''Medonte, re di Epiro'' ("Medonte, King of
Epirus") 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 ...
'' in three acts by
Giuseppe Sarti. 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 by
Giovanni de Gamerra
Giovanni de Gamerra (26 December 1742 – 29 August 1803) was an Italian cleric, a playwright, and a poet. He is best known as a prolific librettist.
Gamerra was born in Livorno, and worked from 1771 at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan †...
for
Felice Alessandri
Felice Alessandri (24 November 1747 – 15 August 1798) was an Italian keyboardist and composer who was internationally active; working in Berlin, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Turin.Pratt, Waldo Selden. ''The History of Music''. New Yor ...
's opera ''Medonte, re d'Epiro'' (1774) and was later set by several other composers.
Performance history
It was first performed 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 8 September 1777. The opera was very successful in its time.
Roles
References
Further reading
*''Medonte, re di Epiro'' by Marita P. McClymonds, in ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed.
Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
(London, 1992)
External links
*
Operas
Italian-language operas
Opera seria
Operas by Giuseppe Sarti
1777 operas
Operas set in antiquity
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