''Solimano'' is an opera in three acts composed by

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

to an Italian-language libretto by

Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca ( 1718 – c. 1795) was an Italian poet and librettist. A student and protégé of Metastasio, he was primarily active in the court theaters of Dresden and Vienna. His most successful work was the libretto for the ope ...

. Loosely based on an episode in the life of Suleiman the Magnificent, the opera premiered on 5 February 1753 at the

Opernhaus am Zwinger The (Opera house at the Zwinger) was a theatre in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, opened in 1719. The architect of the Zwinger, Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, was also responsible for the opera house situated next to its south-western pavilion. The build ...

in Dresden. The lavish premiere production was designed by

Giuseppe Galli Bibiena Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (5 January 1696 - 12 March 1757),"Galli-Bibiena, Giuseppe" (dates, with Friedrich the Great), ''Encyclopedia of Austria'', 2006, aeiou-Austria webpage: aeiou-FerdinandoGBibiena. Italian designer, became the most distingu ...

and featured

Angelo Amorevoli Angelo Maria Amorevoli (16 September 1716 – 15 November 1798) was a leading Italian tenor in Baroque opera. Biography Angelo Amorevoli began singing in opera seria when he was just thirteen: in 1729 he sang in revivals of the musical drama ...

in the title role.

Background

Hasse was a favorite of Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria and composed multiple operas for her court in Dresden, beginning with ''La Spartana generosa'' performed in 1747 to celebrate her betrothal to

Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony Frederick Christian (german: Friedrich Christian; 5 September 1722 – 17 December 1763) was the Prince-Elector of Saxony for fewer than three months in 1763. He was a member of the House of Wettin. He was the third but eldest surviving son of ...

. His librettist for ''Solimano'', Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca, was a student and protégé of Metastasio. Migliavacca's libretto was loosely based on the early 17th-century

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

''Il Solimano'' by Prospero Bonarelli, which in turn was loosely based on an episode in the life of Suleiman the Magnificent who had his eldest son Mustafa killed as a traitor. In the opera Mustafa's name is changed to "Selim" while his younger half-brother and rival Cihangir becomes "Osmino". Roxelana, Suleiman's consort and Osmino (Cihangir)'s mother, was a central character in Bonarelli's play, but she is only alluded to in the opera. Migliavacca also changed the tragic ending. In the opera Suleiman recognizes his folly in believing Selim (Mustafa) to be a traitor and spares his life. The two brothers are reconciled and marry the Persian princesses Narsea and Emira with whom they had fallen in love.Wolff, Larry (2016)
''The Singing Turk: Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on the European Stage from the Siege of Vienna to the Age of Napoleon''
pp. 79–107. Stanford University Press.

Performance history

''Solimano'' premiered on 5 February 1753 at the

. The production designed by

with costumes by Francesco Ponte was a lavish spectacle with real horses, camels and elephants on stage and hundreds of extras in addition to the seven main singers and the chorus of soldiers. The final scene, a brilliantly lit Turkish camp at night, had ships sailing on the

River Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empti ...

with the

hanging gardens of Babylon The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World listed by Hellenic culture. They were described as a remarkable feat of engineering with an ascending series of tiered gardens containing a wide variety of tre ...

in the distance. The opera ran for twelve performances, and according to contemporary accounts, the ladies of the Dresden Court paid the

Swiss Guards Swiss Guards (french: Gardes Suisses; german: Schweizergarde; it, Guardie Svizzere'')'' are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. The earliest Swiss guard unit to be established on a p ...

to hold their places in the opera house so they revisit the most spectacular scenes on each evening it was performed. Hasse revised the score when ''Solimano'' was revived at the Opernhaus am Zwinger in January 1754. ''Solimano'' proved to be Migliavacca's most successful libretto and was subsequently set by several other composers, including Fischietti (1755), Pescetti (1756), Perez (1757), and

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 ...

(1760). The opera received its first performance in modern times on 16 August 1997 at the

Innsbruck Festival of Early Music The Innsbruck Festival of Early Music (German: Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik) is a festival of historically informed performances of music from the late Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods which takes place annually in ...

in a production conducted by René Jacobs and directed by

Georg Quander Georg Quander (born 29 November 1950) is a German opera and film director, music journalist, writer and culture manager. From 1991 to 2002, he was artistic director of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. From 2005 to 2013, he was councillor for arts ...

Thomas Randle Thomas Randle (born 7 April 1996) is an Australian racing driver. He currently races in the Supercars Championship for Tickford Racing in the No. 55 Ford Mustang GT. Randle has also won the 2014 Australian Formula Ford Series, 2017 Toyota Racing ...

sang the title role with

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

Iris Vermillion Iris Vermillion (born 1960) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. A member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1988, she has enjoyed an international career, appearing in Amsterdam with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and at the Salzburg Festival, among others. ...

as Selim. A recording of the performance was broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

the following December.

Archives
''Solimano''
. Retrieved 1 December 2016. In February 1999 Jacobs conducted the same production at the

Berlin Staatsoper The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

to mark the tricentennial of Hasse's birth. On that occasion Thomas Randle reprised the title role while Vivica Genaux sang the role of Selim. In his review of the Berlin performance critic George Loomis wrote: "Hasse's arias emerged as not just musical pleasantries, but also vital studies in character. Intense rhythmic energy conveys Solimano's volatile nature, soothing melodic pathos defines his wrongly accused son, Selim."

Roles

Recordings

There are no complete commercial recordings of ''Solimano''. However Selim's Act 2 aria "Fra quest'ombre" sung by Vivica Genaux can be heard on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

's ''Baroque Divas'' and one of the sinfonias from the opera transcribed for lute can be heard on the Oehms Classics recording ''Opera for Lute''. The Act 1 triumph scene ("Marcia alla Turca" and the soldiers' chorus "Viva il prode, viva il forte") appears on Phoenix Edition's ''1001 Nights: Breezes From The Orient'' performed by the Berlin Radio Orchestra and Choir.; ;

Notes

References

External links

* * Bonarelli, Prospero (1620)
''Il Solimano''
Stamperia di Pietro Cecconcelli (the source of the opera's libretto with illustrations by Jacques Callot) {{Authority control 1753 operas Operas by Johann Adolf Hasse Italian-language operas Operas