Tolomeo

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Work data
Original title: Tolomeo, Re di Egitto
Title page of the libretto, London 1728

Title page of the libretto, London 1728

Shape: Opera seria
Original language: Italian
Music: georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto : Nicola Francesco Haym
Literary source: Carlo Sigismondo Capece , Tolomeo et Alessandro, ovvero La corona disprezzata (1711)
Premiere: April 30, 1728
Place of premiere: King's Theater , Haymarket, London
Playing time: 2 ¾ hours
Place and time of the action: Cyprus , 107-101 BC Chr.
people
  • Tolomeo , former King of Egypt, from his mother Cleopatra III. Chased away in favor of his brother Alessandro, disguised as a shepherd under the name "Osmino" ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Seleuce, his fiancée, disguised as a shepherdess under the name "Delia" ( soprano )
  • Elisa, sister of Araspe (soprano)
  • Alessandro , Tolomeo's brother, preferred by Cleopatra as heir to the throne ( old )
  • Araspe, King of Cyprus ( bass )
  • Court, guards, servants, warriors, people
Beginning of the aria by Elisa Addio, Osmino, addio (No. 6c) in Handel's autograph

Tolomeo, Re di Egitto ( HWV 25) is an opera ( Dramma per musica ) in three acts by Georg Friedrich Händel . It is his fourteenth (if you count the one act of Muzio Scevola ) and the last opera for the first opera academy, the Royal Academy of Music , at the same time the last joint appearance of the triumvirate of singers Bordoni / Cuzzoni / Senesino .

Emergence

When George Frideric Handel came to London in 1710, there was no permanent opera stage in the capital of the kingdom. In order to enable regular performances of Italian operas with outstanding singers, some aristocrats founded the Royal Academy of Music in 1719 - not a music academy, as the name suggests, but a stock company: the members bought shares in the hope of enjoying the opera and profit, as well as the royal family gave a sizeable grant. Handel was appointed artistic director of the institution, while the administration was in the hands of several directors whose lavish financial behavior caused disagreements from the start. For nine seasons, Handel was able to bring out impressive productions of his own and others' operas at the King's Theater on Haymarket. However, he soon sensed that many English music lovers still felt a deep aversion to the idea of ​​a drama being sung in full and the "unnatural" coloratura singing. The number of internationally oriented opera lovers was not big enough to maintain the academy in the long term - it didn't help that the directors, in addition to the castrato world star Senesino and the prima donna Francesca Cuzzoni, were also her greatest rival Faustina Bordoni ("Faustina" in 1726 ). called) committed. On the contrary: the question of which of the two singers was the better divided the audience into two irreconcilable camps and caused additional anger. In the autumn of 1727, Handel's followers were worried about the future and Mary Pendarves , a close confidante of the composer, wrote to her sister on November 25th:

“I doubt operas will not survive longer than this winter, they are now at their last gasp. [...] the subscription is expired and nobody will renew it. The directors are all squabbling, and they have so many divisions among themselves that I wonder they have not broke up before. Senesino goes away next winter, and I believe Faustina, so you see harmony is almost out of fashion. "

“I doubt that the opera will last this winter, it is on its last legs. […] The subscription has expired and nobody will renew it. There are constant quarrels between the directors; as divided as they are, it is surprising that they have not separated long ago; Senesino will be leaving the opera next winter, and as far as I know Faustina too; you see, harmony is almost out of fashion. "

- Mary Pendarves : letter to Ann Granville. London 1727.

Despite all the problems, Handel premiered three new operas of his own in the 1727/28 season: Riccardo Primo , Siroe and Tolomeo . He completed the latter on April 19, as noted at the end of the original manuscript: “Fine | dell 'Opera | GF Trade | April 19th, 1728. “The premiere took place on April 30th, 1728 at the King's Theater . The opera only had seven performances and was canceled after May 21st. Handel's score clearly shows the great haste in which it was written, and so, as in Siroe , he used material from the fragmentary Genserico , such as the overture that was originally intended to open this planned opera. In the autograph of Tolomeo it still follows the beginning of the first act with the stage directions for the discarded opera. The choir, which followed the overture in the Genserico and was supposed to be the expression of a Roman triumphal procession, was taken over by Handel as the final choir in the Tolomeo .

