The contesa de’ numi (metastasia) – Wikipedia
| Work | |
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| Title: | To the countess of ‘name |
 Giovanni Paolo Pannini: Musical festival in the Teatro Argentina, Rome in 1747. For a long time it was considered a picture of the performance of Vincis Serenata from 1729. |
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| Form: | dramatic composition |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | First setting by Leonardo Vinci |
| Libretto: | Pietro Metastasio |
| Premiere: | November 25 and 26, 1729 |
| Place of premiere: | Rom |
| Place and time of the action: | On the Olympus, mythical time |
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To the countess of ‘name (also The dispute of the gods , German: “The dispute of the gods”) is a libretto to a Componimento Drammatico in two parts of Pietro Metastasio. [first] [2] It was first performed in the setting of Leonardo Vinci on November 25 and 26, 1729 at the birth of the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand in the courtyard of the Palazzo Altemp in Rome. [3] [4] The only other setting comes from Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1749. It was composed on the occasion of the birth of the Danish heir to the throne Christian VII. [5]
The basic principle of the plot is typical of a Serenata between 1730 and 1740. It consists of a kind of competition between different deities, which present their different points of view in front of a referee, mostly Jupiter. These deities have more allegorical than mythological character. It is not the mythical antiquity, but the focus is on the moral content of the conversation. The various gods represent the most typical virtue for them. For example, Mars represents the war, Apollo’s poetry, Minerva science and Venus love. In addition, there are purely allegorical figures such as peace, fate, eternity, fame, virtue, time, truth or earnings. After everyone has made their point of view, Jupiter is responsible for determining the winner. At Metastasio, the final judgment is usually silent. Not one deity wins here over the other, but a compromise, a general reconciliation on the occasion of the event to be celebrated. This form has some similarities with the similarly built spiritual oratorios of the 17th century, in which, however, biblical figures occurred instead of the mythological figures. [6]
The task that is to fall to the winner of the competition is only described vague. It is about the right to “take care of the Dauphin” (Italian: “Cura”). Metastasios main interest does not apply to the formation of the future king, but is more due to him to offer every deity a way to put their own advantages. There is no clear separation between the two parts of the work in the form of a logical development of a dramatic act. The shorter second part essentially consists of a repetition of the first, even if the deities appear in a different order. [6]
First part [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
Olympus is in turmoil. The gods of Mars, Apollon and Astraea and the two allegories “peace” and “fate” argue violently. Jupiter, who is currently preparing the celebration on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin, asks about the cause of the dispute. The gods explain that they cannot agree on who of them should take care of the young offspring of the royal family. Jupiter lets the gods present their services to the royal family. This provides reason for homage to king and queen in the form of different characterized arias of Apollon, the “Peace”, Mars, Astraea and “fate”. Apollon reports that he revealed the secrets of ancient Egypt to the Gauls and raised the French theater to the amount of the ancient Greeks. The “peace” states that he had created the basic conditions for the fine arts and the necessary businesses. Mars explains that only his war protection against the barbarians ensures the necessary stability. In addition, the events caused thereby provided topics for poetry. Astraea speaks of her retreat to heaven after the first golden age and her return to the benefit of the Bourbonen to bring the royal children to heroes in the new golden age of Ludwig. The “fate” did what Astraea has done for the king for the queen because it supported the visits of the goddess of birth Lucina. After completing the individual speeches, Jupiter postponed the decision and allows all the gods to announce their joy over the child in the final choir of the first part. [7] [8]
Second act [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
In the second part, Mars, the “Peace”, “fate”, Astraea and Apollon show what the prince would learn from them. Mars wants to use the prince into a war hero. The “peace” wants to ensure moral and clever training in the consciousness of the past. The “fate” wants to ensure permanent success in the war and in the “peace”. Astraea wants to teach him a fair judgment so that, like Herakles, he can overcome evil, take on tasks and preserve order. Finally, Apollon wants to plant the desire to follow the deeds of his ancestors so that they too become the subject of poetry. Finally, Jupiter decides that everyone would have to work together. Your opposing forces can be balanced in this way. The education of the prince would be too hard if only Mars taught him. The “peace” could mitigate its grimness, and Astraea contain the volatility of the “fate”. They should therefore all move together to the Gallic Empire. The second part also ends with a final choir. [7] [8]
