Ezio (Mysliveček) (1777)
Encyclopedia
Ezio is an eighteenth-century Italian opera
in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček
. It was the composer's second setting of a libretto
by the Italian poet Metastasio
that was first performed in 1728, one of the most popular of the Metastasian librettos in Mysliveček's day. The story is based on incidents from the lives of the 5th-century Roman emperor Valentinian III
and his general Aetius
. For a performance in the 1770s, it would only be expected that a libretto of such age would be abbreviated and altered to suit contemporary operatic taste. The cuts and changes in the text made for the 1777 performance of Mysliveček's opera are not attributable. All of Mysliveček's operas are of the serious type in Italian language referred to as opera seria
.
in Munich
on 10 January 1777. The composer was to have come to Munich a year earlier, but he was detained in Italy due to the effects of syphilis
. By the end of 1776, he had temporarily recovered enough to travel to Munich. In the autumn of 1777, he underwent an operation for facial disfigurement associated with his disease that resulted in his nose being burned off. Earlier research assumed that the Munich Ezio was merely a revival of the composer's setting for Naples
in 1775, however it has come to light recently that the court of Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, insisted on completely new music, which Mysliveček did provide. The cast included the great castrato
Luigi Marchesi
, who had earlier appeared only in minor roles, but was given one of the leading roles in this production. His singing was considered superb by the court of Munich, and Mysliveček used his influence with the management of the Teatro San Carlo to engage him for a series of operas in Naples in 1778-79. Mysliveček's intervention enabled Marchesi to establish himself permanently as one of the leading singers in Italy. Except for Marchesi's singing, the opera was not considered to have been particularly successful, and it was overshadowed by the overwhelming success of Mysliveček's oratorio
Isacco, figura del redentore, which was performed in the same theater only a few weeks after the run of Ezio ended.
Act I, scene 3 - Aria of Ezio, "Pensa a serbami, o cara"
Act I, scene 4 - Aria of Fulvia, "Caro padre, a me non dei"
Act I, scene 5 - Accompanied recitative for Massimo, "Che sventura è la mia"
Act I, scene 5 - Aria of Massimo, "Il nocchier che si figura"
Act I, scene 7 - Aria of Onoria, "Quanto mai felici siete"
Act I, scene 9 - Aria of Valentiniano, "So che t'accese" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 11 - Aria of Ezio, "Guarda pira" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 12 - Aria of Fulvia, "Fin che un zeffiro soave"
Act II, scene 3 - Aria of Valentiniano, "Vi fida lo sposo"
Act II, scene 4 - Aria of Massimo, "Va, dal furor portata"
Act II, scene 6 - Aria of Ezio, "Recagli quell'acciaro"
Act II, scene 7 - Aria of Fulvia, "Quel fingere affetto"
Act II, scene 8 - Aria of Varo, "Nace al bosco in rozza cuno"
Act II, scene 10 - Aria of Onoria, "Fin che per te mi palpita"
Act II, scene 13 - Quartetto
Act III, scene 1 - Aria of Onoria, "Peni tu per un'ingrata"
Act III, scene 2 - Aria of Valentiniano, "Con le procelle in seno"
Act III, scene 5 - Aria of Ezio, "Mi dona, mi rende" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 6 - Aria of Massimo, "Tergi l'ingiuste lagrime"
Act III, scene 7 - Aria of Fulvia, "Dei clementi amici" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 14 - Chorus, "Della vita ne' dubbio camino"
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...
in 3 acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček
Josef Myslivecek
Josef Mysliveček was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music...
. It was the composer's second setting of a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in 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 liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by the Italian poet Metastasio
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
that was first performed in 1728, one of the most popular of the Metastasian librettos in Mysliveček's day. The story is based on incidents from the lives of the 5th-century Roman emperor Valentinian III
Valentinian III
-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....
and his general Aetius
Aetius
Aetius or Aëtius may refer to:* Aetius , 1st- or 2nd-century doxographer and Eclectic philosopher* Aëtius of Antioch, 4th-century Anomean theologian, called "Aetius the Atheist" by his Trinitarian enemies...
. For a performance in the 1770s, it would only be expected that a libretto of such age would be abbreviated and altered to suit contemporary operatic taste. The cuts and changes in the text made for the 1777 performance of Mysliveček's opera are not attributable. All of Mysliveček's operas are of the serious type in Italian language referred to as opera seria
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
.
