![George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/George_Frideric_Handel_by_Balthasar_Denner.jpg)
''Terpsicore'' (
HWV)(
8b) is a
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
in the form of an
opéra-ballet by
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, ...
. Handel composed it in 1734 for a revision of his opera ''
Il pastor fido
''Il pastor fido'' (''The Faithfull Shepherd'' in Richard Fanshawe's 1647 English translation) is a pastoral tragicomedy set in Arcadia by Giovanni Battista Guarini, first published in 1590 in Venice.
Plot summary
To redress an ancient wrong ...
'' which had first been presented in 1712. The revision of ''Il pastor fido'' with ''Terpsicore'' as the prologue was first performed on 9 November 1734 at
Covent Garden theatre
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
in London, opening Handel's first season in that newly built theatre. ''Terpsicore'' mixes dance along with solo and choral singing and was patterned after models in French operas, a particular source being ''Les festes grecques et romaines'' by
Louis Fuzelier Louis Fuzelier (also ''Fuselier'', ''Fusellier'', ''Fusillier'', ''Fuzellier''; 1672 or 1674 and
Colin de Blamont Colin may refer to:
* Colin (given name)
* Colin (surname)
* ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie
* Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse
* Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...
, first presented in Paris in 1723. The work featured the celebrated French dancer
Marie Sallé
Marie Sallé (1707–1756) was a French dancer and choreographer in the 18th century known for her expressive, dramatic performances rather than a series of "leaps and frolics" typical of ballet of her time.
Biography
Marie Sallé was a promine ...
as well as stars of Handel's Italian operas and was a success with audiences of the day.
Performance history
''Il pastor fido'', a
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
opera first performed in 1712, had not been a success with audiences. This was probably due to the fact that it was lacking in the sort of spectacular scenic effects and larger than life emotions of Handel's then sensational previous opera ''
Rinaldo
Rinaldo may refer to:
*Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France
* Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...
'' .
[ As a result, in 1734, Handel radically revised ''Il Pastor Fido'' and presented the new version with a star role for celebrated castrato Carestini. This production ended Handel's 1733-34 season at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket. It eventually became so successful that Handel chose the piece a few months later to open his first season at his new artistic home, Covent Garden Theatre. A new prologue, ''Terpsichore'', was added to showcase the talents of internationally famous dancer, Marie Sallé. She later also appeared as a dancer in Handel's operas '' Alcina '' and '' Ariodante''.][
As with all Baroque ]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 ...
, ''Il Pastor Fido'' and its prologue ''Terpsicore'' went unperformed for many years, but that changed with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance from the 1960s. Today, ''Terpsicore'' receives performances at festivals and opera houses, whether as prologue to ''Il Pastor Fido'' or as an independent piece. Among other performances, ''Terpsicore'' was seen in a choreographed staging at the Manoel Theatre, Malta, and the Château de Versailles Spectacles, France, in 2013.
Roles
Synopsis
Erato, muse of lyric poetry, and her followers, call on Apollo, who descends from heaven with some of the Muses. They summon Terpiscore, who gives a demonstration of the power of dance, illustrating diverse emotions through use of movement. Solo singers and chorus join together to praise the virtuous deeds of wise men that are going to be celebrated in the ensuing opera.[
]
Context and analysis
The German-born Handel, after spending some of his early career composing operas and other pieces in Italy, settled in London, where in 1711 he had brought Italian opera for the first time with his opera ''Rinaldo
Rinaldo may refer to:
*Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France
* Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...
''. A tremendous success, ''Rinaldo'' created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. Handel had composed numerous Italian operas for London, with varying degrees of success; some were enormously popular. At the end of the 1734 season, the lease Handel had on the King's Theatre in the Haymarket expired and he found another base for his operatic activity in the new theatre built by John Rich
John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After d ...
in Covent Garden. ''Il Pastor Fido'', with the newly composed prologue ''Terpsichore'', opened his new season there. It is the only example of a Handel opera with a prologue, and is patterned on the similar extended prologues in the works of Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...
, blending operatic arias, choruses, and dancing.
The work opens with a chorus, followed by a bravura aria each for Apollo and Erato. Terpsicore demonstrates the power of dance in a series of contrasted dance movements, interspersed with duets and solos from the singers. The work concludes with vocal soloists, chorus and dancers joining in a praise of virtue and wisdom.[
''Terpsicore'' is scored for two recorders, two oboes, bassoon, two horns, strings, organ, ]theorbo
The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ou ...
and continuo (cello, theorbo, harpsichord).
Recording
Katalin Farkas, soprano, Derek Lee Ragin, counter-tenor, Capella Savaria
The Capella Savaria is a Hungarian ensemble that perform chamber music on original instruments (and instruments based on original designs).
Established in 1981, in Szombathely, they most often perform music from the 17th and 18th centuries, and h ...
, conductor Nicholas McGegan
James Nicholas McGegan OBE (born 14 January 1950 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England) is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert.
Biography
McGegan received his early education at Nottingham High School. He subs ...
. Recorded 1995.CD:Hungaroton
Hungaroton is the oldest record and music publisher company in Hungary.
Hungaroton was founded in 1951, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. Pre ...
Cat:31193
References
Notes
External links
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{{Authority control
Opéras-ballets
Operas by George Frideric Handel
Italian-language operas
Operas
1734 operas