''Didone abbandonata '' (''Dido Abandoned'') was an opera in three acts composed by

Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...

. Albinoni's music (now lost) was set to

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Met ...

's libretto, ''

Didone abbandonata ''Didone abbandonata'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio. It was his first original work and was set to music by Domenico Sarro in 1724. The opera was accompanied by the intermezzo '' L'impresario delle Isole Canarie'', also ...

'', which was in turn based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from the fourth book of Virgil's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of th ...

''. The opera premiered on 26 December 1724 at the

Teatro San Cassiano The Teatro San Cassiano (or Teatro di San Cassiano and other variants) in Venice was the world’s first public opera theatre, inaugurated as such in 1637. The first mention of its construction dates back to 1581. The name with which it is best know ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and was the first time that an opera based on a Metastasio libretto was performed in Venice.

Background and performance history

Metastasio's libretto was first set by

Domenico Sarro Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri (24 December 1679 – 25 January 1744) was an Italian composer. Born in Trani, Apulia, he studied at the Neapolitan conservatory of S. Onofrio. He composed extensively in the early 18th century. His opera '' Di ...

, whose opera premiered at the

Teatro San Bartolomeo Theatres for diverse musical and dramatic presentations began to open in Naples, Italy, in the mid-16th century as part of the general Spanish cultural and political expansion into the kingdom of Naples, which had just become a vicerealm of Spain. ...

in Naples on 1 February 1724. However, for the libretto's presentation in Venice, Giovanni Orsato, the impresario of the

, commissioned his fellow Venetian, Tomaso Albinoni, to compose a completely new setting. According to the April 1725 edition of '' Mercure Galant'', Albinoni's version had a considerable success not only in Venice, but also in Florence and Milan. It was frequently revived over the next few years, including performances in

Crema Crema or Cremas may refer to: Crema * Crema, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the northern Italian province of Cremona * Crema (coffee), a thin layer of foam at the top of a cup of espresso * Crema (dairy product), the Spanish word for cream * ''Cremà ...

(1726), Breslau (1726),

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

(date unknown), Pesaro (1730),

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

(1731), and Ferrara (1733).The performances in Breslau, Linz and Prague were in German translation. Freeman (1992) pp. 137–138 The title role was sung in the premiere by

Marianna Bulgarelli Marianna Bulgarelli (c. 1684 – 26 February 1734), also known as Maria Anna Benti, was an Italian soprano of the 18th century. Bulgarelli was born and died in Rome; hence her nickname, "La Romanina." She is best remembered as an early patron ...

, famed for her talent as an actress. Bulgarelli was also the patron and mistress of the young Metastasio who was living in her home while he wrote ''Didone''. He intended it as a showcase for her, and according to contemporary accounts, Bulgarelli had considerable influence on the work, especially in shaping Dido's scenes of jealousy in act 2.Markstrom (2007) p. 146 Marianna Bulgarelli and her Aeneas,

Nicolò Grimaldi Nicolò Francesco Leonardo Grimaldi (5 April 1673 (bap) – 1 January 1732) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato who is best remembered today for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in two of whose early operas he sang ...

, reprised their roles on 10 May 1725 in Reggio Emilia for the premiere of

Nicola Porpora Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque music, Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli (castrato), Caffarel ...

's setting of the ''Didone'' libretto. Markstrom suggests that she was probably also present 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 ...

to coach the castrato "Farfallino" who sang the title role in

Leonardo Vinci Leonardo Vinci (1690 – 27 May 1730) was an Italian composer known chiefly for his 40 or so operas; comparatively little of his work in other genres survives. A central proponent of the Neapolitan School of opera, his influence on subsequ ...

's 1726 setting of the libretto. (The papal ban on female performers in Rome's theatres prevented Bulgarelli from singing the role of Dido herself).

Roles

Synopsis

:''Setting: Ancient

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

'' Dido (Didone), Queen of Carthage, is promised in marriage to King Iarbas (Iarba), but has fallen in love with the

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

warrior Aeneas (Enea), who had been shipwrecked on the shores of her city. Iarbas appears disguised as "Arbace" to warn Dido that Aeneas cannot become King of Carthage. Nevertheless, Dido refuses to marry Iarbas. Although Aeneas is now in love with Dido, he asks her sister Selene to tell her of his plans to leave Carthage for Italy. War then breaks out between Aeneas and Iarbas in which the Trojan is triumphant. After his victory, Dido convinces Aeneas to remain in Carthage and become her husband. But when the ghost of Aeneas' father reminds him of his duty to his people, Aeneas realises that he must abandon Dido. Heartbroken, she commits suicide by throwing herself on a funeral

pyre A pyre ( grc, πυρά; ''pyrá'', from , ''pyr'', "fire"), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the ...

as Aeneas and his men set sail for Italy.

Notes and references

Sources

* *Freeman, Daniel E.
''The opera theater of Count Franz Anton von Sporck in Prague''
Pendragon Press, 1992. *Giazotto, Remo
''Tomaso Albinoni''
Fratelli Bocca, 1945 *Markstrom, Kurt Sven
''The operas of Leonardo Vinci, Napoletano''
Pendragon Press, 2007. *Selfridge-Field, Eleanor
''A new chronology of Venetian opera and related genres, 1660–1760''
Stanford University Press, 2007. *Strohm, Reinhard
"The Neapolitans in Venice"
in Iain Fenlon and Tim Carter (eds.), ''Con che soavità: studies in Italian opera, song, and dance, 1580–1740'', Oxford University Press, 1995.

External links

{{authority control Operas by Tomaso Albinoni 1724 operas Italian-language operas Operas based on the Aeneid Operas Lost operas Phoenicia in fiction Cultural depictions of Dido