberation of people. Faith replies that it is the basis of hope. It was he who made sure that Jacob's prophecy of the Messiah was not hidden from the eyes of the people. In his aria he states that science has no value without his help. The competition does not end with the victory of either of the two virtues. Divine Love instead states that it was unnecessary because faith and love feed one another. The end of the first part is determined by shared joy: the tyrants “cry”; the earth “laughs” in peace; Fear and horror have fled ("Pianga il comun tiranno, / Rida la terra in pace; / Che già fuggì l'affanno, / Che già il timor fuggì").
Second part
In the second part of the oratorio the theme of the dispute finally gives way to the direct celebration of Christ's birthday: there are good omens everywhere. The seasons follow one another in the right order like day after night. The blacksmith turns weapons into plowshares. There is peace in the fields. Hope names the present as the new golden age , which, in contrast to that of Greek mythology, is not invented but is true. Divine Love reminds us that God as a human being visited a land oppressed by tyranny and sacrificed it for the good of all humanity. However, he turned the altar into a sacrificial table through which the sacrifice became the food of salvation. Faith sees the good news spread through messengers with divine understanding who will challenge the tyrants. Hope wants to inspire souls to receive this message. Divine Love commemorates the fishermen who received the keys of heaven at the time of the Resurrection and who carried the message from coast to coast. She always wants to serve as a guide on such trips, supported by hope and strengthened by faith. When Hope expresses its desire for a number of such leaders, Divine Love praises Pope Benedict XIII. Faith and hope join their praise.
history
Per la festività del Santo Natale is Metastasio's first oratorio text. He wrote it in 1727 at the request of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni . The performance with the music of Giovanni Battista Costanzi was staged with a splendid stage design. Two years later, Metastasio took up the subject of the contest between allegorical figures again in his Serenata La contesa de 'numi , which was also performed for the first time in Rome. Structurally, both works have similarities. Both consist of two parts, and when the dispute is over, the birth of a child is celebrated. La festività , on the other hand, differs significantly from Metastasio's seven later Viennese oratorios, which are dialogues between biblical or hagiographic characters .
After two rehearsals on December 24 and 26, 1727, the first public performance took place on January 2, 1728 in the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Accademia dell'Arcadia . The performance was the highlight of that afternoon, as can be seen from the entries of December 26, 1727 and January 2, 1728 in the Diario di Roma by Francesco Valesio and the entry of January 10, 1728 in the Diario Ordinario del Chracas (No. 1627). The illustrious audience included cardinals, ecclesiastical dignitaries and members of the nobility, including the governor of Siena Violante Beatrix of Bavaria , widow of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando de 'Medici . The performance proved to be an opportunity for Metastasio to demonstrate his acumen on spiritual subjects in front of a demanding audience, having already gained some fame in the secular field. In the following year he was named court poet to Emperor Charles VI. called to Vienna.
Settings
The following composers set this libretto to music:
| year | composer | premiere | Performance location | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1727 | Giovanni Battista Costanzi | 1727, Palazzo della Cancelleria | Rome | |
| 1735 | Antonio Maria Mazzoni | 1735 | Bologna | as Il santo natale di Jesu Cristo |
| 1737 | Giovanni Lorenzo Gregori | 1737, Santa Maria Corteorlandini | Lucca | as La natività di nostro Signor Gesù Cristo ; according to Grove Music Online as early as 1735 |
| 1744 | Pietro Chiarini | 1744, Oratorio Filippino di Santa Maria della Fava | Venice | |
| 1755 | Nicola Conti | 1755 | Naples | |
| 1756 | Pietro Pompeo Sales | 1756, Prince-Bishop's Court Chapel | augsburg | |
| 1761 | Giuseppe Sigismondo | around 1761 | as Cantata pel Santo Natale di Gesù | |
| 1779 | Antonio Sacchini | 1779 | ||
| 1822 | Valentino Fioravanti | 1822 | Attribution uncertain | |
| unknown | Gennaro Manna | unknown | as Oratorio pel Santissimo Natale | |
| unknown | Francesco Antonio Uttini | unknown |
Web links
Digital copies
- ^ Libretto (Italian) as digitized version at the Munich Digitization Center . In: Opere del signor abate Pietro Metastasio , Volume 7, Herissant, Paris 1780, p. 361 ff.
- ^ Libretto (Italian) of the oratorio by Giovanni Battista Costanzi, Rome 1727 as digitized version in the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna .
- ^ Libretto (Italian) of the oratorio by Pietro Pompeo Sales, Augsburg 1756 as a digitized version of the Augsburg State and City Library (fee required).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h 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 c d Jacques Joly: Les fêtes théâtrales de Métastase à la cour de Vienne, 1731–1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2845160194 , p. 76 ff.
- ↑ a b c d Don Neville, Joseph Raffa: Per la festività del Santo Natale. ( Online, PDF )
- ↑ Per la festivitа del Santo Natale (Giovanni Battista Costanzi) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed April 27, 2015.
- ↑ Componimento sacro per il Santo Natale (Antonio Mazzoni) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed April 27, 2015.
- ^ Gregori, Giovanni Lorenzo. In: Dizionario Biografico - Treccani , accessed April 27, 2015.
- ↑ La nativitа di nostro Signore Gesù Cristo (Giovanni Lorenzo Gregori) at the opening night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed April 29, 2015.
- ↑ Per la festivitа del Santo Natale (Pietro Chiarini) at opening night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed April 27, 2015.
- ↑ James L. Jackman and Paologiovanni Maione: Conti, Nicola. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ Oratorio per la festa del Santo Natale (Pietro Pompeo Sales) at Opening Night! Opera & Oratorio Premieres , Stanford University, accessed April 27, 2015.
- ^ Record and full text of the libretto of the cantata by Giuseppe Sigismondo from Clori - Archivo della Cantata italiana , accessed on April 29, 2015.