Metastasio had already written four serenates for Naples between 1720 and 1723: Angelica , Endimione , The experimental vegetable gardens and La Galatea . In the following years, this genre turned to write opera libretti. During this time, among other things Abandoned didone (Naples 1724), Siroe (Venice 1726) and Cato in Utica (Rom 1728). [6] It was not until 1729 that there was another order for a “Componimento Drammatico”: To the countess of ‘name . This work was commissioned by the French ambassador in Rome, Cardinal Melchior de Polignac, to the long -awaited birth of the French Dauphin Louis Ferdinand, the son of Louis XV. and his wife Maria Leszczyńska to celebrate. Polignac was notified of the birth in mid -September 1729 and received instructions for the desired celebrations. However, these were moved to the end of November to wait for the return of the cardinals, the prelates and the nobility from their country goods. Another reason for the delay may have been the available opera staff, which was almost identical to that of the Teatro delle lady of the carnival season 1730. The representative composer Leonardo Vinci was one of the two impresarios of the theater and also composed the two carnival operas this season. Production was therefore probably created in cooperation with the theater. [4]
The setting of Leonardo Vinci [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
The celebrations for the birth of the Dauphin included various lights games, a solemn fair with You gods in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, horse racing and fireworks on the Piazza Navona [9] . Vincis Serenata was played a total of three times in the courtyard of the Palazzo Altemps north of the Piazza Navona. [4] After a costume test on November 18, the outdoor performance originally planned for November 21 had to be postponed due to heavy rain. [8] The performances finally took place on November 25th and 26th. [4] Die Sänger Waren Giovanni Carestini, Der ALS “Butterfallino” Bekannte Giacinto Fontana, Raffaele Signorini, Domenico Ricci, Giuseppe Appiani und Francesco Tolve. [ten] Reports can be found in Francesco Valerios Diary of Rome (Entries between November 18 and 30, 1729), in Ordinary Diario del Chracas (No. 1920 of November 26 and No. 1924 of December 3, 1729) and in the Mercure de France. [8] The latter reported in December 1729 in the article with the heading Relaying made in Rome, by Cardinal Polignac (Pp. 3125–43) in detail about it. The stage design was also described in detail. This came from Pier Leone Ghezzi, a favorite Polignacs. It is shown in a stitch from Filippo Vasconi according to a submission by Salvatore Colonelli Sciarra. An idea of the splendor of the performance gives a painting by Giovanni Paolo Pannini, which was created 18 years later on the occasion of the wedding of the Dauphin with Maria Josepha of Saxony and represented a Serenata by Francesco Scarselli and Niccolò Jommelli. The picture bears the title Musical celebration given on the orders of Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld at the Argentina theater in Rome on July 15, 1747 on the occasion of the second marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France and son of Louis XV, with Marie-Josèphe de Saxe . Due to a false dating and the great similarities to the description in the Mercure, it was held for a picture of the performance of Vincis Serenata from 1729 and with the title Concert, given in Rome on November 26, 1729, on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin, son of Louis XV Mistake. The differences between the two performances essentially consisted that the later one took place in a theater and not outdoors that there were only four instead of six gods and that the clothing of the visitors corresponded to the later taste of contemporary taste. The great similarities in the equipment and in the stage design suggest that the decorations and costumes from 1729 were used here again. Pannini most likely had already visited the performance of 1729, since he was also a favorite cardinal polignacs at the time. [4]
Vinci uses a greater orchestra line -up compared to most of his other works. More than half of the sentences use wind instruments, and in three arias, the introductory symphonia and the final choir, the full orchestra is used with oboen, trumpets and horns. One reason for this should have been outdoors. Apart from Artaserse are more manuscripts from the score than from any other work Vincis. [4]
The setting of Christoph Willibald Gluck [ Edit | Edit the source text ]
In 1748, Gluck was a member of Pietro Mingotti’s wandering opera team on a trip through Europe. At the end of November they reached Copenhagen at the invitation of the Danish farm, where Gluck worked as a capell master and concerting artist. Here he composed on the occasion of the birth of the later Danish king of Christian VII. To the countess of ‘name (Wq. 14) [7] To the text of Metastasios, which was slightly adapted by the poet Thomas Clitau to replace the “Gallier” references with references to Denmark and the House of Oldenburg. [8] The rehearsals began in February 1749, and the work was listed on April 9 at Charlottenborg Castle at the first public appearance of the queen after birth. Jupiter and Mars were sung by tenören, Apollon by a male and the other three roles of female sopranos. [7]
