Zanaida
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Zanaida |
Title page of the libretto, London 1763 |
|
| Shape: | Opera seria |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Johann Christian Bach |
| Libretto : | Giovan (ni) Gualberto Bottarelli |
| Premiere: | May 7, 1763 |
| Place of premiere: | London |
| Playing time: | a good 2 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Isfahan (Persia), 16./17. century |
| people | |
|
|
Zanaida , Zanaïda or Zanais is an opera seria in three acts by Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782) with a libretto by Giovan (ni) Gualberto Bottarelli (active 1741–1779). The premiere took place on May 7, 1763 at the King's Theater in London's Haymarket .
layout
music
Zanaida is one of the works of the pre-classical period , which create a connection between the baroque and Viennese classical periods . According to the American conductor David Stern, who staged the opera again for the first time, it combined the gallant style with bel canto , which was to become increasingly important in Europe. It combines the freshness of the new spelling with the tradition that Bach brought with him from Italy. The work is not only of musical historical interest - there are "really, very nice moments" in it.
The opera's sung parts include twenty arias and a cavata by Zanaida, three choirs, a quartet and two recitatives accompanied by the orchestra (instead of the harpsichord as usual ) . Two arias are accompanied by clarinets , while the aforementioned Cavata has an oboe solo .
The title role was for the Neapolitan soprano Anna de Amicis (approx. 1733-1816), later admired by Mozart .
libretto
Bottarelli, the “Resident Poet” of the King's Theater, chose the libretto Siface re di Numidia (1723) by Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782) as a source of inspiration . He moved the scene from North Africa to Persia, increasing the number of people from six to nine. He adapted the texts ; the arias are greatly abbreviated, mostly comprising only four lines of verse.
action
.jpg)
initial situation
The rulers of Turkey and Persia want to seal a peace agreement by marriage between their houses: Zanaida, the daughter of the Turkish emperor Soliman, is supposed to marry the Persian king Tamasse. The princess is characterized more by virtue and the ability to love than by beauty. She is accompanied to Isfahan by the Turkish ambassador Mustafa . Her entourage is made up of Princess Aglatida, her lover Gianguir and the Persian Princess Silvera, who lived as a hostage in Byzantium and can now return home. The latter also applies to Mustafa's beautiful daughter Osira, who the diplomat had to leave behind at Tamasse's court.
In the meantime, the Persian king has fallen in love with Osira. This meets the wishes of his mother Roselane, who is unwilling to relinquish the main female role in the state to a daughter-in-law from an imperial family.
first act
In a vestibule of the royal palace, Roselane persuades Osira to have a morganatic marriage with her son. The young Turkish woman succumbs to the temptation that comes from the splendor of the throne.
From the palace you can see the ships of their compatriots arriving on the river Zenderud . As soon as he greets the newcomers, Tamasse cannot hide that he detests Zanaida and loves Osira. His name is the Persian prince Cisseo, who is also in love with Osira, to seduce Zanaida. He hopes this will give him an excuse to break his promise to marry.
In a gallery Mustafa orders the daughter to leave with him. When Osira refuses, he threatens her with death. Zanaida points this out to him, deplorable as her own fate is.
In the palace garden, Tamasse Mustafa confesses his love for Osira. The ambassador loyal to his Lord refuses their hand. He tells the king that he would sooner kill the daughter than leave her to him. Tamasse forbids Mustafa to return to Turkey with Zanaida and Osira.
Second act
In a hidden place near the palace, Roselane reports to Osira that Tamasse intends to arrest Zanaida. Seduced by the prospect of becoming queen, Osira gives Cisseo a basket. This tries in vain to prevent his master from imprisoning Zanaida. Tamasse himself suffers from the fact that he acts unscrupulously out of love for Osira.
Zanaida, who foretells her fate, is chained in her cabinet at Cisseo's orders . It forbids Gianguir and Mustafa to resist. But these are just waiting for a more favorable opportunity to free their mistress. Silvera tries in vain to get rid of her feelings for Cisseo. ( Zanaida, Julie Fioretti on YouTube ) Only Aglatida and Gianguir are sure of their love for one another.
