| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
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Operas
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Pasticcio
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Apollo et Hyacinthus is an opera, K. 38, written in 1767 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was 11 years old at the time. It is Mozart's first true opera (when one considers that Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes is simply a sacred drama). It is in three acts. As is suggested by the name, the opera is based upon Greek mythology as told by Roman poet Ovid in his masterwork Metamorphoses. Interpreting this work, Rufinus Widl wrote the libretto in Latin.
The opera was first performed on 13 May 1767 at the Great Hall, Salzburg University.[1] The myth follows that Hyacinth died accidentally from being struck on the head by a discus thrown by Apollo. However, another myth tells that it was the wind god Zephyrus who was actually responsible for the Hyacinth's death because Zephyrus, out of jealousy, blew the discus off course in order to injure and kill Hyacinth. When he died, Apollo made the hyacinth flower spring out from his spilled blood.
The librettist Rufinus Widl, a priest, modified Ovid's story (in which Apollo, Zephyrus, and Hyacinth clearly constituted a homosexual love triangle) to make it conform to the social standards of his own time, by changing the sexually desired character from Ovid's Hyacinth to Melia, his sister.
Contents |
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 13 May 1767 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Oebalus, King of Lacedaemonia | tenor | Mathias Stadler |
| Melia, daughter of Oebalus | boy soprano | Felix Fuchs |
| Hyacinthus, son of Oebalus | boy soprano | Christian Enzinger |
| Apollo | boy alto | Johann Ernst |
| Zephyrus, friend of Hyacinthus | boy alto | Joseph Vonterthon |
| First priest of Apollo | bass | Joseph Bründl |
| Second priest of Apollo | bass | Jakob Moser |
King Oebalus of Lacedaemonia and his son, Hyacinthus are preparing a sacrifice to Apollo when their altar is struck by a bolt of lightning. Apollo himself arrives to offer his friendship to young Hyacinthus and love to his sister, Melia. Melia's euphoria over the prospect of marrying a deity is shattered, however, when Zephyrus runs in to report that Apollo had killed Hyacinthus with a discus. But just as Zephyrus is finishing his story, Apollo himself blows in and sends the liar off with a blast of the west wind. The distraught Melia doesn't know what to believe and shuns the god as she leaves to find her brother.
As it turns out, Hyacinthus manages to identify Zephyrus as his killer to his father as he expires. Oebalus and Melia sing a duet of grief that so touches Apollo that he turns the boy's body into the flower hyacinthus (with its signature marking), and reaffirms his love for Melia who prise the power of Numen.