Partenope
Encyclopedia
Partenope is an opera
by George Frideric Handel
, first performed at the King's Theatre
in London
on 24 February 1730.
adapted by an unknown hand from a libretto originally written in 1699 by Silvio Stampiglia
. Stampiglia's libretto had received many previous settings, including one by Caldara which Handel may have seen in Venice
around 1710.
It was Handel's first comic (or, rather, unserious) opera since the much earlier Agrippina
, breaking away from the more traditional opera seria
works for which the composer was known in London. He originally proposed the libretto to the opera company the Royal Academy of Music (1719) in 1726. They however rejected the work because of its frivolous nature, its relatively few extended arias and its long passages of recitative. (The latter objections are not particularly true, however. The opera has relatively few ensemble pieces but is replete with gorgeous arias.) The opera manager Owen Swiney opined that the project was uncommercial; in a letter of 1726 he wrote:
The opera was presented during the 1730 season at the King's Theatre when Handel was working in partnership with the director John James Heidegger
. The score was completed by Handel just two weeks before the premiere.
, and the same production was performed later that year at New York City Opera
. A production in English (entitled Parthenope) was staged in 2008 (premiere 9 October 2008, with the title role sung by Rosemary Joshua
) by the English National Opera
, in a co-production with Opera Australia
. The libretto was translated by Amanda Holden. The production was set in an 1920s atmosphere and was inspired by the surrealist images of Man Ray
. Also, a concert version of the opera was performed by The Royal Danish Opera at the 2009 Proms on 19 July 2009.
A DVD of the Danish production was released by Decca in mid-September 2009
A modern production by Francisco Negrin was staged by New York City Opera
in April 2010.
, in marriage. A third prince, Emilio of Cumae, is at war with Naples and with Partenope. Partenope is primarily attracted to Arsace. However, she does not know that Arsace has previously abandoned Rosmira, who is disguised as a man named Eurimene, and is trying to win him back. Rosmira confronts Arsace as Eurimene and harasses him for his faithlessness, and demands that he keep her true identity secret. Ultimately, Rosmira/Eurimene challenges her lover to a duel in a court of honour, but her identity is revealed when he demands the condition that they fight stripped to the waist.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
, first performed at the King's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 24 February 1730.
Background
The opera, which is in three acts, is composed to an Italian librettoLibretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
adapted by an unknown hand from a libretto originally written in 1699 by Silvio Stampiglia
Silvio Stampiglia
Silvio Stampiglia was an Italian poet, librettist, and founder member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia under the penname of Palemone Licurio.-Libretti:Operas...
. Stampiglia's libretto had received many previous settings, including one by Caldara which Handel may have seen in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
around 1710.
It was Handel's first comic (or, rather, unserious) opera since the much earlier Agrippina
Agrippina (opera)
Agrippina is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel, from a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of...
, breaking away from the more traditional opera seria
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...
works for which the composer was known in London. He originally proposed the libretto to the opera company the Royal Academy of Music (1719) in 1726. They however rejected the work because of its frivolous nature, its relatively few extended arias and its long passages of recitative. (The latter objections are not particularly true, however. The opera has relatively few ensemble pieces but is replete with gorgeous arias.) The opera manager Owen Swiney opined that the project was uncommercial; in a letter of 1726 he wrote:
[The libretto] is the very worst book (excepting one) that I ever read in my whole life. Signor Stampiglia [...] endeavours to be both humorous and witty in it: if he succeeded in his attempt on any stage in Italy, 't was merely from a depravity of taste in the audience; for I am very sure it will be received with contempt in England'
The opera was presented during the 1730 season at the King's Theatre when Handel was working in partnership with the director John James Heidegger
John James Heidegger
John James Heidegger was a Swiss count and leading impresario of masquerades in the early part of the 18th century....
. The score was completed by Handel just two weeks before the premiere.
Performance history
In 1964 it was performed at Ledlanet, Scotland. In 1998 it was performed in Italian at Glimmerglass OperaGlimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...