This is followed by a court hearing in an armory: Tamasse uses a forged letter to insinuate that Zanaida intends to murder him in his marriage bed. The imperial daughter refuses to defend herself against such a vile accusation. Mustafa apparently complies with the request to judge the case and pleads for the execution of "the letter writer". The king orders that Zanaida be thrown to the wild animals. She instructs her followers to beg Solimano for indulgence for Tamasse and then bids them farewell.
Third act
In a pillared hall, Gianguir and Cisseo discuss the injustice that happens to Zanaida: while the former insists on the right to resist , the latter believes that kings can only be judged by God. But his heart turns ruefully to Silvera again
Zanaida awaits her execution in a dungeon. - Then the scene changes to the cabinet, where Osira struggles with her feelings: The father orders her to leave with him, Tamasse, however, assures her of his love. But it dawns on her that by his side she would only be Roselane's tool. She - a kind of forerunner of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Magic Flute - admits that she would like to rule the whole world.
The final scene takes place in the amphitheater where Zanaida is supposed to die: To save her, Mustafa and Gianguir prepare to kill Tamasse. But Zanaida prevented the attack on the grounds that the king was her rightful husband. Tamasse recognizes her love and asks her for her hand. Zanaida also awards Osira and Roselane.
history
.jpg)
Johann Christian Bach in London
His career led the youngest son Johann Sebastian Bach from his place of birth Leipzig via Berlin (from 1750), Bologna (from 1754/55) and Milan (from 1760) to London, where he worked from 1762. In Zanaida this is the fifth of his twelve operas. Bach had already successfully performed Orione, ossia Diana revendicata (the score except for the overture ) at the King's Theater in 1763 .
success
According to the London Observer also received Zanaida great applause . Anna de Amicis had to repeat the cavata "Mentre volgo intorno il piede palpitar mi sento il cuor." The aria “Parto, addio. Io vado a morte. ”Is one of the most masterful interpretations that a man has ever composed and a woman sung.
Because the summer break was approaching and both theater director Colomba Mattei and Anna de Amicis were returning to Italy, the work was only repeated five times. However, in the same year 1763, Bach became Music Master of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland , Sophie Charlotte von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818) - a position which he held until his death. The libretto, some arias and the overture were printed.
Rediscovery
The original score, believed to be lost, was found in the collection of the New York shipowner and musicologist Elias Nicholas Kulukundis in 2010 . It was subsequently edited by Paul Corneilson from Cambridge (Massachusetts) for the Packard Humanities Institute in Los Altos (California) .
At the suggestion of Kulukundis, the work was performed again for the first time as part of the Leipzig Bach Festival on 15/16. June 2011 in the Goethe Theater Bad Lauchstädt .
Under the direction of its founder David Stern, the 34-member French ensemble Opera Fuoco played on historical instruments .
The roles were cast with young singers: Sara Hershkowitz , soprano (Zanaida), Clémentine Margaine, mezzo-soprano (Tamasse), Pierrick Boisseau, baritone (Mustafa), Chantal Santon, soprano (Roselane), Natalie Pérez, soprano (Cisseo), Camille Poul , Soprano (Osira), Julie Fioretti, soprano (Silvera), Majdouline Zerari, mezzo-soprano (Aglatida) and Jeffrey Thompson, tenor (Gianguir).
The director was the Belgian Sigrid T'Hooft , an expert in baroque gestures . The historical backdrops came from Wolfram Zimmer and Achim von Heimburg, the historical costumes from Claire Planchez from the Center de Musique Baroque de Versailles , which was able to fall back on the fund of this institution.
