Axur, re d'Ormus
| Antonio Salieri |
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Operas
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Axur, re d'Ormus ("Axur, king of Ormus") is an operatic dramma tragicomico in five acts by Antonio Salieri. The libretto was by Lorenzo da Ponte.
Axur is the Italian version of Salieri's 1787 French-language work Tarare which had a libretto by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais.
Performance history
Axur premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 8 January 1788, the title role being sung by Francesco Benucci, Mozart's first Figaro. It became one of the most famous operas in Vienna, being performed much more frequently than Mozart's Don Giovanni, which was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1788.
The finale of Axur appears in the 1984 film Amadeus. The film is incorrect in presenting Axur as being performed soon after the ninth and final performance of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro in 1786, and before the death of Mozart's father Leopold Mozart on 28 May 1787.[1]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 8 January 1788[2] (Conductor: Antonio Salieri) |
|---|---|---|
| Axur, King of Ormus | baritone | Francesco Benucci |
| Arteneo, High Priest of Brahma | baritone | Francesco Bussani |
| Altamor, a soldier, Arteneo's son | bass | Lodovico Trentanove |
| Atar, a soldier | tenor | Vincenzo Calvesi |
| Aspasia, Atar's wife | soprano | Luisa Laschi-Mombelli |
| Biscroma, a slave | tenor | Stefano Mandini |
| Fiammetta, Biscroma's wife | soprano | Teresa Calvesi |
| Elamir | soprano | Franziska Distler[3] |
| Urson, a soldier | bass | Niccolò Del Sole |
| A slave | bass | |
| Arlecchino | bass | |
| Smeraldina | soprano | |
| Brighella | tenor | |
| Slaves, soldiers, priests of Brahma, people | ||
Recordings
The overture has been recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) conducted by Michael Dittrich, on Naxos Records. The Finale can be found on the More Amadeus soundtrack, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.
The whole opera was recorded by Herbert von Karajan in 1985 in Berlin with The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, with Ruggero Raimondi in the title role, and other leading roles taken by Anna Tomowa-Sintow (Aspasia), Gösta Winbergh (Atar) and José van Dam (Arteneo). This recording was issied by Deutsche Grammophon in 1990, and René Clemencic in 1989 in Siena with the Russian Philarmonic Orchestra and Coro "Guido d'Arezzo", with Andreas Martin in the title role, and other leading roles taken by Eva Mei (Aspasia), Curtis Rayam (Atar) and Ettore Nova (Biscroma/Brighella). The recording was issued by Nuova Era in 2001 (NE 7366 & 67) and reissued in 2005.
References
- ↑ DVD of Amadeus: the Figaro performance occurs at 1 hour 29 minutes into the film and Axur at 1 hour 34 minutes. Mozart learns of Leopold's death at 1 hour 37 minutes.
- ↑ Amadeus Almanac, accessed 18 March 2010.
- ↑ Distler was no older than fourteen wheh she took part in the premiere of Axur (Quell'usignolo, article: Elisabeth Distler (French)). The role of Elamir had been originally created in Tarare by the boy soprano Joseph-François-Narcisse Carbonel (Alexandre Choron & François Fayolle (editors), Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens, Paris: Valade/Lenormant, 1810, I, p. 118).