Romolo ed Ersilia
Encyclopedia
Romolo ed Ersilia is an 18th-century Italian opera
in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček
composed to a libretto
by the Italian poet Metastasio
first produced in Innsbruck
in 1765 with music by Johann Adolf Hasse. The drama was one of Metastasio's last, shortest, and least popular. Mysliveček's setting of 1773 was the only other one known to have been produced during the remainder of the eighteenth cebtury. It includes significant alterations, in particular the introduction of new arias that augment the importance of certain characters and the re-ordering of existing arias. The alterations are not attributable. This opera (and all the rest of Mysliveček's operas) belong to the serious type in Italian language referred to as opera seria
. In Mysliveček's day, the opening aria, "Questa è la bella face," the duet that concludes the first act, and the quartet that concludes the second act were famed for their brilliance.
on 13 August 1773 to commemorate the birthday of Maria Carolina
, queen of Naples. The music for the production had to be composed hurriedly, since the composer was detained at the border of the Kingdom of Naples
until mid-July for his lack of a passport
. The management of the Teatro San Carlo resolved to have the three acts of the opera parceled out among three composers resident locally, however Mysliveček was able to resolve his difficulties at the border in time to fulfill his commission. The composer's haste is manifested in a large proportion of arias with a reduced scoring (strings only, or strings and winds without brass). The result was nonetheless very successful, and Mysliveček was immediately commissioned to compose an opera for the queen's birthday in 1774 (the opera Artaserse
). In all, Mysliveček completed six more operas for the Teatro San Carlo before his death in 1781, which meant that more of his works were performed there during the 1770s than those of any other composer. This was quite a distinction, since the San Carlo was the most prestigious venue for the performance of Italian opera seria in the world. The cast of Romolo ed Ersilia included three distinguished singers: Gaspare Pacchierotti
, Anna de Amicis-Buonsolazzi
, and Giuseppe Tibaldi.
Act I, scene 2 - Aria of Romolo, "Questa è la bella face"
Act I, scene 3 - Aria of Ersilia, "Sorprender mi vorresti"
Act I, scene 5 - Aria of Curzio, "Prence, che affanno" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 6 - Aria of Acronte, "Sprezzami pur, per ora ostenta"
Act I, scene 8 - Aria of Valeria, "Quel traditore intendo" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 10 - Accompanied recitative for Romolo and Ersilia, "E tace Ersilia?"
Act I, scene 10 - Duet for Romolo ed Ersilia, "Ah, che vuol dir quel pianto"
Act II, scene 1 - Aria for Valeria, "Ah, perchè quando appresi"
Act II, scene 3 - Aria of Acronte, "Non respiro, che rabbia, e veleno" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act II, scene 4 - Aria of Curzio, "Nel pensar che padre io sono"
Act II, scene 5 - Accompanied recitative for Ersilia, "Dove m'ascondo?"
Act II, scene 6 - Aria of Ersilia, "Basta così, vincesti"
Act II, scene 7 - Accompanied recitative for Romolo and Ostilio, "Non resta, Roma io confido a te"
Act II, scene 7 - Aria of Romolo, "Ah, dille ch'io l'amo" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act II, scene 9 - Quartet of Ersilia, Romolo, Acronte, and Curzio, "Deh, invitati serba" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 1 - Aria of Ersilia, "Sponde felici, addio" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 5 - Aria of Valeria, "L'augellin dal visco uscito"
Act III, scene 6 - Chorus, "Serbate, o numi"
Act III, scene 6 - Cavatina of Romolo, "De' Numi clementi" [a non-Mestastasian text]
Act III, scene 9 - Aria of Curzio, "Ah, non più padre ti sono" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 9 - Chorus, "Numi, che intenti siete"
Two arias from the role of Ersilia ("Sorprender mi vorresti" and "Basta così, vincesti"), originally created for Anna de Amicis-Buonsolazzi, are included in the collection Arias for Anna de Amicis as sung by soprano Teodora Gheorghiu with Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, conductor, Aperté AP021 (2011).
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...
in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček
Josef Myslivecek
Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
composed to a libretto
Libretto
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...
by the Italian poet 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:...
first produced in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
in 1765 with music by Johann Adolf Hasse. The drama was one of Metastasio's last, shortest, and least popular. Mysliveček's setting of 1773 was the only other one known to have been produced during the remainder of the eighteenth cebtury. It includes significant alterations, in particular the introduction of new arias that augment the importance of certain characters and the re-ordering of existing arias. The alterations are not attributable. This opera (and all the rest of Mysliveček's operas) belong to the serious type in Italian language referred to as 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...
. In Mysliveček's day, the opening aria, "Questa è la bella face," the duet that concludes the first act, and the quartet that concludes the second act were famed for their brilliance.