Zanaida was performed again on September 15, 2011 in the Cité de la musique in Paris (in concert, with Vivicagenaux as Tamasse and Verónica Cangemi as Roselane), on 10/11. February 2012 in the theater of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines ( Île-de-France ), on June 3, 2012 in the Wiener Konzerthaus (concert performance) and on January 11, 2013 (with Daphné Touchais as Cisseo) as part of the International Baroque Festival the Manoel Theater of La Valletta ( Malta ).
In 2019, the Mainz State Theater presented the work in a German translation by Doris Decker in a modern production by Max Hopp with the participation of the Mainz Girls Choir at the Cathedral and St. Quintin . The singers sang u. a. the Ave generosa by Hildegard von Bingen and could be associated with nuns in their white clothes, but as an Alethean muse were based on the chorus from the Greek tragedy and the goddess of truth, Aletheia . Michael Kaltenbach and Jutta Hörl were responsible for the choir, Martina Borroni for the choreography and Madis Nurm for the equipment.
Discography
A complete sound recording made in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines was released on 2 CDs on the Zig-Zag territoires label (ZZT 312, Outhere production company , Brussels ). Except for Marina De Liso, mezzo-soprano (Tamasse), Daphné Touchais, soprano (Cisseo), and Vannina Santoni, soprano (Osira), the participants are the same as in Bad Lauchstädt ( JC Bach - W G5 - Zanaida on YouTube (without recitatives) .).
literature
- (Giovan Gualberto Bottarelli :) Zanaida, Drama per Musica. Da Rappresentarsi sopra il Teatro di S (ua) M (aestà) B (ritannica). - Zanais, A Tragic Opera. Paraphrased in English verses. As it is represented at the King's Theater in the Hay-Market. - G. Woodfall, London 1763. ( digitized version )
- Emmanuelle Pesqué: “Zanaida” by Johann-Christian Bach. In: ODB-Opéra. ( Digitized version )
- Paul Corneilson: Johann Christian Bach's "Zanaida". In Peter Wollny, Stephen Roe (eds.): The Sons of Bach. Essays for Elias N. Kulukundis. Steglein, Ann Arbor 2016, pp. 94-116.
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ From Siena, after fleeing from a monastery in Pisa 1741–1744 theater poet in Berlin, which he had to leave because of a theft, published two pamphlets against Freemasonry in 1745/46 , 1755–1779 theater poet in London. There is no biography, although WorldCat contains 443 entries about him ( digitized version )
- ↑ YouTube channel Classical Experience, January 18, 2013 [1]
- ↑ Three each for Zanaida, Tamasse, Mustafa and Roselane; two each for Cisseo, Osira and Silvera; one each for Aglatida and Gianguir.
- ↑ Act 2, scene 5.
- ↑ Act 1, scene 3; 2nd act, final scene; 3rd act, final scene.
- ↑ Zanaida, Tamasse, Mustafa, Roselane (1st act, final scene).
- ↑ Tamasse (2nd act, scene 4); Zanaida (3rd act, scene 3).
- ↑ Tamasse's aria "Se spiegò le prime vele il nocchier 'in lieta calma (...)" (2nd act, scene 3); Zanaida's aria "Chi pietà non sente al core (...)" (3rd act, scene 3).
- ↑ Cf. the CD Arias for Anna de Amicis ( Niccolò Jommelli , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Christoph Willibald Gluck , Giovanni Battista Borghi , Josef Mysliveček , Johann Christian Bach , Pasquale Cafaro) with Teodora Gheorghiu , coloratura soprano , and Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset , published in 2011 by the label Aparté (AP021) and distributed by Harmonia Mundi .
- ↑ See new edition on the occasion of the setting by Nicola Antonio Porpora (1686–1768): Il Siface (…), Milano 1725 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Like Osira Person in the libretto L'Argippo by Domenico Lalli (1679–1741), which was set to music by Antonio Vivaldi , among others .
- ↑ According to Süleyman I. (1494 / 96–1566).
- ^ According to Tahmasp I. (1514–1576).
- ↑ Zanaide on Tamasse: "S'io non ti reco in dono di fugace beltà vano splendore, ti porto almeno la virtù, l'amore (...)" (1st act, scene 3)
- ↑ 1598–1722 capital of Iran.
