Amor d'un' ombra e gelosia d'un' aura, libretto title page, 1714

''Amor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura'' ("The Love of a Shade and the Jealousy of an Aura"), also known as ''Narciso'' ("Narcissus"), is an opera in three acts composed by

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

to a libretto by

Carlo Sigismondo Capece Carlo Sigismondo Capece (21 June 1652 in Rome – 12 March 1728 in Polistena) was an Italian dramatist and librettist. Capece was court poet to Queen Maria Casimira of Poland, who was living in exile in Rome, and is best remembered today for the li ...

. It premiered in Rome in January 1714 at the private theatre of

Maria Casimira of Poland Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien ( Polish: Maria Kazimiera Ludwika d’Arquien), known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka" (28 June 1641 – 30 January 1716) was a French noblewoman who became the queen consort of Poland and gra ...

who had commissioned the work. The libretto is based on two fables from Ovid's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

'':

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

and Narcissus (Book III) and

Cephalus Cephalus (; Ancient Greek: Κέφαλος ''Kephalos'' means "head") is a name used both for the hero-figure in Greek mythology and carried as a theophoric name by historical persons. ''Mythological'' * Cephalus, son of Hermes and Herse. * Cephalu ...

and

Procris In Greek mythology, Procris ( grc, Πρόκρις, ''gen''.: Πρόκριδος) was an Athenian princess as the third daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens and his wife, Praxithea, daughter of Phrasimus and Diogeneia. Homer mentions her in t ...

(Book VII).Kirkpatrick p. 53

Background and performance history

Queen Maria Casimira had taken up residence in Rome in 1699 following the death of her husband

Jan III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

and her subsequent exile from Poland. Once in Rome she set up a court and became an active figure the city's musical life. In 1709, Domenico Scarlatti succeeded his father

Alessandro Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

as her court composer. His librettist, Carlo Capece, was her private secretary and court poet. ''Amor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura'' premiered at Maria Casimira's private theatre in the Palazzo Zuccari in January 1714 and proved to be the last of the several operas which Scarlatti had composed for her. Five months after the premiere, she departed for France, leaving a string of debts behind her. In addition to Scarlatti's opera, the 1714 Carnival opera season in Rome saw the premieres of Caldara's ''

Tito e Berenice ''Tito e Berenice'' is an opera (''dramma per musica'') in three acts composed by Antonio Caldara to a libretto by Carlo Sigismondo Capece. It premiered on 10 January 1714 at the Teatro Capranica in Rome. The story centers on the love affair betw ...

'' (also with a libretto by Capece) and Gasparini's ''Lucio Papirio'' (with a libretto by

Antonio Salvi Antonio Salvi (17 January 1664 – 21 May 1724) was an Italian physician, court poet and librettist, active mainly in Florence, Italy. He was in the service of the grand-ducal court of Tuscany and the favourite librettist of Prince Ferdinando de ...

). These two were the result of a competition set by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a prominent patron of the arts in Rome. Two rival

academies An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

, the

Accademia degli Arcadi The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History F ...

and the

Accademia dei Quirini Accademia (Italian for "academy") often refers to: * The Galleria dell'Accademia, an art museum in Florence * The Gallerie dell'Accademia, an art museum in Venice Accademia may also refer to: Academies of art * The Accademia Carrara di Belle ...

, were each to sponsor an opera to be performed in the newly renovated

Teatro Capranica The Teatro Capranica is a theatre situated at 101 Piazza Capranica in the Colonna district of Rome. Originally constructed in 1679 by the Capranica family and housed in the early Renaissance Palazzo Capranica, it was the second public theatre to o ...

. Ottoboni would give a generous gift to the academy which had produced the best one. According to a French correspondent at the time, ''Tito e Berenice'' had considerably less success with the audiences than ''Lucio Papirio'', but the best opera presented that season was actually ''Amor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura''. A revised version of the opera with the addition of two arias and two duets composed by

Thomas Roseingrave Thomas Roseingrave (1690 or 1691 – 23 June 1766), like his father Daniel Roseingrave, was an English-born Irish composer and organist. Early years He was born at Winchester, where his father Daniel Roseingrave was the Cathedral organist, bu ...

opened at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

in London on 30 May 1720 under the title ''Narciso''. Roseingrave also published the overture and arias of the opera, the only vocal music of Scarlatti that was printed in his lifetime. Capece's original libretto was adapted for the London performance by

Paolo Antonio Rolli Paolo Antonio Rolli (13 June 1687 – 20 March 1765) was an Italian librettist, poet and translator. Biography Paolo Rolli was born in Rome, Italy and like Metastasio was trained by Gian Vincenzo Gravina. The earl of Burlington brought hi ...

who eliminated the role of Nicandro. While the cast for the Rome premiere is unknown, the principal roles in the London performance were taken by

Margherita Durastanti Margherita Durastanti (active 1700–1734) was an Italian singer of the 18th century. Vocally, she is best described as a soprano, though later in her career her tessitura descended to that of a mezzo-soprano. First heard of professionally in Man ...

(Narciso),

Anastasia Robinson Anastasia Robinson ( – April 1755), later known as Anastasia, Countess of Peterborough, was an English soprano, later contralto, of the Baroque era. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in who ...

(Eco), Benedetto Baldassari (Cefalo), and

Ann Turner Robinson Ann Turner Robinson (née Turner; died 5 January 1741, London) was an English soprano of the 18th century. Life She was the youngest daughter of William Turner, a composer and countertenor who was a contemporary of Henry Purcell, and is best rem ...

(Procri). The Haymarket Theatre ''Narciso'' proved to be the last time one of Scarlatti's operas was performed in his lifetime. The discovery of a copy of the manuscript score in the library of

Friedrich Chrysander Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander (8 July 1826 – 3 September 1901) was a German music historian, critic and publisher, whose edition of the works of George Frideric Handel and authoritative writings on many other composers established him as a pion ...

led to several late 20th and early 21st century revivals. A version using the voices of opera singers but with the characters portrayed on stage by

marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

was produced in 2002 at the

Besançon International Music Festival The Besançon International Music Festival (french: Festival de musique de Besançon Franche-Comté) is one of the oldest festivals of classical music that takes place in the city of Besançon, northeastern France, over two weeks from around the mi ...

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

, Département des Arts du Spectacle
34. Narciso (2002; Houdart): marionnettes
Retrieved 23 February 2014

References

Notes Sources *Boyd, Malcolm (October 1985)
"Nova Scarlattiana"
''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

'', Vol. 126, No. 1712, pp. 589–593. Retrieved 23 February 2014 . *Capece, Carlo Sigismondo (1714)
''Amor d'un'ombra e Gelosia d'un'aura''
Antonio de' Rossi *Franchi, Saverio and Sartori, Orietta (1997)
''Drammaturgia romana''
Vol. 2. Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura. *Kirkpatrick, Ralph (1983)
''Domenico Scarlatti''
Princeton University Press. {{ISBN, 0691027080 1714 operas Italian-language operas Operas by Domenico Scarlatti Operas