Admeto
Encyclopedia
Admeto, re di Tessaglia (Admetus, King of Thessaly; HWV 22) is a three-act opera
written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) with music composed by George Frideric Handel
to an Italian
-language libretto prepared by Nicola Haym. The story is partly based on Euripedes' Alcestis. The opera's first performance was at the Haymarket Theatre
in London on 31 January 1727. The original cast included Faustina Bordoni
as Alcestis and Francesca Cuzzoni
as Antigona, as Admeto was the second of the five operas that Handel composed to feature specifically these two prime donne of the day. The opera received 19 performances in its first season, and over the time from September 1727 to January 1732, received 16 additional performances. Admeto was revived in 1754 and received 5 additional performances. The last, 6 April 1754, proved to be the last opera performance that Handel saw of his own operas in his lifetime.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) with music composed by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
to an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-language libretto prepared by Nicola Haym. The story is partly based on Euripedes' Alcestis. The opera's first performance was at the Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in London on 31 January 1727. The original cast included Faustina Bordoni
Faustina Bordoni
Faustina Bordoni was an Italian mezzo-soprano.-Early career:She was born in Venice and brought up under the protection of the aristocratic brother composers Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello. Her singing teacher was another composer, Michelangelo Gasparini...
as Alcestis and Francesca Cuzzoni
Francesca Cuzzoni
Francesca Cuzzoni was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era.-Early career:Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She made her debut in her home city in 1714, singing in La virtù coronata, o Il Fernando by...
as Antigona, as Admeto was the second of the five operas that Handel composed to feature specifically these two prime donne of the day. The opera received 19 performances in its first season, and over the time from September 1727 to January 1732, received 16 additional performances. Admeto was revived in 1754 and received 5 additional performances. The last, 6 April 1754, proved to be the last opera performance that Handel saw of his own operas in his lifetime.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 31 January 1727 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Alceste (Alcestis) | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni was an Italian mezzo-soprano.-Early career:She was born in Venice and brought up under the protection of the aristocratic brother composers Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello. Her singing teacher was another composer, Michelangelo Gasparini... -Hasse |
| Antigona | soprano | Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era.-Early career:Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She made her debut in her home city in 1714, singing in La virtù coronata, o Il Fernando by... -Sandoni |
| Admeto (Admetus) | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... (castrato Castrato A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's... ) |
Francesco Bernardi Senesino Senesino Senesino was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel.-Early life and career:... |
| Ercole (Hercules) | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Giuseppe Maria Boschi |
| Trasimede (Thrasymedes) | alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,... |
Antonio Baldi |
| Orindo | alto | Anna Dotti |
| Meraspe | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Giovanni Battista Palmerini |
| Apollo | bass | |
| A voice | baritone |
Recordings
- EMI Classics 1C 163-30 808/812: René Jacobs (as Admeto), Rachel YakarRachel YakarRachel Yakar is a French soprano.Yakar was born in Lyon, France. She studied for Germaine Lubin at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1963, she made her debut at Strasbourg. For the next twenty years, she was associated with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. In the mid and late 1970s, she...
, Ulrik ColdUlrik ColdUlrik Cold was a Danish operatic bass. In 1963 he made his professional opera debut at the Royal Danish Theatre as Seneca in Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea...
, Rita Dams, James Bowman, Jill GomezJill GomezJill Gomez is a Trinidadian and British soprano of Hispanic origin.She was born in Guyana to a Trinidadian father and British mother; was raised in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; and has made her career primarily in the United Kingdom. After studying briefly at St...
, Max van EgmondMax van EgmondMax van Egmond is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...
; Il Complesso Barocco; Alan Curtis, conductor