Each of the two parts begins with a one -time overture that runs in a recitative recitative accompanied by the orchestra. Afterwards each deity has a soloarie, and the part ends with an ensemble choir. Max Arend described the music in his Gluck biography of 1921 as follows:
“The tonal language is very lucky: in the recitatively powerful, always significant and characteristic of the word, in the arias with a topic that is also obtained from the word text and deep -sensitive characteristics, which is so unobtrusive and of course thrown at risk, it is more danger to overlook when they feel intentionally. Asträa, the goddess of justice, has a miraculous aria in A major in the first part with subdued violins that soon turns into an expressive minor; As in a prayer, she begs the gods of the gods to be able to be the nourish of the child, she who was the royal father ‘. As at the end of the first part, the violins are strongly effective and falling into the warm major. The goddess of peace gives a delightful picture, who may say that under her protection, the loving shepherd follows her crazy herd under her protection. In the soft -bound eights, with attractive imitations (violoncell without bass), the herd is involuntarily seeing in front of you. In the first part, the goddess Fortuna brings with the new text ‘Perche Viva Felice’, which you could not know so far, the ary, which I have found again and mentioned by the Sophonisbe, which I have found again, but not Jambisch, not Jambisch . The middle part is further developed, on the occasion of the significant text (‘not accompanied by happiness, virtue sees itself without wages’). The conversion is particularly interesting: In the Sophonisbe, the aria for string orchestras is instrumented with solo brass, for which it is apparently designed. Here, as in the whole ‘Contesa’, we can only find strings. In the second part, this is noticeable in the first aria of Mars, whose topic, in the previous recitative recitative recitative, is an actual trumpet topic. In this recitative recitative, the text shouts for brass, and Gluck imitates by Sforzati and Tremolo of the Primerenben, inanegovers of the other strings, warlike instruments. This brings us to the fact that he probably does not voluntarily do without wind players, but had no available. And this suddenly throws a highlight of the fact that Gluck, which we, as the creator of a work, just got to know how it is the Semiramis, have just met, to write this serenade in the Danish capital and none of his older works to perform. Gluck was an artistic real politician if this expression is allowed. He adapted to the technical occasions like a real artist with a feeling of style, as the history of art rarely shows. In fact, the Danish archives tell us that the court violoners, who were available, were an orchestral group of ten players, and that eight players were still attracted to reinforcement for the performances of the Mingotti team. Of course, that only gave a decent string orchestra. ”
- Christoph Willibald Gluck:
- 1998: Scenic performance of the Royal Danish Opera. The singers were Jonny van Hall (Giove), Niels Jørgen Riis (Marte), Hanne Fischer (Apollo), Karti Hamnøy (Astrea), Djina Mai-Mai (La Pace) and Henriette Bonde-Hansen (La Fortuna). [11]
- Leonardo Vinci:
- ↑ Don Neville: Metastasio [trapassi], Pietro (Antonio Domenico Bonaventura). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ Metastasio, Pietro in The music in history and present , P. 50861 ff (see MGG Vol. 9, p. 229 ff.) Bärenreiter-Verlag 1986 (Digital Library Volume 60).
- ↑ To the countess of ‘name (Leonardo Vinci) In the Corago information system at the University of Bologna, accessed on February 17, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d It is f g Kurt Sven Markstrom: The Operas of Leonardo Vinci, Neapolitan. Pendragon Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1576470947, S. 278 ff ( Online at Google Books).
- ↑ To the countess of ‘name (Christoph Willibald Gluck) In the Corago information system at the University of Bologna, accessed on February 17, 2015.
- ↑ a b c Jacques Joly: The theatrical metastasis festivals at the court of Vienna, 1731–1767. Pu Blaise Pascal, 1978, ISBN 978-2845160194, S. 75 ff.
- ↑ a b c d It is Max Arend: Gluck – a biography. Schuster & Loeffler, Berlin 1921, S. 120 ff ( Online im Internet Archive).
- ↑ a b c d It is Don Neville, Joseph Raffa: To the countess of ‘name. ( Online, PDF )
- ↑ Salvatore Colelli Sciarra: Fireworks on the Piazza Navona on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin of France 1729 in the Marburg picture archive.
- ↑ To the countess of ‘name on pietrometastasio.com , accessed November 9, 2015.
- ↑ Details of the performance of Gluck’s opera by the Royal Danish Opera 1998 on Operapapassion.com , accessed on February 18, 2015.
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