, and the same production was performed later that year at New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
. A production in English (entitled Parthenope) was staged in 2008 (premiere 9 October 2008, with the title role sung by Rosemary Joshua
Rosemary Joshua
Rosemary Joshua a British soprano, particularly known for her performances in Handel's operas.Joshua was born in Cardiff and studied at the Royal College of Music. After completing her studies there, she made her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Angelica in Handel's Orlando...
) by the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, in a co-production with Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
. The libretto was translated by Amanda Holden. The production was set in an 1920s atmosphere and was inspired by the surrealist images of Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
. Also, a concert version of the opera was performed by The Royal Danish Opera at the 2009 Proms on 19 July 2009.
A DVD of the Danish production was released by Decca in mid-September 2009
A modern production by Francisco Negrin was staged by New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
in April 2010.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 24 February 1730 (Conductor:- ) |
|---|---|---|
| Partenope, Queen of Naples Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples... |
soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Anna Maria Strada Anna Maria Strada Anna Maria Strada was an Italian soprano of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Strada sang.-Career:... del Pò |
| Arsace, Prince of Corinth Corinth Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit... |
castrato Castrato A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's... |
Antonio Bernacchi Antonio Bernacchi Antonio Maria Bernacchi was an Italian castrato, composer, and teacher of singing. He studied with Francesco Antonio Pistocchi. His pupils included Farinelli, for a brief period during 1727, and the tenor Anton Raaff... |
| Armindo, Prince of Rhodes Rhodes Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within... |
alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,... |
Francesca Bertolli Francesca Bertolli Francesca Bertolli was an Italian contralto of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas she sang.... |
| Emilio, Prince of Cumae Cumae Cumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Cumae was the first Greek colony on the mainland of Italy , and the seat of the Cumaean Sibyl... |
tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Annibale Pio Fabri Annibale Pio Fabri Annibale Pio Fabri was an Italian composer and singer of the 18th century... |
| Rosmira/Eurimene, beloved of Arsace | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Antonia Merighi Antonia Merighi Antonia Margherita Merighi was an Italian contralto active between 1711 and 1744 and particularly known today for her performances in operas by George Frideric Handel.-Biography:... |
| Ormonte | bass | Johann Gottfried Reimschneider |
Synopsis
Prince Arsace of Corinth and Prince Armindo of Rhodes are seeking Queen Partenope, the founder of the city of NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, in marriage. A third prince, Emilio of Cumae, is at war with Naples and with Partenope. Partenope is primarily attracted to Arsace. However, she does not know that Arsace has previously abandoned Rosmira, who is disguised as a man named Eurimene, and is trying to win him back. Rosmira confronts Arsace as Eurimene and harasses him for his faithlessness, and demands that he keep her true identity secret. Ultimately, Rosmira/Eurimene challenges her lover to a duel in a court of honour, but her identity is revealed when he demands the condition that they fight stripped to the waist.
Recordings
- 1978: Kristzina Laki, Helga Müller Molinari, René Jacobs, John York Skinner, Martyn Hill, Stephen VarcoeStephen VarcoeStephen Varcoe is an English classical bass-baritone singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of Lieder.- Professional career :...
; La Petite BandeLa Petite BandeLa Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in Baroque music played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, and Bach.-History:...
; Sigiswald KuijkenSigiswald KuijkenSigiswald Kuijken is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on authentic instruments.-Biography:Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of Brussels between 1964 and 1972 and formed La Petite Bande in 1972...
, conductor. Audio CD: Harmonia Mundi IC 157-99 855-8:
- 2008: Inger Dam-JensenInger Dam-JensenInger Dam-Jensen is a Danish operatic soprano. In 1993 she won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. For the last two decades she has appeared in leading roles at the Royal Danish Theatre on a regular basis. She has also appeared as a guest artist with Paris Opera and the Royal Opera,...
, Andreas SchollAndreas SchollAndreas Scholl is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music.-Childhood:...
, Tuva Semmingsen, Christophe Dumaux, Bo Kristian Jensen, and Palle Knudsen. Direction by Francisco Negrin. Lars Ulrik Mortensen conducts Concerto Copenhagen. DVD: Decca.