''Castore e Polluce'' (''Castor and Pollux'') is an ''

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 ...

'' by Francesco Bianchi. The

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

was one translated by

Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni (21 November 1692 – 20 December 1768) was an Italian poet and librettist. As a poet Frugoni was one of the best of the school of the Arcadian Academy, and his lyrics and pastorals had great facility and elegance. His coll ...

, from

Pierre-Joseph Bernard Pierre-Joseph Bernard (26 August 1708 – 1 November 1775), called Gentil-Bernard by Voltaire for the measured grace of his discreetly erotic verses, was a French military man and salon poet with the reputation of a rake, the author of several l ...

's French text for Rameau's ''

Castor et Pollux ''Castor et Pollux'' (''Castor and Pollux'') is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard, ...

''. The opera was extravagantly in the French style. As Marita P. McClymonds explains, "Castore contains all the elements that had been purged from Italian serious opera before the turn of the century: gods appearing in machines, miraculous scene changes, arias without exit, much use of chorus, and an infernal scene in the underworld with dancing."

Performance history

The opera was first performed in four acts at the

Teatro della Pergola The Teatro della Pergola is an historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name. It was built in 1656 under the patronage of Cardinal Gian Carlo de' Med ...

in Florence on 10 January 1779. It was revised for a three-act version for the same theatre on 8 September 1779.

Roles

Synopsis

The immortal Polluce wishes to change places with his mortal (and dead) brother, Castore, so that the latter can rejoin his lover Telaira. This causes many complications, not least with Telaira's sister (and Polluce's lover) Febe. Giove ultimately reunites Polluce, Castore and Telaira in heaven.

References

{{Portal bar, Opera Opera seria Operas by Francesco Bianchi 1779 operas Italian-language operas Operas Operas based on classical mythology