(''Jupiter in Argos'', HWV A14) is an Italian

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 libr ...

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, ...

. It is one of Handel's three

pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, o ...

works made up of music and arias from his previous operas. 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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

was written by Antonio Maria Lucchini. The opera was first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London, on 1 May 1739.

History

The libretto by the Venetian poet Lucchini had been written for a setting by

Antonio Lotti Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was '' Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti ...

in Dresden in 1717. Handel might have heard Lotti's opera on his visit to Dresden in 1719, where the famous

Senesino Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel ...

sang the part of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

. Probably Handel took a copy of the text to England and remembered it in 1739 when he was looking for a libretto for a short ''

'' opera with three female characters in it. Handel brought several ''pasticci'' to the London stage. In most cases he adapted successful works of Italian composers for London, but he wrote three ''pasticci'' in which he re-used music from his own earlier works. They are the well known '' Oreste'', the little-known '' Alessandro Severo'' and the completely unknown ''Giove in Argo''. In the last-named opera he used, apart from music from his earlier works, some original compositions as well as two arias (sung by ''Iside'') written by the Italian composer

Francesco Araja Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 op ...

. The opera failed in London and was abandoned after only two performances.

Performance history

For many years most of ''Giove in Argo'' was thought to have been lost until some old manuscripts were discovered containing a considerable number of the missing arias. However, most of the recitatives from the original work remain missing. This discovery enabled musicologist and composer John H. Roberts to assemble a performable opera out of the material that was supplemented partly with his own music composed in the style of Handel. A published edition of this score is due soon by the ''Complete Works Edition,''. The first modern performance of ''Giove in Argo'' occurred on 15 September 2006 in Bayreuth in the 18th century Margravial Opera House in a complete and staged production by Concert Royal, Cologne and Collegium Cantorum Cologne, directed by Igor Folwill and conducted by Thomas Gebhardt. The United States premiere of the work took place on April 29, 2008, in a concert format presented at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

with conductor

Robert Bass Robert Muse Bass (born 19 March 1948) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman of Aerion Corporation, an American aerospace firm in Reno, Nevada. In 2018 he had a net worth of $5 billion. Bass has served o ...

, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and the

Collegiate Chorale MasterVoices (formerly the Collegiate Chorale) is a symphonic choir based in New York City, USA. It was founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw, who was later to found the professional Robert Shaw Chorale. MasterVoices continues to give several performance ...

. Rufus Müller sang Giove and

Elizabeth Futral Susan Elizabeth Futral (born September 27, 1963 in Johnston County, North Carolina) is an American coloratura soprano who has won acclaim (as both singer and actress) throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan. E ...

portrayed Calisto. The first UK performance since 1739 took place at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

, London, as part of the Handel Festival, on 23 March 2015, conducted by

Laurence Cummings Laurence Cummings (born 1968, Birmingham) is a British harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. He is currently music director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Biography Cummings was educated at Solihull School, Christ Church, Oxford and the Ro ...

Roles

Recordings

*''Giove in Argo'' (Tanya Aspelmeier, Theresa Nelles, Lisa Tjalve, Markus Auerbach, Benoit Haller; Concert Royal Köln, Kammerchor Würzburg; Conductor Thomas Gebhardt) CD 2007. Label: Musicaphon *''Giove in Argo'' (Ann Hallenberg, Karina Gauvin, Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani, Vito Priante, Theodora Baka, Johannes Weisser; Il Complesso Barocco; Conductor Alan Curtis) CD 2013. Label: Virgin Classics.

History

Performance history

Roles

Recordings

References

Further reading