Performance history
Romolo ed Ersilia was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo in 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...
on 13 August 1773 to commemorate the birthday of Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
, queen of Naples. The music for the production had to be composed hurriedly, since the composer was detained at the border of the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
until mid-July for his lack of a passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
. The management of the Teatro San Carlo resolved to have the three acts of the opera parceled out among three composers resident locally, however Mysliveček was able to resolve his difficulties at the border in time to fulfill his commission. The composer's haste is manifested in a large proportion of arias with a reduced scoring (strings only, or strings and winds without brass). The result was nonetheless very successful, and Mysliveček was immediately commissioned to compose an opera for the queen's birthday in 1774 (the opera Artaserse
Artaserse
Artaserse is the name of a number of Italian operas, all based on a text by Metastasio. Artaserse is the Italian form of the name of a Persian king, Artaxerxes....
). In all, Mysliveček completed six more operas for the Teatro San Carlo before his death in 1781, which meant that more of his works were performed there during the 1770s than those of any other composer. This was quite a distinction, since the San Carlo was the most prestigious venue for the performance of Italian opera seria in the world. The cast of Romolo ed Ersilia included three distinguished singers: Gaspare Pacchierotti
Gaspare Pacchierotti
Gaspare Pacchierotti was a great mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most famous singers of his time.-Training and first appearances:...
, Anna de Amicis-Buonsolazzi
Anna de Amicis
Anna Lucia de Amicis was an Italian soprano. She debuted in J. C. Bach's Orione in London, and went on to sing as prima donna in Dublin, Innsbruck and Naples. In Innsbruck she sang the female title role in "Romolo ed Ersilia", the marriage celebration opera written by Johann Adolf Hasse for the...
, and Giuseppe Tibaldi.
Roles
| Cast | Voice type | Premiere, 13 August 1773, Teatro San Carlo, Naples |
|---|---|---|
| Romolo, king and founder of Rome | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... 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... |
Gaspare Pacchierotti Gaspare Pacchierotti Gaspare Pacchierotti was a great mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most famous singers of his time.-Training and first appearances:... |
| Ersilia, an illustrious Sabine princess betrothed to Romolo | 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 de Amicis-Buonsolazzi Anna de Amicis Anna Lucia de Amicis was an Italian soprano. She debuted in J. C. Bach's Orione in London, and went on to sing as prima donna in Dublin, Innsbruck and Naples. In Innsbruck she sang the female title role in "Romolo ed Ersilia", the marriage celebration opera written by Johann Adolf Hasse for the... |
| Curzio, father of Ersilia | 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... |
Giuseppe Tibaldi |
| Acronte, implacable enemy of Romolo, also in love with Ersilia | soprano castrato | Pietro Santi |
| Valeria, a noble Roman lady, betrothed to Acronte, but abandoned by him | soprano | Margherita Gibetti |
| Ostilio, Roman patrician and friend of Romolo | soprano | Rosaria de Juliis (in a breeches role Breeches role A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing .In opera it also refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer... ) |
Vocal Set Pieces
Act I, scene 1 - Chorus, "Sul Tarpeo propizie, e liete"Act I, scene 2 - Aria of Romolo, "Questa è la bella face"
Act I, scene 3 - Aria of Ersilia, "Sorprender mi vorresti"
Act I, scene 5 - Aria of Curzio, "Prence, che affanno" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 6 - Aria of Acronte, "Sprezzami pur, per ora ostenta"
Act I, scene 8 - Aria of Valeria, "Quel traditore intendo" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 10 - Accompanied recitative for Romolo and Ersilia, "E tace Ersilia?"
Act I, scene 10 - Duet for Romolo ed Ersilia, "Ah, che vuol dir quel pianto"
Act II, scene 1 - Aria for Valeria, "Ah, perchè quando appresi"
Act II, scene 3 - Aria of Acronte, "Non respiro, che rabbia, e veleno" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act II, scene 4 - Aria of Curzio, "Nel pensar che padre io sono"
Act II, scene 5 - Accompanied recitative for Ersilia, "Dove m'ascondo?"
Act II, scene 6 - Aria of Ersilia, "Basta così, vincesti"
Act II, scene 7 - Accompanied recitative for Romolo and Ostilio, "Non resta, Roma io confido a te"
Act II, scene 7 - Aria of Romolo, "Ah, dille ch'io l'amo" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act II, scene 9 - Quartet of Ersilia, Romolo, Acronte, and Curzio, "Deh, invitati serba" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 1 - Aria of Ersilia, "Sponde felici, addio" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 5 - Aria of Valeria, "L'augellin dal visco uscito"
Act III, scene 6 - Chorus, "Serbate, o numi"
Act III, scene 6 - Cavatina of Romolo, "De' Numi clementi" [a non-Mestastasian text]
Act III, scene 9 - Aria of Curzio, "Ah, non più padre ti sono" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 9 - Chorus, "Numi, che intenti siete"
Recordings
The overture to Mysliveček's Romolo ed Ersilia is included in a collection of symphonies and overtures by the composer recorded by the L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg, conductor, CPO 777-050 (2004).Two arias from the role of Ersilia ("Sorprender mi vorresti" and "Basta così, vincesti"), originally created for Anna de Amicis-Buonsolazzi, are included in the collection Arias for Anna de Amicis as sung by soprano Teodora Gheorghiu with Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, conductor, Aperté AP021 (2011).