''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. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

, first performed at the Teatrino della Corte,

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

, 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 Trea ...

and Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria. Gluck - Le feste d'Apollo - libretto, Parma 1769 - title page

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 sevente ...

'' (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 limest ...

'', 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'' (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'') 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 was based on Jean ...

'' and '' Iphigénie en Tauride''. 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 ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente 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. ...

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 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, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

. 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 in

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

'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 ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, intending to punish mankind for its wickedness. However, when he visits the countryside of Phrygia, 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 GsAndrew Benson-Wilson,
Gluck: Bauci e Filemone & Orfeo
', in "Andrew Benson-Wilson : Early Music Reviews +", 31 May 2019; Tim Hughes,
Live review: Bampton Classical Opera Philemon and Baucis (Gluck) and The Judgement of Paris (Arne)
', in "The Argus", 16 August 2016). The aria was written with la Bastardella's formidable voice in mind: while being in Parma the next year, barely trusting his own ears, Mozart reported he had heard her perform even a C an octave above high C ( Kathleen Kuzmick Hansell. "Aguiari gujari Lucrezia La Bastardina', 'La Bastardella', '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''). - higher than Mozart'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 A minor god in Greek mythology, attested mainly by Athenian writers, Aristaeus (; ''Aristaios'' (Aristaîos); lit. “Most Excellent, Most Useful”), was the culture hero credited with the discovery of many useful arts, including bee-keepin ...

taken from

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's ''

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

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

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

, the wife of

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

, 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. http://www.myword.it/opera/dictionary/804

''Orfeo''

This is a reworking of '' Orfeo ed Euridice'', which had first been performed in Vienna in 1762, with a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi.

Recording

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and European music of the 17th and 1 ...

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