''Il Medonte'' is an Italian

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

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 com ...

set to a libretto by

Giovanni de Gamerra Giovanni de Gamerra (26 December 1742 – 29 August 1803) was an Italian cleric, a playwright, and a poet. He is best known as a prolific librettist. Gamerra was born in Livorno, and worked from 1771 at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan � ...

. Like all of the composer's operas, it belongs to the serious genre in Italian 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 abou ...

Performance history

The opera was first performed at the

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 and inaugurated on 31 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 26 January 1780. It was a moderate success that redeemed the failure of the composer's ''

Armida Armida is the fictional character of a Saracen sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Description In Tasso's epic '' Jerusalem Delivered'' (), Rinaldo is a fierce and determined warrior who is also honorabl ...

'', which was a spectacular failure at Milan during the same carnival operatic season of 1780. In modern times, it was revived for performances in

Opava Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...

in 1961 and

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

in 2010. The most famous vocal piece from the opera is the

rondò Rondò () is a type of operatic vocal solo, popular in the late 18th century. The name identifies both a musical form and the type of materials used. History The rondò became the most fashionable showpiece aria type in Italian opera during the ...

"Luci belle, se piagente," which was widely disseminated in Europe until the early 19th century and was indeed one of the most outstanding vocal compositions of its era. It was originally sung by Tommaso Consoli in the role of Arsace. All of the original performers in the opera were male, since women were prohibited from appearing on stage in Roman theaters until

Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

was elevated to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

in the year 1800.

Roles

Vocal set pieces

Act I, scene 1 - Cavatina of Arsace, "Deh, s'affretti, astri tiranni"
Act I, scene 1 - Aria of Evandro, "Merta gli allori al crine"
Act I, scene 2 - Aria of Arsace, "Fra gli affanni"
Act I, scene 3 - Aria of Zelinda, "Ch'io presso del soglio"
Act I, scene 4 - Aria of Selena, "Ah, caro ben vicina"
Act I, scene 5 - Aria of Medonte, "Pensa che sol per poco"
Act I, scene 7 - Accompanied recitative for Selena and Arsace, "Tu parli di morire?"
Act I, scene 7 - Duet for Selena and Arsace, "Ah, se mi sei fedete" Act II, scene 1 - Aria of Talete, "Vedrò fier sempre in calma"
Act II, scene 3 - Aria of Zelinda, "Se vuoi dell'indegno"
Act II, scene 5 - Aria of Medonte, "Serba costante"
Act II, scene 7 - Accompanied recitative of Selena, "Dov'è, ah dov'è, son io"
Act II, scene 7 - Cavatina of Selena, "Adorata mia speranza"
Act II, scene 9 - Accompanied recitative of Arsace, "Cedere è forza, o cara"
Act II, scene 9 - Aria (Rondò) of Arsace, "Luci belle, se piangete"
Act II, scene 12 - Aria of Evandro, "Vedrai se un fido core"
Act II, scene 13 - Trio for Selena, Arsace, and Medonte, "Tremate empi" Act III, scene 2 - Aria of Medonte, "Perfidi io sciolgo il freno"
Act III, scene 3 - Aria of Arsace, "Scioglio cara un dolce riso"
Act III, scene 4 - Aria of Selena, "Mesti affanni"

Score

The complete score of ''Medonte'' is available for study online on the website gallica.bnf.fr in the form of a reproduction of the autograph manuscript housed in the collection of the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

Recording

*Myslivecek: ''Medonte'' Loriana Castellano (mezzo-soprano), Thomas Michael Allen (tenor), Juanita Lascarro (soprano), Ulrike Andersen (contralto), Susanne Bernhard (soprano), Stephanie Elliott (soprano). L'arte del mondo, :de:Werner Ehrhardt (Dirigent).

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (founded 1958) is a German classical music record label. It was founded by Rudolf Ruby and based in Freiburg, Breisgau. The company was acquired by BMG Music in 1992 and is now part of Sony Music Entertainment. Ruby had Alf ...

3CD, 2011.

References

* Freeman, Daniel E. ''Josef Mysliveček, "Il Boemo."'' Sterling Heights, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Medonte Italian-language operas Operas by Josef Mysliveček 1780 operas Opera seria Operas