Temistocle is an 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 three acts by the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 composer Johann Christian Bach

Johann Christian Bach

Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...

. The Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 text is an extensive revision of the 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 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:...

, by Mattia Verazi, court poet and private secretary to the Elector Palatine Carl Theodor

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria

Charles Theodore, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death...

.

The opera was the first of two for the Elector Palatine. Some of the music was reused from earlier works, including part of the overture from Carattaco (composed 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...

 in 1767).

Performance history

Temistocle was first performed at the Hoftheater in Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

 on 4 November 1772 , with a notable cast including Anton Raaff

Anton Raaff

Anton Raaff was a German tenor from Gelsdorf near Bonn.-Career:He studied at the Jesuit school in Bonn where the Elector of Bavaria, Clement Augustus, heard him singing and paid for him to train professionally. Raaff was brought to the capital, Munich, where he was engaged on an annual salary of...

 and Dorothea

Dorothea Wendling

Maria Dorothea Wendling Stuttgart, 21 March 1736 - Munich, 20 August 1811, was a German soprano.She is probably best remembered today for being the singer for whom Mozart wrote the role of Ilia in Idomeneo, re di Creta.-References:...

 and Elisabeth Wendling

Elisabeth Wendling

Elisabeth Augusta Wendling, was a German soprano, for whom Mozart wrote the role of Electra in his opera Idomeneo, re di Creta....

, all singers that later worked with Mozart.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 4 November 1772 (Conductor: - )
Temistocle (Themistocles Themistocles Themistocles ; c. 524–459 BC, was an Athenian politician and a general. He was one of a new breed of politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy, along with his great rival Aristides... ), Athenian general and politician	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...	Anton Raaff Anton Raaff Anton Raaff was a German tenor from Gelsdorf near Bonn.-Career:He studied at the Jesuit school in Bonn where the Elector of Bavaria, Clement Augustus, heard him singing and paid for him to train professionally. Raaff was brought to the capital, Munich, where he was engaged on an annual salary of...
Aspasia, daughter of Temistocle, in love with Lisimaco	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...	Dorothea Wendling Dorothea Wendling Maria Dorothea Wendling Stuttgart, 21 March 1736 - Munich, 20 August 1811, was a German soprano.She is probably best remembered today for being the singer for whom Mozart wrote the role of Ilia in Idomeneo, re di Creta.-References:...
Rossana (Roxana), a princess, in love with Serse	soprano	Elisabeth Wendling Elisabeth Wendling Elisabeth Augusta Wendling, was a German soprano, for whom Mozart wrote the role of Electra in his opera Idomeneo, re di Creta....
Lisimaco (Lysimachus), Athenian ambassador and friend of Temistocle	soprano 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...	Silvio Giorgetti
Serse, King of Persia (Xerxes I of Persia Xerxes I of Persia Xerxes I of Persia , Ḫšayāršā, ), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the fifth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire.-Youth and rise to power:... )	bass	Giovanni Battista Zonca
Neocle (Neocles), son of Temistocle	soprano castrato	Francesco Roncaglia
Sebaste (Sebastes), confidant of Serse, later a conspirator against him	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,...  castrato	Vincenzo Mucciolo

Synopsis

The opera takes place in Persia. Temistocle, together with his son Neocle, has been expelled from Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. He arrives incognito at Susa

Susa

Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran. It is located in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers....

, the capital of his arch-enemy King Serse, to find that his daughter Aspasia (in love with the Athenian ambassador Lisimaco) has also made her way there, following a shipwreck. Eventually all is revealed and Serse magnanimously pardons everybody, unites the lovers and makes peace with Athens.

Recordings

There are no complete recordings of the opera, though the overture is available on CD, for example on Johann Christian Bach: Complete Opera Overtures, performed by the Hanover Band conducted by Anthony Halstead (CPO Records 9999632, 2003).