- ↑ According to Mughal Mughal Jahangir (1569–1627). Like Aglatida Person in Libretti by Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750).
- ↑ After the Egyptian god Osiris .
- ↑ According to Roxelane (1500 / 06–1558), the favorite wife of Suleyman I.
- ↑ Osira's aria "Allo splendor del trono arde il mio core amante (...)" (scene 1)
- ↑ Tamasse to Cisseo: "Aborro Zanaida, adoro Osira." (Scene 3)
- ↑ Zanaida's aria "Tortorella abbandonata così mesta ognora geme (...)" (scene 5)
- ↑ Mustafa to Tamasse: "(...) t'ucciderò l'indegna figlia in braccio." (Scene 7)
- ↑ Cisseo's aria "Del tuo poter sovrano non ti fidar cotanto (...)" (scene 3)
- ↑ Tamasse: "Io sento tra l'amor e l'onor fiero contrasto, né più la pugna a sopportare io basto." (Scene 4)
- ↑ Cavata of Zinaida: "Mentre volgo intorno il piede palpitar mi sento il cor." (Scene 5)
- ↑ aria "Se potesse ognun per giuoco cangiar fuoco e cangiar face" (Scene 7).
- ^ "Senza dimora di quel foglio l'autor d'uopo è che mora." (Scene 8)
- ↑ Tamasse: "(...) all fiere esposta che la perfida sia (...)" (scene 8)
- ↑ Zanaida's aria: “Parto, addio. Io vado a morte. "(Scene 8)
- ↑ Cisseo to Gianguir: "Il cielo è solo giudice de 'monarchi." (Scene 1).
- ↑ Zanaida's aria "Chi pietà non sente al core (...)" (scene 3)
- ↑ Tamasse's aria "Pupille amabili del caro bene (...)" (scene 5)
- ↑ Roselane's aria "Chiudo in petto un cor altiero (...)" (scene 6)
- ↑ Recordings or partial recordings are available from Artaserse ( Turin 1760), Catone in Utica (Naples 1761), Alessandro nell'Indie (Naples 1762), Carattaco (London 1768), Orfeo ed Euridice (London 1770), Endimione (London 1772) , Temistocle ( Mannheim 1772), Orfeo ed Euridice (Naples 1774), Lucio Silla (Mannheim 1775), La clemenza di Scipione (London 1778) and Amadis de Gaule ( Paris 1779).
- ↑ Act 3, scene 5.
- ↑ Act 2, scene 8.
- ^ The London Observer for 1763. P. 500 ( digitized version ).
- ^ Sophie Charlotte had been a student of Bach's brother Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714–1788). Johann Christian had already at her marriage to King Georg III. composed a cantata in 1761 .
- ↑ See Ernest Warburton (Ed.): Orione and Zanaida, opere serie in three acts, the surviving fragments from eighteenth-century manuscripts and printed sources (The collected works of Johann Christian Bach 4), Garland, New York 1989.
- ↑ Kulukundis was awarded the title of honorary doctor by the University of Leipzig on June 17, 2013 . ( Digitized version )
- ↑ The ships on Isfahan's mostly dry river got a bit big ...
- ↑ See Neue Musikzeitung , June 18, 2011: “Celebrated opera premiere at the Leipzig Bach Festival (…)” ( digitized version ); Operapoint, June 18, 2011 ( digitized version ); Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , July 8, 2011: "Opera like from a picture book" ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Ursula Böhmer: Once lost - now staged in a modern way in Mainz. Review of the 2019 performance on Deutschlandfunk , November 11, 2019, accessed on November 22, 2019.
- ^ Johann Christian Bach, "Zanaida" in Mainz. Review of the 2019 performance in the WDR 3 Opernblog, November 8, 2019, accessed on November 22, 2019.
- ↑ See review by Jerry Dubins in Fanfare Archive ( digitized version ).