Demofonte
Encyclopedia
Il Demofonte is an opera seria
libretto by Metastasio
.
See also operas by Leonardo Leo
, Carl Heinrich Graun
, Niccolò Jommelli
, Johann Adolph Hasse
, Luigi Cherubini
.
king Demofonte asks the oracle of Apollo how long the practice of the annual sacrifice of a virgin will continue. The answer is puzzling: "as long as the innocent usurper sits on the throne". The nobleman Matusio tries to protect his daughter Dircea from being sacrificed. He and Demofonte are unaware that Dircea is secretly married to Timante, the son of Demofonte and the heir to the throne. Demofonte wants Timante to marry Creusa, a princess of Phrygia
. Timante's younger brother Cherinto is accompanying her to the kingdom of Thrace, however he falls in love with her. Meeting Creusa, Timante admits that he can't marry her, but does not explain why.
Dircea has been caught while trying to flee the country and imprisoned, and Demofonte orders the immediate sacrifice of Dircea. Timante tries to release her but with no success. He is also imprisoned. Creusa asks Demofonte for mercy. The king releases Timante and Dircea, and Timante decides to give up the throne in favour of Cherinto.
Suddenly they find a letter revealing that Dircea is the daughter of Demofonte, which makes Timante and Dircea brother and sister. Timante is in despair, and tries to avoid Dircea. However another letter reveals that Timante is the son of Matusio. Everybody is happy. The marriage of Timante and Dircea becomes legal, and Cherinto is the real crown prince and can marry Creusa. No more virgins are sacrificed, since Timante is no longer the "innocent usurper of the throne".
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
libretto by Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
.
General information
- Title and title abbreviation: Demofoonte (Demof.) dramma per musicaDramma per musicaDramma per musica is a term which was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the late-17th and mid-19th centuries...
– dm - Volume and page number in the Brunelli edition of Metastasio's works: I, 635
- Text incipit of the first line of the work: [Dircea:] Credimi, o padre: ol tuo soverchio affetto
- Composer of first setting: Antonio CaldaraAntonio CaldaraAntonio Caldara was an Italian Baroque composer.Caldara was born in Venice , the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi...
- Place and date of first performance (or of completion): ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Hoftheater, November 4, 1733 - Occasion for the first performance: Name-day of the Emperor Charles VICharles VI, Holy Roman EmperorCharles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
Other settings
The libretto, written in 1731 or 1733, became immensely popular. By 1800 it had inspired at least 73 operas (according to the Encyclopaedia Musical St. Petersburg: The 18th Century) Here is only the short list of the operas with the same title:- Antonio VivaldiAntonio VivaldiAntonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
Authenticity is debated., Demofoonte (RV deest; performance unknown) - Felice AlessandriFelice AlessandriFelice Alessandri was an Italian keyboardist and composer who was internationally active; working in Berlin, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Turin. He is best known for his stage works, and he produced a total of 32 operas between 1764 and 1794...
, Demofoonte (June 12, 1783 Padua) - Pasquale AnfossiPasquale AnfossiBonifacio Domenico Pasquale Anfossi was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Liguria, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome....
, Demofoonte (carnivalCarnivalCarnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
1773 Rome) - Maksym BerezovskyMaksym BerezovskyMaksym Sozontovych Berezovsky was a Ukrainian composer, opera singer, and violinist.Berezovsky was the first Ukrainian composer to be recognized throughout Europe and the first to compose an opera, symphony, and violin sonata. His most popular works are his sacred choral pieces written for the...
, DemofonteDemofonte (Berezovsky)Il Demofonte, also: Demofonte, Demofoonte or Demofont is an opera seria by the Ukrainian composer Maksym Berezovsky composed in 1773 to an Italian libretto by Pietro Metastasio....
(carnival February 1773 LivornoLivornoLivorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
) - Andrea BernasconiAndrea BernasconiAndrea Bernasconi was an Italian composer. He began his career in his native country as a composer of operas. In 1755 he was appointed to the post of Kapellmeister at the Bavarian court in Munich where he produced several more operas successfully and a few symphonies. After 1772 his compositional...
, Demofoonte (carnival 1741 Rome) - Antonio Boroni, [Baroni, Borroni, Buroni, Burroni] Demofoonte (carnival 1762 Turin)
- Giuseppe Brivio, Demofoonte (carnival 1738 Turin)
- Francesco Ciampi, Demofoonte (February 5, 1735 Rome)
- Gioacchino CocchiGioacchino CocchiGioacchino Cocchi was an Italian composer.He was particularly famous for his theatre music . His first works were performed at Naples and Rome. From 1750 to 1757 he stayed in Venice, where he became chapel master of the Ospedale degli Incurabili . He also taught composition to Andrea Luchesi...
, Demofoonte (1754 Venice) - Egidio Duni [Duny], Demofoonte (May 24, 1737 London)
- Baldassare Galuppi, Demofoonte (December 18, 1749 Madrid)
- Christoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, DemofoonteDemofoonte (Gluck)Demofoonte is a dramma per musica or opera in 3 acts by composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. The work uses an Italian language libretto by Pietro Metastasio. The opera premiered on 6 January 1743 at the Teatro Regio Ducal in Milan.-Roles:...
(January 6, 1743 Milan) - Francesco ManciniFrancesco Mancini (composer)Francesco Mancini was an Italian composer from Napoli.-Biography:He was an important teacher and managed to obtain his greatest duty during Alessandro Scarlatti's absence from Neapolitan court, between 1702 and 1708...
