''Antigono'' is a three act opera seria composed by

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

. It premiered February 9, 1756, at the

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and Theater (structure), theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 an ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The Italian libretto was written by

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

, who was considered to be the most important opera seria librettist. ''Antigono'' was the only opera that Gluck ever premiered in Rome. This allowed him to reuse several arias and an entire introduction from some of his other operas, '' L'innocenza giustificata'', ''

Le cinesi ''Le cinesi'' (''The Chinese Women'') is an opera in one act, with music composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck. The Italian-language libretto was by Pietro Metastasio, and he described it as a ''componimento drammatico''. This libretto had fir ...

'', and ''

La danza "La danza" (Dance) (1835) is a patter song by Gioachino Rossini, in Tarantella napoletana time, the eighth song of the collection ''Les soirées musicales'' (1830–1835). The lyrics are by Count Carlo Pepoli (:it:Carlo Pepoli, it), librettist of ...

''. Gluck came to Rome from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

after Christmas in 1755. He worked quickly, since ''Antigono'' premiered only two months later. The premier of the opera was sold out and the audience seemed to have enjoyed it; several arias and a duet were encored at the end of the show. After the premier of the opera,

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758.Antipope ...

awarded Gluck with the title of Cavalier of the

Order of the Golden Spur The Order of the Golden Spur ( it, Ordine dello Speron d'Oro, french: Ordre de l'Éperon d'or), officially known also as the Order of the Golden Militia ( la, Ordo Militia Aurata, it, Milizia Aurata), is a papal order of knighthood conferre ...

. This was an important honor for Gluck, which

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

had received previously. During Gluck's time in Rome, he was under the protection of

Cardinal Albani Alessandro Albani (15 October 1692 – 11 December 1779) was a Roman Catholic cardinal, but should be best remembered as a leading collector of antiquities, dealer and art patron in Rome. He supported the art historian, Johann Joachim Winckelmann ...

. Because the authorities in Rome had strict rules against women performing on the stage, the entire cast of ''Antigono'' was made up of men, including

castrati A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...

. The opera was written for four sopranos, one contralto, and one tenor, who played the protagonist Antigono.

Plot

The Macedonian King Antigono and his banished son Demetrio are both loved by the Egyptian princess Berenice. Antigono's daughter, Ismene, loves Alessandro, who is the enemy of Macedonia. The opera portrays a violent struggle between Antigono and Alessandro. Typical for

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...

plots, identities and the emotional relations between the characters become confused. Everything is resolved through the forgiveness of King Antigono, and the opera seria ends happily.

Characters

Antigono (King of Macedonia) –

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Berenice (Egyptian Princess) –

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...

travesti Travesti may refer to: * Travesti (gender identity), a transgender identity in South America * Travesti (theatre), a performance while wearing clothes of the opposite sex * "Travesti", a section of Arca's 2020 single "@@@@@" See also

* Tr ...

Demetrio (Son of Antigono) – soprano castrato Ismene (Daughter of Antigono) – soprano castrato travesti Alessandro (Enemy of Macedonia) – soprano castrato Clearco (Officer to Alessandro) –

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

castrato

Productions

Ensemble Serse gave the modern day premiere of ''Antigono'' on 25 April 2015 in an uncut edition performed on period instruments. The cast was: Antigono – Simon Gfeller (tenor); Berenice – Calvin Wells (male soprano); Demetrio – Milena Dobrzycka (soprano); Alessandro – Michael Taylor (counter-tenor); Ismene – Jorg Delfos (counter-tenor); Clearco – Tom Verney (counter-tenor) Musical director – Greg Batsleer

Sources

*Holden, Amanda ''The Viking Opera Guide'' (Viking, 1993), page 373. 1756 operas Italian-language operas Operas by Christoph Willibald Gluck Operas {{Italian-opera-stub