Cast of the premiere:

In the dedication of the printed Tolomeo libretto to Earl of Albemarle , the lyricist Nicola Francesco Haym speaks poetically but unmistakably to the desperate search for new sponsors: support was meanwhile vital for the Royal Academy, because three months earlier, John Gay and Johann Christoph had Pepusch at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater brought The Beggar's Opera , the beggar opera , to the stage and achieved a sensational success with this cheeky satire on fine society and the Italian opera seria . Crowds flocked to the small, old theater to amuse themselves at the parody of the Cuzzoni-Faustina hostility in the argument between the "heroines" Polly Peachum and Lucy Lockit. Gay's lyrics had been hastily underlaid with ballad melodies by Pepusch; Politicians, corruption, “good taste”, speculation and social hypocrisy were targeted. Some ridiculous elements of the opera libretti - such as the parable aria ("The Swallow, The Motte, The Ship, The Bee, The Flower"), the sudden "lieto fine" (" Happy End "), the high moral tone - demanded one Corruption outright; and the faithful subscribers, among them Mrs. Pendarves, were understandably dismayed, as she wrote to her sister on January 18, 1728:

“[…] The taste of the town is so depraved, that nothing will be approved of but the burlesque. The Beggar's Opera entirely triumphs over the Italian one. "

“[…] The taste of the city is so spoiled that nothing is more popular, except the burlesque. The beggar opera completely triumphs over the Italian opera. "

- Mary Pendarves : letter to Ann Granville. London 1728.

This triumph of the burlesque, however, was a consequence of the collapse of the Academy, not its cause. Even before it opened its doors in 1720, John Vanbrugh , the builder and architect of the King's Theater on Haymarket, which opened in 1705, pointed out the flaws in the concept of the academy; the company's extravagance, he noted, would "mean that spending will be twice as high as revenue". According to James Ralph , who republished his 1728 pamphlet The Touch-Stone ... in 1731 under a new title The Taste of the Town ... , it could not either

"[...] with the highest prices be certain of coming off clear one season, unless they have crowded houses every night."

"[...] with the highest prices be sure to survive a season without losses if the house was not well occupied every evening."

- James Ralph : The Touch-Stone. London 1728.

Ralph also pointed out the only possible salvation:

“I have often heard it very publickly whisper'd, that some great People intended to have a larger Opera-House built; but what obstructed so noble and laudable a design, I could never learn. Had it been carried on, and executed, according to the Plans of some THEATERS in Italy, which are capale of containing an Audience of several Thousands, the Advantages resulting from so great an Undertaking would prove infinite. An Opera-House so contriv'd as to allow a Number of Spectators, would admit of several Degrees of Seats, suited in their Prices to all Ranks of People, from the highest to the lowest Station of Life: And from an Audience so numerous , might be rais'd all Sums necessary to defray the greatest Expences; as the heaviest Taxes are made easy, by being made general. "

“I have often heard it whispered openly that some genteel people want a bigger opera house to be built; but I have never been able to find out why this so noble and praiseworthy intention failed. If this plan had been pursued and carried out on the model of some Italian theaters which are able to accommodate several thousand spectators, the advantages of such a large-scale enterprise would prove to be infinite. An opera house designed to hold a large number of spectators would allow for a gradation of seats so that the price could be adjusted to suit people from different levels of society, from the highest to the lowest level of life: and one as numerous The public could raise any sum necessary to cover the most important expenses; because the highest burdens become easy because they are imposed on a general public. "

- James Ralph : The Touch-Stone. London 1728.

Even if this advice could have been implemented, it came too late. According to a report by the Daily Courant on May 31, a general assembly was called for June 5,

“[…] In order to consider proper measures for recovering the debts due to the Academy, and discharging what is due to performers, tradesmen, and others; and also to determine how the Scenes, Cloaths, etc. are to be disposed of [...] ”

"[...] to decide on suitable measures to collect the Academy's debts and to settle what is due to the artists, dealers and others, and also to decide what should be done with sets, costumes etc. [...]"

- Daily Courant. London 1728.

On June 1st, after a last performance by Admeto , the Academy closed its doors for almost a year and Senesino, the Cuzzoni and the Faustina left England.

libretto

With Tolomeo , Handel countered the Beggar's Opera with a subject from the history of the Mediterranean. Nicola Haym used Carlo Sigismondo Capeces libretto Tolomeo et Alessandro, ovvero La corona disprezzata , which Domenico Scarlatti set to music for the Polish exiled queen Maria Casimira and which had premiered in Rome in 1711 in her palace. The cast and décor of Tolomeo are noticeably economical: the opera takes place in a few, undifferentiated sets (“Landscape by the Sea”, “Forest” etc.); Machine effects are absent, the plot manages with five people - symptoms of the decline of the Royal Academy? The music historian and Handel researcher Reinhard Strohm interprets this contrast to spectacular operas like Riccardo Primo differently: he sees Tolomeo as an alternative to the typical Italian baroque opera with its improbabilities so often criticized in England. Instead, you will find a stronger focus on classical drama, e.g. B. with regard to the unity of the place: All sets show changing views of the same place, namely Araspes village on Cyprus with its immediate surroundings. With one exception (Araspes Gemach) these are natural scenes that do not distract from the action. There are no surprising interventions by foreign powers, and the action, driven forward by a chain of humanly understandable emotions and misunderstandings, proceeds without illogical interruptions.

