La resurrezione
First performance
A large orchestra was employed for the occasion, consisting of 39 strings of varying types, 1 bass viol, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, and 4 oboes. The staging and scenery were also lavishly produced, and though Roman censorship of the time forbade opera, La resurrezione was certainly produced in an operatic manner. It was produced at Ruspoli's Palazzo in the main hall on the ground floor. A series of terraced seats, 4 in number, was built for the orchestra, curved towards the audience and rising at the back. Twenty-eight specially commissioned music stands were built for the occasion, engraved with either the coat-of-arms of Ruspoli or his wife. The proscenium was decorated with a tapestry depicting cherubs, palm trees, and foliage: in the middle of which hung a plaque with the name of the oratorio. The 46 letters were spread out over 4 lines, each letter about 18 cm in height. These letters were brought into prominence by the backing light of seventy light pans. The canvas backdrop represented pictorially the characters of Handel's oratorio, and in the centre was depicted the resurrection itself.
The role of Mary Magdalene was sung at the first performance by the soprano Margherita Durastanti. The participation of female singers was prohibited by Papal edict, and the Pope went to the length of admonishing Ruspoli for permitting Durastanti to take part. For the remaining performances, her role was sung by a castrato. The only details given concerning this individual are that he was called "Pippo", and that he was in service to the former Queen Casimiri. Durastanti later sang the title role in Handel's Agrippina. The aria "Ho un non so che", which she had sung as Mary Magdalene anticipating the resurrection, appears entirely unadapted for her to sing in Agrippina, though in a different context. The violins at the first performance of La resurrezione were led by the famous violinist Arcangelo Corelli (who also conducted the work).
Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxxix; and HHA i/3.[1]
Structure
| Part | Type | Voice | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Overture | ||
| I | Aria | Angel | Disserratevi, oh porte d'averno |
| I | Recitative | Lucifer | Qual in solita luce |
| I | Aria | Lucifer | Caddi è ver, ma nel cader |
| I | Recitative | Angel, Lucifer | Ma che veggio |
| I | Recitative | Angel, Lucifer | Chi sei |
| I | Aria | Angel | D'amor fu consiglio |
| I | Recitative | Angel, Lucifer | Ebben, questo tuo Nume |
| I | Aria | Lucifer | O' voi dell'Erebo |
| I | Recitative | Mary Magdalene | Notte funesta |
| I | Aria | Mary Magdalene | Ferma l'ali |
| I | Recitative | Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas | Concedi o Magdalena |
| I | Recitative | Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas | Ahi dolce mio Signore |
| I | Duet | Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas | Dolci chiodi |
| I | Recitative | St John, Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas | O Cleofe |
| I | Aria | St John | Così la tortorella talor piange |
| I | Recitative | Mary Magdalene | Se Maria dunque spera |
| I | Aria | Mary Magdalene | Ho un non so che nel cor |
| I | Recitative | Angel | Uscite pur |
| I | Finale | All | Il Nume vincitor trionfi |
| II | Overture | ||
| II | Recitative | St John | Di qual nuovi portenti |
| II | Aria | St John | Ecco il sol ch'esce dal mar |
| II | Recitative | St John | Ma ove Maria dimora |
| II | Aria | Angel | Risorga il mondo |
| II | Recitative | Angel | Di rabbia indarno freme |
| II | Duet | Angel, Lucifer | Misero! Ho pur udito? |
| II | Aria | Lucifer | Per celare il nuovo scorno |
| II | Recitative | Angel | Oh come cieco il tuo furor delira |
| II | Duet | Angel, Lucifer | Impedirlo saprò |
| II | Recitative | Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas | Amica, troppo tardo |
| II | Aria | Mary Magdalene | Per me già di morire |
| II | Recitative | Lucifer | Ahi abborrito nome |
| II | Aria | St Mary Cleophas | Vedo il ciel |
| II | Recitative | Mary Magdalene, Angel, St Mary Cleophas | Cleofe, siam giunte al luogo |
| II | Aria | Angel | Se per colpa di donna |
| II | Recitative | Mary Magdalene | Mio Giesù, mio Signore |
| II | Aria | Mary Magdalene | Del cielo dolente |
| II | Recitative | St Mary Cleophas | Sì, sì cerchiamo pure |
| II | Aria | St Mary Cleophas | Augeletti, ruscelletti |
| II | Recitative | St Mary Cleophas, St John | Dove si frettolosi |
| II | Aria | St John | Caro figlio |
| II | Recitative | Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas, St John | Cleofe, Giovanni, udite |
| II | Aria | Mary Magdalene | Se impassibile, immortale |
| II | Recitative | Mary Magdalene, St Mary Cleophas, St John | Sì, sì col redentore |
| II | Final | All | Diasi lode in cielo, in terra |
References
- Hogwood, Christopher. Handel (1988), Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-500-27498-3.
- ↑ Anthony Hicks. "Handel, George Frideric", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell (London: Macmillan, 2001), x, 784.
E-book
Score of La Resurrezione (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1878)
Bibliography
- R. Ewerhart : New Sources for Handel’s La Resurrezione, ML, xli (1960), 127–35
- E. Rosand : Handel Paints the Resurrection, Festa musicologica: Essays in Honor of George J. Buelow, ed. T.J. Mathiesen and B.V. Rivera (Stuyvesant, NY, 1995), 7–52
- A. Hicks : Handel’s Early Musical Development, PRMA, ciii (1976–7), 80–89
- D. Burrows, ed.: The Cambridge Companion to Handel (Cambridge, 1997)