Didone abbandonata(Albinoni)
| Didone abbandonata | |
|---|---|
| Opera seriabyTomaso Albinoni | |
 Marianna Bulgarelli,who created the title role | |
| Librettist | Pietro Metastasio |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Didone abbandonata |
| Premiere | 26 December 1724 Teatro San Cassiano,Venice |
Didone abbandonata(Dido Abandoned) was an opera in three acts composed byTomaso Albinoni.Albinoni's music (now lost) was set toPietro Metastasio'slibretto,Didone abbandonata,which was in turn based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from the fourth book ofVirgil'sAeneid.The opera premiered on 26 December 1724 at theTeatro San CassianoinVeniceand was the first time that an opera based on a Metastasio libretto was performed in Venice.[1]
Background and performance history
[edit]Metastasio's libretto was first set byDomenico Sarro,whose opera premiered at theTeatro San Bartolomeoin Naples on 1 February 1724. However, for the libretto's presentation in Venice, Giovanni Orsato, the impresario of theTeatro San Cassiano,commissioned his fellow Venetian, Tomaso Albinoni, to compose a completely new setting.[2]According to the April 1725 edition ofMercure Galant,Albinoni's version had a considerable success not only in Venice, but also in Florence and Milan.[3]It was frequently revived over the next few years, including performances inCrema(1726),Breslau(1726),Linz(date unknown),Pesaro(1730),Prague(1731), andFerrara(1733).[4]
The title role was sung in the premiere byMarianna Bulgarelli,famed for her talent as an actress. Bulgarelli was also the patron and mistress of the young Metastasio who was living in her home while he wroteDidone.He intended it as a showcase for her, and according to contemporary accounts, Bulgarelli had considerable influence on the work, especially in shaping Dido's scenes of jealousy in act 2.[5]Marianna Bulgarelli and her Aeneas,Nicolò Grimaldi,reprised their roles on 10 May 1725 inReggio Emiliafor the premiere ofNicola Porpora's setting of theDidonelibretto. Markstrom suggests that she was probably also present inRometo coach thecastrato"Farfallino"who sang the title role inLeonardo Vinci's 1726 setting of the libretto. (Thepapalban on female performers in Rome's theatres prevented Bulgarelli from singing the role of Dido herself).[5]
Roles
[edit]| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast[6] 26 December 1724 |
|---|---|---|
| Didone,Dido,queen of Carthage, in love with Enea | soprano | Marianna Bulgarelli |
| Enea,Aeneas,aTrojanhero | altocastrato | Nicolò Grimaldi |
| Iarba,Iarbasking of theMoors,who appears as "Arbace" | contralto(en travesti) | Lucia Lancetti |
| Selene,sister of Dido and secretly in love with Aeneas | contralto | Teresa Peruzzi |
| Araspe,confidant of Iarba and lover of Selene | soprano castrato | Domenico Gizzi |
| Osmida,confidant of Dido | tenor | Pietro Baratti |
Synopsis
[edit]- Setting: AncientCarthage
Dido (Didone), Queen of Carthage, is promised in marriage to King Iarbas (Iarba), but has fallen in love with theTrojanwarrior Aeneas (Enea), who had been shipwrecked on the shores of her city. Iarbas appears disguised as "Arbace" to warn Dido that Aeneas cannot become King of Carthage. Nevertheless, Dido refuses to marry Iarbas. Although Aeneas is now in love with Dido, he asks her sister Selene to tell her of his plans to leave Carthage for Italy. War then breaks out between Aeneas and Iarbas in which the Trojan is triumphant. After his victory, Dido convinces Aeneas to remain in Carthage and become her husband. But when the ghost of Aeneas' father reminds him of his duty to his people, Aeneas realises that he must abandon Dido. Heartbroken, she commits suicide by throwing herself on a funeralpyreas Aeneas and his men set sail for Italy.
Notes and references
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Didone abbandonata,26 December 1724 ".L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia(in Italian).
- Freeman, Daniel E.,The opera theater of Count Franz Anton von Sporck in Prague,Pendragon Press, 1992.ISBN0-945193-17-3
- Giazotto, Remo,Tomaso Albinoni,Fratelli Bocca,1945
- Markstrom, Kurt Sven,The operas of Leonardo Vinci, Napoletano,Pendragon Press, 2007.ISBN1-57647-094-6
- Selfridge-Field, Eleanor,A new chronology of Venetian opera and related genres, 1660–1760,Stanford University Press, 2007.ISBN0-8047-4437-8
- Strohm, Reinhard."The Neapolitans in Venice"in Iain Fenlon and Tim Carter (eds.),Con che soavità: studies in Italian opera, song, and dance, 1580–1740,Oxford University Press, 1995.ISBN0-19-816370-3
External links
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