Haym cut down Capece's libretto to what was absolutely necessary for understanding the plot (and even less) by cutting the recitatives from 1705 lines to 653, a whole figure (Dorisbe, daughter of the Prince of Tire , in love with Araspe) and a series of arias and added twelve new aria texts, two duets and the final chorus.

Handel resumed Tolomeo during the Second Opera Academy in May and June 1730 for seven and from January 2, 1733 for four performances again with a series of changes, most recently again with Senesino in the title role. The opera was not adopted on the continent in the 18th century, neither in Hamburg nor in Braunschweig , in contrast to most of Handel's operas. The first performance "after Handel" was on June 19, 1938 at the Göttingen Handel Festival in German (text version: Emilie Dahnk-Baroffio), by the orchestra of the Handel Festival under the direction of Fritz Lehmann . In the original language and historical performance practice , Tolomeo was played for the first time again on June 6, 1996 at the Handel Festival in Halle (Saale) with the Halle Handel Festival Orchestra under the direction of Howard Arman .

action

Ptolemy IX and Horus , temple of Edfu

The title hero is the thrice pharaoh of the Ptolemy family , Ptolemy IX. Soter II , King of Egypt 116–110, 109–107 and 88–81 BC BC and Cyprus, who at times together with his tyrannical mother Cleopatra III. (not Caesar's lover, but one of several other rulers of that name) and his younger brother Ptolemy X. Alexander I ruled.

music

Not only in the layout of the libretto, but also in the music, Tolomeo corresponds to the striving for greater credibility: Since the arias do not have long preludes and are relatively short overall, they do not hold up the plot. By almost completely dispensing with the obligatory instruments for characterizing affects, Handel also achieves an increased concentration on the singing voice, so that the message of each aria is pointedly conveyed solely by the “speaking” person. Thanks to this focus on the essentials, the artistic characteristics of Handel's singing staff can be more easily reconstructed in the Tolomeo arias than in other operas. Although Handel and Senesino (allegedly) hated each other, the castrato sang the male lead in all opera productions of the Royal Academy - Handel knew that his star drew the ladies of high society to the opera house, and Senesino knew that Handel's arias were always individual The virtues of his voice. Johann Joachim Quantz describes what it consisted of :

“Senesino had a penetrating, bright, level and pleasant deep soprano voice, (mezzo soprano) a pure intonation, and a beautiful trillo. In height it seldom exceeded the double-crossed f. His way of singing was masterful and his performance complete. He did not overwhelm the Adagio with arbitrary embellishments: on the other hand, he brought out the essential manners with the greatest delicacy. He sang the Allegro with a great deal of enthusiasm, and he knew how to push the running passages out with his chest, at a fair speed, in a pleasant way. His shape was very beneficial to the theater, and the action natural. The role of a hero dressed him better than that of a lover. "

- Johann Joachim Quantz : Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. Berlin 1754.

Other sources praise Senesino's expressive mezza voce in slow movements - an art that he was able to play in Tolomeo especially in the (supposed) great death scene in the third act with the aria Stille amare, già vi sento (No. 29).

In addition to the majestically tall, popular Senesino, the small, plump soprano Francesca Cuzzoni looked like the caricature of a heroine. When she sang, however, her unfavorable appearance no longer mattered. In its prime, before about 1730, it had a clear and sweet top location, was characterized by tasteful decorations and absolutely pure intonation and was considered unrivaled when it came to the interpretation of pathetic, touching or sensual arias. Handel used all of these characteristics in Tolomeo for the first aria of the Cuzzoni: Mi volgo ad ogni fronda (No. 5) in lyrical twelve-eighth time begins on the high "g" ", based only on pianissimo strings in the lower register Appearance that had to delight the Cuzzoni fans. Seleuce's Arie Dite, che fa dov'è (No. 17) has a similar character with a refined, delicate accompaniment of violins and violas con sordino , oboes and pizzicato basses. Seldom has Handel created such a magical musical picture of nature (with the additional charm of an echo duet) as in this forest scene.

The beautiful Faustina Bordoni , who had often stood next to her rival Cuzzoni on Italian stages before 1726, was considered a specialist in dramatic mezzo-soprano roles. Her "fiery allegro" was admired as well as her brilliant decorations and her excellent acting skills. The role of the spirited, but also aggressive and vicious Elisa must therefore have been ideal for her voice type. Handel, who always tried to give the two prima donnas equal weight musically, also emphasized their particular strength in the first Elisa aria, Quell 'onda, che si frange (No. 4): Faustina's “e” ”was valid as her best tone, so that Handel mostly wrote arias in A / E keys for her - as here - and emphasized the double-accented "e". After this “singing in” at the beginning of the first act, each of the two women has a great aria in the following scenes, first Elisa ( Se talor miri un fior no. 4), then Seleuce ( Fonti amiche, aure leggiere no. 6). Now it was also possible to demonstrate virtuoso ornamentation skills and thus satisfy the prima donnas in the audience.

