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Antigono; Christoph Willibald Glück
editChristoph Willibald Gluck’s three act opera seria, Antigono, was premiered February 9th, 1756 at the Teatro di Torre Argentina in Rome, Italy.[1] The Italian libretto was written by Pietro Metastasio who was considered to be the most important opera seria librettist. Antigono was the only opera that Gluck ever premiered in Rome. Since Gluck had never premiered an opera in Rome he was able to reuse several arias and an entire introduction from some of his other shows. He pulled these from his other operas L’innocenza Giustificata, L’cinesi, and La Danza.[2]
Gluck came from Vienna to Rome after Christmas in 1755. This seemed like quite a short amount of time since Antigono premiered only two months later. The premier of the opera was sold out and the audience seemed to really enjoy it.[2] Several arias and a duet were encored at the end of the show. After the premier of the opera, Pope Benedict XV awarded Gluck with the title of Cavalier of the Order of the Golden Spur.[3] This was a huge deal for Gluck, although Amadeus Mozart had received the same title previously and was never as thrilled as Gluck was. During Gluck’s time in Rome, he was under the protection of Cardinal Albani.[4]
The church in Rome had strict rules on women performing in operas at that time. The entire cast of the show was made up of men and boys. It was an opera by Castrati. The opera was written for four soprano, one alto , and one tenor who played the protagonist Antigono.[2]
Characters:
editAntigono (King of Macedonia) - Tenor [5]
Berenice (Egyptian Princess)- Soprano [5]
Demetrio (Son of Antigono) - Soprano[5]
Ismene (Daughter of Antigono) - Soprano [5]
Alessandro (Enemy of Macedonia) - Soprano [5]
Clearco (Officer to Alessandro) – Alto[5]
Plot:
editThe Macedonian King Antigono, and his banished son Demetrio are both loved by the beloved Egyptian princess Berenice. Antigono’s daughter, Ismene, loves Alessandro who is the enemy of Macedonia. The entire opera is a violent struggle of victory and defeat between Antigono, Alessandro, and all the confused emotional relations between the characters. By forgiveness of King Antigono, everything is resolved and the opera seria ends happily.[2]
- ^ Mueller Von Asow, Hedwig (1962). The Collected Correspondence and Papers of Christoph Willibald Gluck. New York, New York: St Martin's Press. p. 9.
- ^ a b c d Croll, Gerhard (2010). GLuck. Sein Leben Seine Musik. Kassel: Barenreiter-Verlag Karl Votterle GmbH &Co. pp. 95–98.
- ^ Einstein, Alfred (1954). Gluck. Great Britain: The Aldine Press. p. 49.
- ^ Cooper, Martin (1978). Gluck. Michigan: Scholarly Press. p. 55. ISBN 403-01256-X.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help) - ^ a b c d e f Compositeur, Gluck, Christoph Willibald von (1714-1787).; (1714-1787), Gluck, Christoph Willibald von; (1714-1795), Calzabigi, Ranieri (1756–1800). "BnF Catalogue général". catalogue.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-12-04.
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