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| Artaserse (Metastasio) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Artaserse |
| Type | Opera seria libretto |
| Author | Pietro Metastasio |
| Language | Italian |
| First performance | 1730 |
| Premiere location | Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice |
| Notable settings | Johann Adolph Hasse, Leonardo Vinci, Johann Christian Bach, Johann Adolf Hasse |
Artaserse (Metastasio) is an Italian opera seria libretto by Pietro Metastasio first performed in 1730 that inspired dozens of musical settings by composers across Italy, Germany, France, and England. The drama draws on episodes from Achaemenid Empire legend and classical historiography, presenting themes of dynastic succession, loyalty, and political intrigue that appealed to patrons at courts such as Vienna, Naples, Dresden, and London. Its narrative and versification became a staple in the repertories of composers like Leonardo Vinci, Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Johann Christian Bach, and Antonio Vivaldi.
Metastasio wrote Artaserse while serving in the cultural milieu of Vienna under the influence of librettists and poets active in Rome and Naples, responding to patrons from houses including the Habsburg and Bourbon courts. The libretto reflects Metastasio's training in the traditions of Arcadian Academy poetics and his acquaintance with earlier librettists such as Apostolo Zeno and Antonio Salvi. The work synthesizes classical models from Herodotus and Ctesias with contemporary operatic conventions established at venues such as the Teatro San Cassiano and Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo. Metastasio revised the text for different occasions, aligning its structure with practices promoted by impresarios like Francesco Algarotti and composers attached to chapels like the Hofkapelle.
The textual basis of Artaserse incorporates episodes associated with the reign of Artaxerxes I, drawing on historiographical accounts by Herodotus, Xenophon, and later retellings that circulated in Renaissance and Baroque translations. Metastasio adapted librettistic precedents from authors such as Silvio Stampiglia and narrative elements that echo tragedies in the repertory of Commedia dell'arte-influenced stages. He structured recitatives and da capo arias according to emerging norms codified by theorists like Johann Joachim Quantz and commentators in the Gazzetta musicale di Milano milieu. The poet's versification balances poetic diction with dramatic clarity demanded by singers associated with schools in Naples Conservatory and academies like the Accademia degli Arcadi.
Artaserse centers on conflicts among members of the Achaemenid royal house, focusing on characters drawn from historical and legendary sources who confront issues of treason, filial loyalty, and the ethics of rulership. Metastasio deploys alternating sequences of recitative and aria to heighten psychological tension, employing da capo forms to allow virtuoso display for singers from traditions associated with Neapolitan opera and the Venetian opera stage. The dramatization uses scenes of accusation, confession, and reconciliation reminiscent of plot devices in works by Pietro Mascagni predecessors and anticipatory of reforms later advocated by Christoph Willibald Gluck and critics in Paris. The libretto's architecture influenced staging practices at theaters such as Teatro Regio di Torino and court festivities in Dresden Court Opera.
Artaserse premiered at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice with a setting by Leonardo Vinci in 1730, attracting singers and patrons from regional centers such as Mantua, Ferrara, and Bologna. Early productions moved quickly to capitals including Naples (with settings by composers in the circle of the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini), Rome (piazza and papal theatre circuits), Vienna (court presentations), and Dresden (electoral court entertainments). Touring companies and impresarios like Pietro Mingotti and Carlo Goldoni-era managers staged adaptations that reflected local casting and censorship practices enforced by authorities in Papal States and Bourbon courts. Reports of early performances appear in periodicals connected to the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna and correspondence among musicians in the Habsburg cultural network.
More than 70 composers set Artaserse to music, including Leonardo Vinci (1730), Johann Adolph Hasse (1730s, 1734), Johann Christian Bach (1760s), Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Antonio Vivaldi, Niccolò Jommelli, Niccolò Piccinni, Tommaso Traetta, Baldassare Galuppi, and later arrangers active in London and Paris. Settings varied: some preserved Metastasio's sequence of arias and recitatives while others recomposed airs or inserted new music by bassoonists and violinists from ensembles such as the Venetian orchestra of San Marco and the Dresden Hofkapelle. Revisions responded to star singers like Farina, Caffarelli, Senesino, and castrati touring between Rome and Naples Conservatory, as well as to dramaturgical reforms advocated by Gluck and promoted in treatises by Leopold Mozart.
Artaserse became emblematic of Metastasio's dominance in eighteenth-century taste, influencing librettistic practice in Vienna and repertoires at courts of Saxony, Bourbon Naples, and Baden-Baden. Critics and historians such as Charles Burney and scholars at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana documented performances, while later musicologists in institutions like the Royal College of Music and the RISM project cataloged settings. The libretto's adaptability informed nineteenth-century revivals and informed the revisionist discourse surrounding opera seria in studies by H.F. Dahl and commentators associated with the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians tradition. Its characters and moral dilemmas continued to be referenced in libretti by composers in the late classical and early romantic periods.
Principal roles typically include the eponymous Persian royal figures and courtiers: Artaserse's kin and rivals derived from Achaemenid legend, portrayed by voice types that in historical productions were filled by castrati, contraltos, tenors, and bassi. Notable role names that recur across settings are those drawn from Metastasio's cast list and performed by luminaries of the Baroque stage such as Caffarelli, Farinelli-era colleagues, and leading singers associated with the Neapolitan school. The dramatis personae map onto archetypes familiar to audiences of the Accademia dell'Arcadia and patrons at courts including Habsburg Vienna and Bourbon Naples.
Editions of Artaserse exist in multiple printings and manuscript copies preserved in archives such as the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and collections cataloged by RISM. Variants reflect Metastasio's own revisions and alterations made for specific performances by composers and impresarios, with critical editions prepared by scholars affiliated with universities like University of Oxford, Università di Bologna, and archival projects at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek and Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Modern editions and translations have been produced for performance and study by publishers connected to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and academic series in Baroque music scholarship.
Category:Librettos Category:Works by Pietro Metastasio