is an opera by
Antonio Sacchini
Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas.
Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his musical education. He made a name for him ...
, set to a libretto by
Mattia Verazi. It was first performed in
Schloss Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. Th ...
on 11 February 1770 and the
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
s were set by French
choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
Louis Dauvigny Louis-Aimé d'Auvigny (about 1738, in Paris – after 1795, in Tulchyn,Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, ''Pamiętniki czasów moich'', Warszawa, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1957, v. I, p. 55. Poland, now Ukraine) was an 18th-century French dancer, balle ...
.
The opera follows the usual pattern of ''
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 ...
'' of the time: ''secco'' recitative interlaced with ''da capo''
aria
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
s. Within this format Sacchini introduced strong dramatic music to suit the libretto: ''stromentato'' recitative is also used for extra dramatic effect, and the arias are sometimes interrupted by bursts of recitative. Stylistically, the work is thought to anticipate Italian opera of the following decade, and in particular
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 (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
's ''
Il re pastore
' (''The Shepherd King'') is an opera, K. 208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Metastasio, edited by Giambattista Varesco. It is an opera seria. The opera was first performed on 23 April 1775 in Salzburg in the Ritte ...
''.
Roles
References
Italianopera, 12 February 2011*
* Marita P. McClymonds: "Calliroe", ''Grove Music Online'' ed L. Macy (Retrieved 3 June 2007)
grovemusic.com subscription access.
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Operas by Antonio Sacchini
Opera seria
Operas
Operas based on classical mythology
1770 operas