''Motezuma'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in three acts by

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 ...

set to a libretto by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi that is based on Spanish histories and chronicles about the Aztec ruler

Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ( – 29 June 1520; oteːkˈsoːmaḁ ʃoːkoˈjoːt͡sĩn̥), nci-IPA, Motēuczōmah Xōcoyōtzin, moteːkʷˈsoːma ʃoːkoˈjoːtsin variant spellings include Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecu ...

. This opera (and all the rest of Mysliveček's operas) belong to the serious type in Italian language referred to as ''

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 ...

''.

Performance history

The opera 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 ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

on 23 January 1771. It was the second of the composer's three operas produced in Florence, in this case at a time of intense activity as a composer in the city. The chronological setting of the opera in the early sixteenth century was unusually late for its day, when serious operas in Italian were typically set in ancient times, and rarely in a time period later than the European

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The libretto was first set for a lavish production in 1765 at the Teatro Regio in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

with music by

Gian Francesco de Majo Gian Francesco de Majo (24 March 1732 – 17 November 1770) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his more than 20 operas. He also composed a considerable amount of sacred works, including oratorios, cantatas, and masses. Life and ca ...

. It is unlikely that the Florence production was equally sumptuous, and the cast was not particularly distinguished, although it was an interesting one for the dominance of male singers (it was generally only in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where women were forbidden to appear on stage, that casts would feature so many male singers). ''Motezuma'' was the first of the composer's operas to be revived in modern times (for a performance in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 1931). It was likely the exotic setting and the availability of a score of the opera in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

that made it so attractive for revival at that time, perhaps as a response to a trend in German-speaking lands in the 1920s to revive works by pre-Romantic German composers such as

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

. A revival in

Znojmo Znojmo (; german: Znaim) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian R ...

took place in summer 2011.

Roles

Vocal set pieces

Act I, scene 2 - Accompanied recitative for Motezuma, "Dove son? Che m'avvene?," with cavatina, "Ah, numi tiranni"
Act I, scene 2 - Aria of Lisinga, "So che non cangio stato"
Act I, scene 3 - Aria of Motezuma, "Cara fiamma del mio seno"
Act I, scene 4 - Aria of Guacozinga, "Nel mar di tanti affanni"
Act I, scene 6 - Aria of Cortes, "Rammenta al tuo sovrano"
Act I, scene 9 - Aria of Teutile, "Di fieri sdegni armato"
Act I, scene 11 - Aria of Guacozinga, "Ah no, arresta, o caro"
Act I, scene 12 - Aria of Motezuma, "A morir se mi condanna" Act II, scene 2 - Aria of Cortes, "A mio danno in vano"
Act II, scene 4 - Aria of Lisinga, "Mi scordo lo scempio"
Act II, scene 5 - Aria of Pilpatoe, "Pensa che dell'impero"
Act II, scene 7 - Aria of Motezuma, "Cara che torna in pace"
Act II, scene 8 - Aria of Guacozinga, "Frena l'insano orgoglio"
Act II, scene 10 - Aria of Teutile, "Scherza il nocchier"
Act II, scene 13 - Aria of Cortes, "Perche ogn'ombra ti parta dal core"
Act II, scene 14 - Duet for Guacozinga and Motezuma, "Ah, se mi sei fedele" Act III, scene 3 - Aria of Teutile, "Non lasci le sponde"
Act III, scene 4 - Aria of Lisinga, "M'ingombra d'orrore"
Act III, scene 9 - Aria of Cortes, "Basta il mio brando solo"
Act III, scene 10 - Aria of Motezuma, "Vorrebbe il core sperar la calma"
Act III, scene 11 - Accompanied recitative for Guacozinga, "Eccomi sola al fine"
Act III, scene 11 - Aria of Guacozinga, "Ombre dolenti"

Recordings

The only complete video recording was made in 2011 in Znojmo. The video is officially available in the full length and HD quality with the Czech subtitles for free
Josef Mysliveček - Motezuma - HD
Motezuma's aria "Cara che torna in pace" is available in an anthology recorded by the Czech soprano Zdena Kloubová. The recording is Panton 81 1044-2231 (1992) with the Benda Chamber Orchestra, Miroslav Hrdlička, conductor. The overture to Mysliveček's ''Motezuma'' is included in a collection of symphonies and overtures by the composer recorded by the L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg, conductor, CPO 777-050 (2004).

References

* Freeman, Daniel E. ''Josef Mysliveček, "Il Boemo."'' Sterling Heights, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Motezuma Italian-language operas Operas by Josef Mysliveček 1771 operas Opera seria Operas Operas set in Mexico Aztecs in fiction