Adriano in Siria (Pergolesi)

Adriano in Siria
Opera seria by G. B. Pergolesi

Title page of the libretto
Librettist Metastasio
Language Italian
Based on Adriano in Siria
Premiere 25 October 1734 (1734-10-25)
Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples

Adriano in Siria is an opera by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi setting Metastasio's libretto of the same name. It was the third of his four opere serie, premiered at Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples on 25 October 1734.[1] Pergolesi also provided a comic intermezzo La contadina astuta, later better known as Livietta e Tracollo, to a libretto by Tomasso Mariani.[2]

Pergolesi was only 24 years old when he began to work on Metastasio's libretto in 1734. The score is dedicated to the new monarch, but was written expressly to mark the 42nd birthday of the Queen of Spain, Elisabetta Farnese. He made many changes to Metastasio's original text, largely for the famous mezzo-soprano castrato, Gaetano Majorano, known as Caffarelli. Eventually no more than 10 arias were left to be set among the 27 originally written by Metastasio, the rest having been widely replaced by different texts.[3]

Pergolesi died of tuberculosis only two years after the premiere.

Roles

Role Voice type[4] Premiere cast, 25 October 1734[5]
Adriano, the Roman Emperor soprano (in travesti) Maria Marta Monticelli
Emirena, daughter of Osroa and the betrothed of Farnaspe soprano Maria Giustina Turcotti
Farnaspe, a mutual friend of Osroa, a prince soprano castrato Gaetano Majorano "Caffarelli"
Osroa, the Parthian King tenor Francesco Tolve
Sabina, betrothed to Emperor Adriano soprano Catterina Fumagalli
Aquilio, Adriano's confidant, secretly loves Sabina soprano (in travesti) Margherita Chimenti

Synopsis

Set in Antioch, in ancient Syria, a celebration is held for the victorious Roman Emperor, Adriano, who has defeated the Parthians. The Parthian King, Osroa, and Prince Farnaspe, mutual friend of Osroa, present themselves to Adriano, and reveal to the Emperor that during the battle, the Romans had captured Osroa's daughter, Emirena, who is betrothed to Farnaspe.

By the time that information is revealed, Adriano is already in-love with Emirena, though he is engaged to Princess Sabina. To make matters more complicated, Aquilio, Adriano's confidant, secretly loves Sabina. Farnaspe requests Emirena to be freed. While making this request, he tries very hard to hide his jealousy, but Osroa cannot hide his rage.

Aquilio who loves Sabrina, tells Emirena to pretend coldness towards Farnaspe in order to save him from the Emperor's jealous anger. Farnaspe is devastated when Adriano declares his feelings to Emirena. When Sabina arrives at the scene, the Emperor feels his heart is conflicted between Sabina and his new love. Emirena, Aquilio and Sabina lament their fates.

At night Osroa and his soldiers set fire to the Emperor's palace. Farnaspe, unjustly accused of setting the fire, throws himself into the flames to rescue Emirena. He is taken into prison and the two lovers are reconciled. To save her relationship with the Emperor, Sabina promises to help them escape.

After being confronted by Sabina, Adriano says he will give up his new love, but she distrusts him. Aquilio on the other hand, believes that Sabina will be his.

As Farnaspe and Emirena escaped, Farnaspe was accused of attempting to assassinate the Emperor. Emirena cannot recognise her father who is disguised as a Roman, and defends her lover by accusing the disguised Roman instead. In a rage, Adriano has all three of them thrown into prison. Adriano comes to know that Sabina has helped Emirena and Farnaspe to escape, and orders her to go into exile.

Knowing that he will lose Sabina if she goes into exile, Aquilio persuades Adriano to restore Osroa to his throne and his kingdom, hoping that with this magnamious act, the grateful Parthian will give him his daughter's hand.

Osroa is reluctant to give his daughter to Adriano, however Farnaspe urges her to accept in order to save both her father and her homeland. At the end, Aquilio's dishonesty is exposed. Sabina capitulates and gives her permission for Adriano to marry Emirena, but he, much affected by her kindness, promises to marry her, restores Osroa to his throne, consents to the union of Farnaspe and Emirena, and pardons Aquilio.

Recordings

References

  1. ↑ Details and libretto, librettidopera.it
  2. ↑ Julie Ann Sadie, Companion to Baroque Music p. 75
  3. ↑ Dale E. Monson, Adriano in Siria (ii), in Stanley Sadie (ed), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, New York, Grove (Oxford University Press), 1997, I, p. 28, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2.
  4. ↑ Vaccarini, Marina, "Adriano in Siria". In Gelli, Piero and Poletti, Filippo (eds.), Dizionario dell'Opera 2008, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 13–14, ISBN 88-6073-184-4. Accessed online 22 November 2016 (in Italian)
  5. ↑ First performance details, Corago (University of Bologna) (in Italian)
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