Compared to the trio of Senesino, Cuzzoni and Faustina, the other roles pale slightly: Araspe was sung in 1728 by the bass-baritone Giuseppe Maria Boschi , who had already participated in Handel's Agrippina in Venice in 1709 and was famous for his convincing portrayal of villains and tyrants. Little is known, however, about the old castrato Antonio Baldi, who appeared as Alessandro: from 1725 to 1728 at the Royal Academy, he was considered a singer of medium quality.

Handel had a completely new line-up for the revivals in 1730 and 1733, only Senesino sang the title role again in 1733. For the new singers, Handel added numerous alternative arias, some of which he took from the operas Rodelinda , Riccardo Primo , Siroe and Tamerlano .

It is regrettable that Tolomeo is still overshadowed by Handel's more effective operas, because this opera in particular shows us the essence of Handel's musical drama in the stringent plot and the arias free of all superfluousness.

Trivia

Alessandro's aria Non lo dirò col labbro (No. 3) from the first act became known through the adaptation by Arthur Somervell with the English text Did You Not Hear My Lady under the title Silent Worship ("Silent Worship", 1928). Gwyneth Paltrow sings this song with Ewan McGregor in the 1996 film Jane Austen's Emma .

orchestra

Two recorders , transverse flute , two oboes , bassoon , two horns , strings, basso continuo (violoncello, lute, harpsichord).

Discography

  • Vox 7530 (1986): Jennifer Lane (Tolomeo), Brenda Harris (Seleuce), Andrea Matthews (Elisa), Mary Ann Hart (Alessandro), Peter Castaldi (Araspe)
Manhattan Chamber Orchestra; Richard Auldon Clark (160 min)
  • Mondo Musica MMH 80080 (1996): Jennifer Lane (Tolomeo), Linda Perillo (Seleuce), Romelia Lichtenstein (Elisa), Brian Bannatyne-Scott (Alessandro), Axel Köhler (Araspe)
Handel Festival Orchestra Halle ; Gov. Howard Arman
  • Archive production 477 7106 (2006): Ann Hallenberg (Tolomeo), Katharina Gauvin (Seleuce), Anna Bonitatibus (Elisa), Romina Basso (Alessandro), Pietro Spagnoli (Araspe)
Il complesso barocco ; Dir. Alan Curtis (148 min)

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Winton Dean: Handel's Operas, 1726-1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006, Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 , p. 108: Original title "Re di Egitto", not "Re d'Egitto"
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Dorothea Schröder: The essence of Handel's musical drama. In: Commerce. Tolomeo. DG 477 7106, Hamburg 2008, p. 20 ff.
  3. ^ 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. 156.
  4. ↑ Christopher Hogwood: Georg Friedrich Handel. A biography (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655). Translated from the English by Bettina Obrecht. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 159.
  5. ↑ a b c Bernd Baselt: Thematic-systematic directory. Stage works. In: Walter Eisen (Hrsg.): Handel manual: Volume 1. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 (Unchanged reprint, Kassel 2008, ISBN 3-7618-0610-8 ), p 319 f.
  6. ↑ Winton Dean: Handel's Operas, 1726-1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006, Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 , p. 116.
  7. ^ 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. 157.
  8. ↑ a b c d Christopher Hogwood: Georg Friedrich Handel. A biography (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655). Translated from the English by Bettina Obrecht. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34355-5 , p. 160 f.
  9. ↑ James Ralph: The Touch-Stone: or, Historical, Critical, Political, Philosophical, and Theological Essays On the reigning Diversions of the Town. ... By a Person of some Taste and some Quality ... London 1728, p. 18.
  10. ↑ [1]
  11. ↑ James Ralph: The Touch-Stone: or, Historical, Critical, Political, Philosophical, and Theological Essays On the reigning Diversions of the Town. ... By a Person of some Taste and some Quality ... London 1728, p. 34 f.
  12. ^ 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. 162.
  13. ^ Silke Leopold: Handel. The operas. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3 , p. 298 f.
  14. ^ Johann Joachim Quantz: Mr. Johann Joachim Quantzens curriculum vitae, designed by himself. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Historically critical contributions to the recording of the music. Vol. 1, St. 3, Verlag Schützens, Berlin 1754, p. 213 (online).