Performance history
The opera was first performed at the HoftheaterCuvilliés Theatre
The Cuvilliés Theatre or Old Residence Theatre is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, southern Germany.- Description :...
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on 10 January 1777. The composer was to have come to Munich a year earlier, but he was detained in Italy due to the effects of syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
. By the end of 1776, he had temporarily recovered enough to travel to Munich. In the autumn of 1777, he underwent an operation for facial disfigurement associated with his disease that resulted in his nose being burned off. Earlier research assumed that the Munich Ezio was merely a revival of the composer's setting for Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1775, however it has come to light recently that the court of Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, insisted on completely new music, which Mysliveček did provide. The cast included the great 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...
Luigi Marchesi
Luigi Marchesi
Luigi Marchesi was an Italian castrato singer, one of the most prominent and charismatic to appear in Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century.-Biography:Luigi Ludovico Marchesi was born in Milan...
, who had earlier appeared only in minor roles, but was given one of the leading roles in this production. His singing was considered superb by the court of Munich, and Mysliveček used his influence with the management of the Teatro San Carlo to engage him for a series of operas in Naples in 1778-79. Mysliveček's intervention enabled Marchesi to establish himself permanently as one of the leading singers in Italy. Except for Marchesi's singing, the opera was not considered to have been particularly successful, and it was overshadowed by the overwhelming success of Mysliveček's oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
Isacco, figura del redentore, which was performed in the same theater only a few weeks after the run of Ezio ended.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 10 January 1777, Hoftheater, Munich |
|---|---|---|
| Valentiniano III, emperor of Rome, in love with Fulvia | 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... 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... |
Tommaso Consoli |
| Fulvia, daughter of Massimo, a Roman patrician, in love with Ezio and betrothed to him | soprano | Angela Gallieni |
| Ezio, general of the imperial armies, in love with Fulvia | soprano castrato | Luigi Marchesi Luigi Marchesi Luigi Marchesi was an Italian castrato singer, one of the most prominent and charismatic to appear in Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century.-Biography:Luigi Ludovico Marchesi was born in Milan... |
| Onoria, sister of Valentiniano, secretly in love with Ezio | soprano | Rosa Manservisi |
| Massimo, Roman patrician, father of Fulvia, confidant and secret enemy of Valentiniano | tenor | Domenico de Panzacchi |
| Varo, prefect of the Praetorian guard, friend of Ezio | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
uncertain ("Il Sig. N.N.") |
Vocal Set Pieces
Act I, scene 2 - Aria of Valentiniano, "Se tu la reggi al volo"Act I, scene 3 - Aria of Ezio, "Pensa a serbami, o cara"
Act I, scene 4 - Aria of Fulvia, "Caro padre, a me non dei"
Act I, scene 5 - Accompanied recitative for Massimo, "Che sventura è la mia"
Act I, scene 5 - Aria of Massimo, "Il nocchier che si figura"
Act I, scene 7 - Aria of Onoria, "Quanto mai felici siete"
Act I, scene 9 - Aria of Valentiniano, "So che t'accese" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 11 - Aria of Ezio, "Guarda pira" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act I, scene 12 - Aria of Fulvia, "Fin che un zeffiro soave"
Act II, scene 3 - Aria of Valentiniano, "Vi fida lo sposo"
Act II, scene 4 - Aria of Massimo, "Va, dal furor portata"
Act II, scene 6 - Aria of Ezio, "Recagli quell'acciaro"
Act II, scene 7 - Aria of Fulvia, "Quel fingere affetto"
Act II, scene 8 - Aria of Varo, "Nace al bosco in rozza cuno"
Act II, scene 10 - Aria of Onoria, "Fin che per te mi palpita"
Act II, scene 13 - Quartetto
Act III, scene 1 - Aria of Onoria, "Peni tu per un'ingrata"
Act III, scene 2 - Aria of Valentiniano, "Con le procelle in seno"
Act III, scene 5 - Aria of Ezio, "Mi dona, mi rende" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 6 - Aria of Massimo, "Tergi l'ingiuste lagrime"
Act III, scene 7 - Aria of Fulvia, "Dei clementi amici" [a non-Metastasian text]
Act III, scene 14 - Chorus, "Della vita ne' dubbio camino"