Title page of the libretto for Gasparini’s Bajazet 01

''Bajazet'' () is an opera by

Francesco Gasparini Francesco Gasparini (19 March 1661 – 22 March 1727) was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher whose works were performed throughout Italy, and also on occasion in Germany and England. Biography Born in Camaiore, near Lucca, he studied in ...

, a revision of his 1711 work ''

Tamerlano ''Tamerlano'' ( Tamerlane, HWV 18) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Agostin Piovene's ''Tamerlano'' together with another libretto entitled ''Bajazet'' a ...

''. It was first performed at the Teatro Pubblico in Reggio Emilia in 1719, with designs by Pietro Righini. The first production included

Francesco Borosini Francesco Borosini (1695 – after 1747) was an Italian opera singer. Although usually described as a tenor, he had an extraordinarily wide vocal range spanning bass to tenor. He was known not only for the quality of his singing but for his ski ...

in the title role,

Antonio Bernacchi Antonio Maria Bernacchi (23 June 1685 – 1 March 1756) was an Italian castrato, composer, and teacher of singing. He studied with Francesco Antonio Pistocchi. His pupils included Farinelli, for a brief period during 1727, and the tenor Anton Ra ...

(Tamerlano), Marina Benta Bulgarelli (Asteria),

Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. In Hamburg, Germany, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to her husband and partly to Bordoni. Early career She was born in Venice and brought up unde ...

(Irene), Diana Vico (Andronico), Antonio Piasi (Clearco), Battista Roberti (Leone) and Girolamo Bartoluzzi Regiano (Zaida). A second production was staged in Venice in 1723. Three versions of the work are known, but it is only the 1719 one for which all the music is known to have survived.

Composition

''Bajazet'' was a nearly complete rewrite of ''Tamerlano'' - there are only six arias in common between them. The rewriting was prompted by the need to rework the material around the renowned tenor Francesco Borosini. The original libretto by Agostino Piovene was extensively rewritten by Ippolito Zanelli - the role of Bajazet was expanded and made central to the new work, with his suicide now shown on stage rather than merely described. The number of parts and the distribution of arias also changed significantly between ''Tamerlano'' and ''Bajazet''. Musically the focus of ''Tamerlano'' was Asteria, who had 9 arias, with only 6 for Bajazet and 5 for Tamerlano. The parts in ''Bajazet'' are more evenly balanced, and the minor characters were rewritten and given more arias to sing.

Rolex

Influence

When Borosini went to London in 1724, he brought with him the score for ''Bajazet'' and showed it to George Frideric Handel. Handel had already written his own opera ''

'' on the basis of the 1711 Piovene libretto, simplifying it by eliminating all the secondary characters except Leone. However when Borosini showed him the score for ''Bajazet'' he rewrote his own material again, adding in a death scene for Borosini in the title role. The libretto Handel eventually used was written for him by

Nicola Francesco Haym Nicola Francesco Haym (6 July 1678 – 31 July 1729) was an Italian opera librettist, composer, theatre manager and performer, literary editor and numismatist. He is best remembered for adapting texts into libretti for the London operas of Georg ...

and amalgamated elements from Gasparini’s libretto from both 1711 and 1719. Handel also cut much of the recitative in Gasparini’s version, as was his usual practice.

Modern revival

Gasparini’s 1719 score may have been performed once of twice after the Reggio Emilia production, but the work was then neglected until 2014, when it was revived by

Auser Musici Auser Musici is a period instrument ensemble centered in Pisa that specializes in early music repertory from the Tuscan region of Italy. History, Mission, and Activities The ensemble was founded in 1997 by the flautist Carlo Ipata and has perform ...

and performed at the

Opera Barga Festival The Opera Barga Festival is an annual opera festival held in July in the town of Barga, Italy, founded in 1967 by Peter Hunt and Gillian Armitage together with Peter Gellhorn as musical director and Lorenzo Malfatti, head of didactics. Its performa ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Scanned versions of the libretto for the first production
18th-century operas Italian Baroque 1719 in music Operas by Francesco Gasparini