L'Olimpiade 1733 Metastasio - (h71JAAAAcAAJ) GB - Title page

''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera

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 ...

in three acts by Metastasio originally written for an operatic setting by Antonio Caldara of 1733. Metastasio’s plot vaguely draws upon the narrative of "The Trial of the Suitors" provided from Book 6 of '' The Histories'' of Herodotus, which had previously been the base for

Apostolo Zeno Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 in Venice – 11 November 1750 in Venice) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Early life Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a colonial branch of the Zeno family, an ancient Venet ...

's libretto ''Gli inganni felici'' (1695). The story, set in Ancient Greece at the time of the Olympic Games, is about amorous rivalry and characters' taking places to gain the loved one. The story ends with the announcement of two marriages.

Background

Metastasio, as Imperial court poet at the court of Vienna, was requested to write the libretto to help celebrate the birthday of Empress Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1733. The court composer Caldara was assigned to compose the music. The libretto attracted attention immediately and productions were soon mounted across Europe. Metastasio himself commented to

Saverio Mattei Saverio is a given name of Italian origin. It is a cognate of Xavier and Javier, both of which originate from ''Xabier'', the Basque name for the Spanish town Javier. ''Xabier'' is itself the romanization of ''etxe berri'' meaning "new house" or "n ...

that ''L’Olimpiade'' had been "performed and repeated in all the theatres of Europe". Indeed, it ranks with Metastasio's ''

Demofoonte ''Demofonte'' (also ''Demofoonte''; ''Il Demofoonte''; ''Demofoonte, ré di Tracia'' ing of Thrace ''Démophon''; ''Demophontes''; or ''Dirce, L'usurpatore innocente'' irce, the Innocent Usurper is an opera seria libretto by Metastasio. The lib ...

'' and ''

Didone abbandonata ''Didone abbandonata'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio. It was his first original work and was set to music by Domenico Sarro in 1724. The opera was accompanied by the intermezzo '' L'impresario delle Isole Canarie'', also ...

'', which were excelled in popularity only by '' Artaserse'' and ''

Alessandro nell'Indie ''Alessandro nelle Indie'' (''Alexander in India'') is an opera seria in two acts by Giovanni Pacini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola and Giovanni Schmidt, based on '' Alessandro nell'Indie'' by Pietro Metastasio. It was premiered at the Te ...

''. The popularity of ''L’Olimpiade'' may subsequently have prompted Metastasio’s ''

La Nitteti ''La Nitteti'' is an 18th-century Italian opera in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It was composed to a libretto by the Italian poet Metastasio that was first performed in 1756, one of the newer (and less popular) of the Metast ...

'', a twin drama in several respects.

Synopsis

:Place: Ancient Greece :Time: During the Olympic Games

Act 1

Megacles arrives in Sicyon just in time to enter the Olympic Games under the name of Lycidas, a friend who once saved his life. Unknown to Megacles, Lycidas is in love with Aristaea, whose hand is to be offered to the winner of the games by her father, King Cleisthenes. Lycidas, once betrothed to Princess Argene of Crete, is unaware that Megacles and Aristaea already love each other, and he subsequently tells his friend of the prize. Aristaea and Megacles greet each other fondly, but Megacles now feels bound by his promise to compete as Lycidas. Meanwhile, Argene arrives in Olympia disguised as a shepherdess, to win back Lycidas.

Act 2

Megacles wins the games, confesses the truth to Aristaea and departs, broken-hearted. When Lycidas comes to claim her, Aristaea reproaches him, as does the disguised Argene, much to his dismay. Amyntas, tutor to Lycidas, reports that Megacles has drowned himself, and King Cleisthenes, apprised of the deception, banishes Lycidas.

Act 3

Argene prevents the desperate Aristaea from suicide, Megacles is rescued by a fisherman, and Lycidas contemplates the assassination of the king. Aristaea pleads mercy for Lycidas and Argene offers herself in his place; as proof that she is a princess, she shows Cleisthenes a chain given her by Lycidas. He recognizes it as belonging to his son, abandoned in infancy to forestall the prophecy that he would kill his father. Lycidas, reinstated, accepts Argene, leaving his sister to Megacles.

Other settings of the libretto

More than 60

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and classical

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s used the libretto for their own settings. The first composer to reuse the libretto was

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

in Venice in 1734. This was followed by

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...

's famous version in 1735. Although Pergolesi’s initial setting for Rome was not immediately successful, the number of subsequent stagings and extant manuscripts have particularly associated his name with this drama. In 1748

Baldassare Galuppi Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C. ...