, Il Demofoonte (1735, Naples) [together with D. Sarro and F. Leo] - Josef MyslivečekJosef MyslivecekJosef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
, Il Demofoonte (January 1769 Venice, January 20, 1775 Naples) - Giovanni PaisielloGiovanni PaisielloGiovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...
, Demofoonte (carnival 1775 Venice) - Antonio Pampani, Demofoonte (carnival 1757 Rome)
- Davide Perez, Demofoonte (1752 Lisbon)
- Brizio Petrucci, Demofoonte (December 26, 1765 FerraraFerraraFerrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
) - Niccolò PiccinniNiccolò PiccinniNiccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...
, Demofoonte (May 1761 Reggio EmiliaReggio EmiliaReggio Emilia is an affluent city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 170,000 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
) - Giuseppe SartiGiuseppe SartiGiuseppe Sarti was an Italian opera composer.-Biography:He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born on 28 December, but his baptism certificate proves the later date impossible...
[Sardi], Demofoonte (January 30, 1771 Copenhagen, carnival 1782 Rome) - Gaetano Maria Schiassi, Il Demofoonte (carnival 1735 Venice)
- Joseph SchusterJoseph Schuster (composer)Joseph Schuster was a German composer.-Life and career:Schuster was born at Dresden, where he received his first musical training from his father, a court musician, and from Johann Georg Schürer. Thanks to a scholarship from the Saxon Prince-electors, he was able to study with Giovanni Battista...
, Demofoonte (1776 ForlìForlìForlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
) - Angelo TarchiAngelo TarchiAngelo Tarchi was an Italian composer of numerous operas as well as sacred music. Between 1778 and 1787, he worked primarily in Italy, producing five or six new operas each year....
, Demofoonte (September 1786 Crema, 1786 Milan) - Tommaso TraettaTommaso TraettaTommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta was an Italian composer.-Biography:Traetta was born in Bitonto, a town near Bari, near the top of the heel of the boot of Italy. He eventually became a pupil of the composer, singer and teacher Nicola Porpora in Naples, and scored a first success with his...
, Demofoonte (Autumn 1758 Verona) - Francesco UttiniFrancesco UttiniFrancesco Antonio Baldassare Uttini was an Italian composer and conductor who was active mostly in Sweden....
, Demofoonte (c. 1750 Ferrara) - Mattia Vento, Demofoonte (March 2, 1765 London
- Josef MyslivečekJosef MyslivecekJosef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
, DemofoonteDemofoonte (Mysliveček) (1769)Demofoonte is an opera in three acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It was the composer's first setting of this popular libretto by Metastasio first produced in 1733...
, first setting, (carnival) 1769 Venice - Josef Mysliveček, DemofoonteDemofoonte (Mysliveček) (1775)Demofoonte is an opera in three acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It was the composer's second setting of this popular libretto by Metastasio first produced in 1733...
, second setting, birthday of King Charles IIICharles III of SpainCharles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
of Spain, 20 January 1775 Naples - Marcos PortugalMarcos PortugalMarcos António da Fonseca Portugal was a Portuguese classical composer, who achieved great international fame for his operas in Italian....
(Marco Portogallo), Demofoonte (February 8, 1794 Milan, La ScalaLa ScalaLa Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
) - Marcos Portugal (Marco Portogallo), Il Demofoonte Rev. (August 15, 1808 Lisbon, S. CarlosTeatro Nacional de São CarlosThe Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on July 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake...
);
See also operas by Leonardo Leo
Leonardo Leo
Leonardo Leo , more correctly Lionardo Oronzo Salvatore de Leo, was an Italian Baroque composer.-Biography:...
, Carl Heinrich Graun
Carl Heinrich Graun
Carl Heinrich Graun was a German composer and tenor singer. Along with Johann Adolf Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time.-Biography:...
, Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli was an Italian composer. He was born in Aversa and died in Naples. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he made important changes to opera and reduced the importance of star singers.-Early life:Jommelli was born to Francesco Antonio Jommelli and...
, Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
, Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
.
Synopsis
The ThracianThracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
king Demofonte asks the oracle of Apollo how long the practice of the annual sacrifice of a virgin will continue. The answer is puzzling: "as long as the innocent usurper sits on the throne". The nobleman Matusio tries to protect his daughter Dircea from being sacrificed. He and Demofonte are unaware that Dircea is secretly married to Timante, the son of Demofonte and the heir to the throne. Demofonte wants Timante to marry Creusa, a princess of Phrygia
Phrygia
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
. Timante's younger brother Cherinto is accompanying her to the kingdom of Thrace, however he falls in love with her. Meeting Creusa, Timante admits that he can't marry her, but does not explain why.
Dircea has been caught while trying to flee the country and imprisoned, and Demofonte orders the immediate sacrifice of Dircea. Timante tries to release her but with no success. He is also imprisoned. Creusa asks Demofonte for mercy. The king releases Timante and Dircea, and Timante decides to give up the throne in favour of Cherinto.
Suddenly they find a letter revealing that Dircea is the daughter of Demofonte, which makes Timante and Dircea brother and sister. Timante is in despair, and tries to avoid Dircea. However another letter reveals that Timante is the son of Matusio. Everybody is happy. The marriage of Timante and Dircea becomes legal, and Cherinto is the real crown prince and can marry Creusa. No more virgins are sacrificed, since Timante is no longer the "innocent usurper of the throne".