Artaxerxes (opera)

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Artaxerxes is an English opera (1762) in three acts with music by Thomas Arne and a libretto adapted (probably by the composer) from Metastasio's Artaserse. It is the only known attempt to write an Italianate, Metastasian opera seria in the English language. Metastasio wrote the original libretto in 1729 and it was first set to music by Vinci the following year. It was subsequently set by over ninety more composers from all over Europe, including Gluck and J.C. Bach among others. Arne was probably already familiar with the version by Hasse, which was performed in London in 1754.

Artaxerxes was one of the most successful and influential English operas of the eighteenth century. The work successfully merged opera seria in the florid Italian style with an English libretto and thus became hugely popular with both singers and audiences in England. The work was frequently performed in England from its premiere in 1762 until the late 1830s. The work received a documented one hundred and eleven performances before 1790. Mozart attended a performance of the opera when he came to London in 1765, and Haydn reportedly said of the work that he "had no idea we had such an opera in the English language".^[1] Artaxerxes is one of only a few works by Arne that was not destroyed in the disastrous fire at Covent Garden in 1808 and has occasionally been revived during the past century.^[2]

Contents 1 Performance history 2 Roles 3 Synopsis 3.1 Act One 3.2 Act Two 3.3 Act Three 4 Noted arias 5 Recordings 6 References

[edit] Performance history

Artaxerxes received its first performance on February 2, 1762 at Covent Garden. The cast for the first performance of Artaxerxes was led by Charlotte Brent as Mandane and Ferdinando Tenducci as Arbaces. Brent (1735-1802) was the most celebrated English singer of her time and was not only Arne's pupil but also his mistress. The Italian castrato Tenducci (1735-1790) had come to London in 1758, and subsequently lived and performed in England, Scotland and Ireland for almost thirty years.

The title role of Artaxerxes, which unusually is one of the smaller roles, was played by Peretti, another Italian castrato. The remaining cast was all English: John Beard (1717-1791) in the role of Artabanes, a Miss Thomas in the role of Semira, and George Mattocks as Rimenes.^[3]

[edit] Roles

Cast	Voice type	Premiere, February 2, 1762 (Conductor: - )
Xerxes, King of Persia	not seen
Artaxerxes, Xerxes' younger son, and Arbaces' friend	castrato	Peretti
Mandane, Xerxes' daughter and lover of Arbaces	soprano	Charlotte Brent
Artabanes, the general of Xerxes' army	tenor	John Beard
Arbaces, son of Artabanes	castrato	Ferdinando Tenducci
Semira, Artabanes' daughter and lover of Artaxerxes	soprano	Miss Thomas
Rimenes, Artabanes' captain	tenor	George Mattocks

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Act One

King Xerxes has banished Arbaces from the palace out of concern for the purity of his daughter Mandane who is Arbaces' lover. Enraged by the king's action against his son, Artabanes murders Xerxes. The opera opens with Artabanes holding a bloody sword which he exchanges with his son's blade. Artabanes proceeds to deceive Artaxerxes by blaming the murder of his father on Darius, Artaxerxes' elder brother and heir to the throne. Artaxeres believes him and accepts Artabanes' offer to arrest Darius. Meanwhile, Artaxerxes expresses his love for Semira, Arbaces' sister, who is being pursued by Rimenes. Semira scorns Rimenes and then contemplates how unhappy she would be were Artaxerxes to be killed. Artabanes returns, announcing that he has had Darius executed, but Arbaces is then discovered with the blood-stained sword. Arbaces realizes that his father must be guilty but refuses to incriminate his father. Arbaces is arrested and the other characters contemplate his apparent guilt.

[edit] Act Two

In order to gain power for himself, Artabanes offers to help Arbaces escape and lead a rebellion, but Arbaces refuses. Seeing another opportunity for power, Artabanes recruits Rimenes in a plot to kill Artaxerxes by appealing to his jealousy over loosing Semira. Meanwhile, Artaxerxes agonizes over the fate of his friend Arbaces. Unable to decide what to do, he asks Artabanes to determine his son's punishment. To the horror of Artaxerxes, Artabanes proceeds to commit his son to death. Mandane and Semira berate Artabanes and Artaxerxes respectively for their failure to save Arbaces.

[edit] Act Three

Unable to see his friend die, Artaxerxes sneaks into the prison and helps Arbaces' escape from his cell. After they leave, Artabanes and Rimenes arrive with similar intentions, only to find the cell empty. Assuming that Arbaces has already been executed, Artabanes and Rimenes decide to take revenge on Artaxerxes by poisoning him as he takes his coronation oath. Meanwhile, Mandane is reunited with Arbaces, whom she thought dead. At his coronation Artaxerxes is about to drink from the poisoned cup, but is interrupted by news that Arbaces has single-handedly quelled a rebellion led by Rimenes. Arbaces enters, and Artaxerxes offers him the cup with which to pledge his innocence. Artabanes is forced to intercept, confessing to the poison and to his previous crimes. Artaxerxes spares his life but banishes him from the kingdom, and the two couples - Arbaces and Mandane, Artaxerxes and Semira - are joyfully united.

[edit] Noted arias

Mandane's aria The Soldier, tir'd of War's Alarms was a popular show-piece for sopranos through much of the nineteenth century and is still occasionally performed today in recitals and concerts. Joan Sutherland included this aria in many of her recitals and concerts.^[4]

[edit] Recordings

Artaxerxes has currently only been recorded once, although individual arias from the work have been recorded by numerous artists.

• Artaxerxes, performed by The Parley of Instruments and conducted by Roy Goodman. With Christopher Robson as Artaxerxes, Catherine Bott as Mandane, Patricia Spence as Arbaces, Ian Partridge as Artabanes, Richard Edgar-Wilson as Rimenes, and Philippa Hyde as Semira. Released on February 9, 1996 on the Hyperion label.^[5]

[edit] References