’s version premiered to resounding success in Milan and the opera is now regarded as his most successful

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 ...

. In 1765 Thomas Arne, who "still nursed the hope of achieving success in Italian opera", persuaded the directors of

The King's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

in London to produce his own setting of the opera, which turned out however to be a complete failure. The libretto was also the source for one of

Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant comp ...

's finest dramatic works (1778, Naples).A detailed comparison of Mysliveček's popular aria "Se cerca, se dice" with settings by other 18th-century composers is provided in Daniel E. Freeman, "Mysliveček's Setting of the Aria 'Se cerca, se dice' from Metastasio's ''L'Olimpiade''," in ''Il ciel non soffre inganni: Attorno al Demetrio di Mysliveček, 'Il Boemo','' edited by Mariateresa Dellaborra (Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2011), 113-36. and a popular success for Antonio Sacchini in Padua 1763.

Johann Nepomuk Poissl Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

's '' Der Wettkampf zu Olympia, oder Die Freunde'' (1815) was the first German-language setting and his version enjoyed occasional revivals during the nineteenth century.

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 ...

set Cleisthenes' last aria twice, first for

Aloysia Weber ''Aloysia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are known generally as beebrushes.

(KV. 294) and latter for a subscription concert by Ludwig Fischer (K 512). Beethoven set the duet "Ne' giorni tuoi felici" for tenor, soprano and orchestra in 1802 – 1803 (WoO 93).

List of notable settings

The following is a list of the most notable operas that subsequently utilized Metastasio's libretto in chronological order of first performance: * Antonio Caldara, ''L'Olimpiade'', Vienna, 1733 *

, '' L'Olimpiade'',

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Teatro Sant'Angelo The Teatro San Angelo (in Venetian dialect) or Teatro Sant' Angelo (in Italian) was once a theatre in Venice which ran from 1677 until 1803. It was the last of the major Venetian theatres to be built in the 1650s–60s opera craze following Teat ...

, 1734 *

, '' L'Olimpiade'', Rome, 1735 * Leonardo Leo, ''L'Olimpiade'', Naples, 1737 *

, ''L'Olimpiade'', Milan, 1748 *

Davide Perez Davide Perez (1711 – 30 October 1778) was an Italian opera composer born in Naples of Italian parents, and later resident court composer at Lisbon from 1752. He staged three operas on librettos of Metastasio at Lisbon with huge success in 1753 ...

, ''L'Olimpiade'',

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, 1753 * Johann Adolf Hasse, ''L'Olimpiade'', Dresden, 1756 * Tommaso Traetta, ''L'Olimpiade'', Verona, 1758 *

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

, ''L'Olimpiade'',

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, 1761 * Niccolò Piccinni, ''L'Olimpiade'', Rome, 1761 *

Vincenzo Manfredini Vincenzo Manfredini (22 October 1737 – 5 or 16 August 1799) was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and a music theorist. Biography Manfredini was born in Pistoia, near Florence. He studied music with his father, Francesco Onofrio Manfre ...

, ''L'Olimpiade'', Moscow, 1762 * Antonio Sacchini, ''L'Olimpiade'', Padua, 1763 *

Florian Leopold Gassmann Florian Leopold Gassmann (3 May 1729 – 21 January 1774) was a German-speaking Bohemian opera composer of the transitional period between the baroque and classical eras. He was one of the principal composers of '' dramma giocoso'' immed ...

, ''L'Olimpiade'', Vienna, 1764 * Thomas Arne, ''L'Olimpiade'', London, 1765 * Giuseppe Sarti, ''L'Olimpiade'', Florence, 1778 *

, '' L'Olimpiade'', Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 4 November 1778 *

Luigi Cherubini Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...

, ''L'Olimpiade'',

, 1783 * Domenico Cimarosa, ''L'Olimpiade'', Vicenza, 10 July 1784 * Giovanni Paisiello, ''L'Olimpiade'', Naples, Teatro San Carlo, 20 January 1786 * Johann Friedrich Reichardt, ''L’olimpiade'', Berlin, Kgl, 2 Oct 1791 *

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, ''Olimpiade'', (1817, incomplete)

Recordings

* Vivaldi: ''

L'Olimpiade (Vivaldi) ''L'Olimpiade'' (''The Olympiad'', RV 725) is a dramma per musica in three acts that was composed by Antonio Vivaldi. The opera uses an Italian libretto by Pietro Metastasio that was originally written for Antonio Caldara's 1733 opera of the same ...

