''Le feste d'Apollo'' (''The Festivals of Apollo'') is an operatic work by

Christoph Willibald von 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 (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...

, first performed at the Teatrino della Corte,

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, Italy, on 24 August 1769 for the wedding celebrations of

Ferdinand, Duke of Parma Ferdinand I (''Ferdinando Maria Filippo Lodovico Sebastiano Francesco Giacomo''; 20 January 1751 – 9 October 1802) was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla from his father's death on 18 July 1765 until he ceded the duchy to France by the Tr ...

and

Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria Maria Amalia may refer to: * Maria Amalia of Courland (1653–1711), princess of Courland from the Ketteler family * Maria Amalia of Nassau-Dillenburg (1582–1635), royal of the House of Nassau * Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (1782–1866), Qu ...

. Styled a ''festa teatrale'', ''Le feste d'Apollo'' consists of a prologue and three self-contained acts on the model of French ''

opéra-ballet Opéra-ballet (; plural: ''opéras-ballets'') is a genre of French Baroque lyric theatre that was most popular during the 18th century, combining elements of opera and ballet, "that grew out of the '' ballets à entrées'' of the early seventeen ...

'' (the court of Parma was passionately interested in French culture). Gluck knew the Archduchess Maria Amalia well as she had sung in two of his operas, '' Il Parnaso confuso'' and ''

La corona La Corona is the name given by archaeologists to an ancient Maya court residence in Guatemala's Petén department that was discovered in 1996, and later identified as the long-sought "Site Q", the source of a long series of unprovenanced limes ...

'', in Vienna. The composer recycled a lot of music from his earlier operas in the score of ''Le feste''. In fact, the whole of the third act, ''Orfeo'', is a shorter reworking of his most famous piece, ''

Orfeo ed Euridice (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...

'' (1762). The overture to the prologue is taken from '' Telemaco''. Gluck later reused some of the choruses in two of the operas he wrote for Paris, ''

Iphigénie en Aulide ''Iphigénie en Aulide'' (''Iphigeneia in Aulis (ancient Greece), Aulis'') is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet ...

'' and ''

Iphigénie en Tauride ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck too ...

''. Gluck travelled to Parma to supervise rehearsals from February to April 1769. The wedding was delayed by the death of

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

and did not take place until 19 July. The celebrations, including the staging of ''Le feste'', followed in August.

The work

The prologue and three acts are as follows:

Prologue

The Italian

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...

is by Carlo Gastone della Torre di Rezzonico (1742-1796). A group of young Athenian men and women, led by Anfrisio and Arcinia, gather to celebrate the festival of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. The priest of Apollo reveals the god has sent him a vision which promises a flourishing future for the Duke of Parma and his bride.

''Bauci e Filemone''

The libretto, by Giuseppe Maria Pagnini (1737–1814), is based on the myth of

Baucis and Philemon Baucis and Philemon () are two characters from Greek mythology, only known to us from Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, which Ovid places in Phrygia, and the only ones in their t ...

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's ''Metamorphoses''. In Pagnini's version, Baucis and Philemon are not an old married couple but a pair of young lovers. The king of the gods, Jupiter, visits the world of mortals disguised as a traveller from

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, intending to punish mankind for its wickedness. However, when he visits the countryside of

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

, Baucis and Philemon warmly welcome him to their cottages. Jupiter reveals his true identity and officiates at the wedding of the couple. He tells them they will live together as priests in his temple and when they die they will become demi-gods and protectors of the region. Bauci's aria "Il mio pastor tu sei" in the third scene is notable for containing several top Gs - higher than

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's notoriously famous aria for the Queen of the Night.

''Aristeo''

The libretto, by Giuseppe Pezzana (1735–1802), is loosely based on the myth of

Aristaeus Aristaeus (; ''Aristaios'') was the mythological culture hero credited with the discovery of many rural useful arts and handicrafts, including bee-keeping; He was the son of the huntress Cyrene and Apollo. ''Aristaeus'' ("the best") was a cu ...

taken from

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek language, Greek word , ''geōrgiká'', i.e. "agricultural hings) the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from bei ...

'', Book Four. Aristaeus, the son of the nymph Cyrene, had been in love with

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several ...

, the wife of

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, but as he pursued her she had trodden on a snake and died from its venomous bite. To punish Aristaeus, the wood nymphs kill his bees and make him fall in love with the nymph Cydippe, who rejects his advances on the orders of Aristaeus's mother. Aristaeus visits Cyrene in despair and begs for her help. She tells him his sufferings are a result of what he has done to Orpheus and Eurydice and tells him to sacrifice to their shades and the wood nymphs. Aristaeus does so and the gods are appeased. New swarms of bees issue from the carcasses of bulls Aristaeus has slain and Cyrene gives Cydippe to Aristaeus in marriage. This act includes a bravura aria which Gluck had originally composed for ''Il Parnaso confuso''. This aria was later incorporated into Act 1 of ''Orphée et Euridice'', the 1774 Paris revision of ''Orfeo ed Euridice'', as "L'espoir renaît dans mon âme".

''Orfeo''

This is a reworking of ''

'', which had first been performed in Vienna in 1762, with a libretto by

Ranieri de' Calzabigi Ranieri de' Calzabigi (; 23 December 1714 – July 1795) was an Italian poet and librettist, most famous for his collaboration with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck on his "reform" operas. Born in Livorno, Calzabigi spent the 1750s in Paris, ...

Recording

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

and his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques recorded two of the acts (''Aristeo'' and ''Filemone e Bauci'') under the title ''Philémon et Baucis'' (Ambroisie, 2006)

References

;Notes ;Sources *Booklet notes to the Rousset recording * Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. *Pesqué, Emmanuelle and Jérôme
Fuller version of the booklet notes (in French)

External links

Libretto (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feste d'Apollo, Le Operas by Christoph Willibald Gluck Italian-language operas Operas 1769 operas Operas based on Metamorphoses