'', recording on CD -

Rinaldo Alessandrini Rinaldo Alessandrini (born 25 January 1960) is a virtuoso on Baroque keyboards, including harpsichord, fortepiano, and organ. He is founder and conductor of the Italian early music ensemble Concerto Italiano, performing music of Monteverdi, Vivaldi ...

(Conductor) -

Concerto Italiano Concerto Italiano is an Italian early music ensemble well known for their interpretations of Monteverdi and Vivaldi, among others. The historically informed performance ensemble was formed by the harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, and made its ...

- Cast:

Sara Mingardo Sara Mingardo (born 2 March 1961) is an Italian classical contralto who has had an active international career in concerts and operas since the 1980s. Her complete recording of Anna in Hector Berlioz's ''Les Troyens'' won a Gramophone Award and bo ...

(Licida),

Roberta Invernizzi Roberta Invernizzi (born 1966, in Milan) is an Italian soprano. She originally studied piano and double bass before turning to singing. She specialises in early music from the baroque and classical period of music. She has sung in many operas ...

(Megacle),

Sonia Prina Sonia Prina (born 30 November 1975) is an Italian operatic contralto who has had an active career in concerts and operas since the mid-1990s. She is particularly known for her appearances in Baroque operas and for her performances of the Baroque c ...

(Aristea), Marianna Kulikova (Argene),

Laura Giordano Laura Giordano (born 9 June 1979 in Palermo, Italy) is an Italian lyric soprano. Life and career Born in Palermo, Laura Giordano made her operatic debut at a very young age in ''Noye's Fludde'' by Britten. She went on to sing in numerous opera h ...

(Aminta), Riccardo Novaro (Clistene), Sergio Foresti (Alcandro) - Naïve Records, Vivaldi Edition *

Pergolesi Pergolesi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, (1710–1736), Italian composer, violinist, and organist * Michael Angelo Pergolesi, 18th-century Italian decorative artist {{Surname Italian-langu ...

: ''

L'Olimpiade (Pergolesi) ''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera in the form of a dramma per musica in three acts by the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Pergolesi took the text, with a few modifications, from the L'Olimpiade, libretto of the same name by Pietro Metastas ...

'', video recording – 2011 Teatro Valeria Moriconi,

Iesi Jesi, also spelled Iesi (), is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Ancona in Marche, Italy. It is an important industrial and artistic center in the floodplain on the left (north) bank of the Esino river before its mouth on the Adriatic ...

– Alessandro De Marchi (Conductor),

Academia Montis Regalis The Fondazione Academia Montis Regalis is an Italian cultural foundation promoting baroque and classical orchestral training based in the town of Mondovì since 1992. In 1994 it was recognised as a non-profit organisation A nonprofit organiz ...

, Mondavi; Italo Nunziata (stage director) – Cast:

Raúl Giménez Raúl Giménez (born September 14, 1950), is an Argentine operatic tenor, particularly associated with the Italian bel canto vocal style. Giménez was born in Carlos Pellegrini, Province of Santa Fe, Argentina. He studied at the Music Conservato ...

(Clistene), Lyubov Petrova (Aristea), Yetzabel Arias Fernández (Argene), Jennifer Rivera (Licida), Sofia Soloviy (Megacie), Antonio Lozano (Aminta), Milena Storti (Alcandro) – Arthaus Musik Cat. 101 650 (DVD) *

Galuppi Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.&nb ...

: ''

L'Olimpiade (Galuppi) ''For Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's L'Olimpiade, see L'Olimpiade (Pergolesi)'' ''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera in three acts by Baldassare Galuppi in the opera seria style, based on the original libretto of L'Olimpiade, the same name by Pietro Metasta ...

'', premiere recording on video DVD - 2006 Teatro Malibran, Venice - Andrea Marcon (Conductor), Venice Baroque Orchestra, Dominique Poulange (stage director) - Cast: Mark Tucker, Ruth Rosique, Roberta Invernizzi, Romina Basso - Dynamic Cat. 33545

References

Notes Sources *George Loomis, "Metastatio's Olympians", ''Opera'' (London), Vol. 63, No. 5, May 2012, pp. 541–545.

External links

1733 libretto
at Google Books
Synopsis at The Aris Christoffelis Voice Page1784 libretto (Cimarosa version)
at Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Olimpiade Libretti by Metastasio 1733 operas Ancient Olympic Games Olympic Games in fiction Operas set in ancient Greece Operas by Antonio Caldara