About Cavalli's l'Ipermestra
| About Cavalli's l'Ipermestra |
In 1657 the Spanish Habsburgs welcomed the long-awaited birth of a successor to the throne: Infante Felipe Próspero. Though he would die in 1661, his brief life inspired a host of artistic triumphs, including an exquisite portrait by Velázquez
Diego Velázquez, Infante Felipe Próspero, 1659
Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, oil on canvas (128,5 x 99,5 cm)
Felipe Próspero’s arrival, moreover, was a fantastic reason for dignitaries in those parts of the Western world under Spain’s influence to show off their wealth and power by staging great festivities. Cardinal Gian Carlo de’Medici (1611-1663) of Florence, the licentious brother of the Grand Duke and a devoted patron of the arts, commissioned his court physician Giovanni Andrea Moniglia (1624-1700) to write the scenario for a sung drama in honour of the infant prince. The drama was to be appropriately lavish in portraying the dynastic significance of Felipe’s birth. It was important to stress that a strong heir guaranteed not only a rejuvenation of Spanish political power but also the continued survival of the established lineage.
Moniglia, like many librettists of his day, sought inspiration from the exploits of classical dynasties, and he discovered a narrative descriving the ‘war and capture of Argos’ by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus (c. 525-456 BC).
● “The work’s main characters are the cousins Linceo and Ipermestra. She is the daughter of Danao, King of Argos. Linceo is the son of Danao’s brother Aegyptos, ruler of Egypt. Danao gives Ipermestra to Linceo as his bride, intending for her to murder him. Similar instructions are given to his remaining daughters, given to Linceo’s brothers. Danao, feigning peaceful intentions, is actually seeking to evade the Oracle’s prediction that his heirs would rob him of his kingdom and his life. Ipermestra, however, is protected by Juno and Jupiter against the furious temper of Venus, who is set on the dissolution of the Kingdom of Argos, against the will of the other gods. Ipermestra spares her husband’s life, and the kingdom of Argos regains the blessing of the benevolent and fertile Femmina, who ensures a long succession of heirs, including the most glorious Heros…”
These are probably the words of Moniglia himself which are found in the detailed introduction to the libretto to l’Ipermestra, published in 1689. Upon completion of the work’s first draft, it was sent post-haste to Venice, to the attention of ‘the Greatest Composer in Italy, particularly in regard to the dramatic style’: Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676).
Moniglia and Cavalli’s project developed into a veritable operatic extravaganza, a festa teatrale, complete with ballets, magnificent costumes and decors. There was even a spectacular battle scene, for which – judging from surviving descriptions which are illustrated with engravings – neither cost nor effort was spared.
The opera was revived twice: in Genoa (1668) and Pisa (1680). Unlike the elaborate court production of 1658 which was mainly a vehicle for increasing the prestige of the Florentine nobility, the reprises were intended for public performance, a commercial enterprise in good Venetian tradition. Mindful of profits, the opera was honed down to its essential details, and the prologue, the gods, the choir, and the ballets were scrapped. The gaiety and richness of the costumes and decor, however, again in keeping with Venetian tradition, were retained, as were the intricate mechanical devices and impressive special effects. Indeed, the paying public was accustomed, as it still is today, to a spectacle that would gratify the senses and stimulate a wide range of emotions.
Photo: Marco Borggreve
The greatest composer in Italy ●
Second only to Monteverdi (1567-1643), Cavalli was the most famous and performed composer of ‘commercial’ operas during his lifetime. Present-day programming, however, might well lead one to believe that a plethora of Monteverdi performances more or less dominated the 17th-century Italian opera world.
Cavalli’s musical career began in 1616 as a boy treble in the choir at St. Mark’s in Venice, where Monteverdi was music director. Twenty-five years under Monteverdi clearly rubbed off on Cavalli’s musical style. Between 1639 and 1671 he composed more than 30 operas, most of which were written for small-scale commercial theatres. 28 of these survive and are housed in the Contarini collection of the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.
Of the works in this collection, only a handful have actually been staged. The manuscripts themselves contain scores that have been republished in modern editions and while most of them were written out by a copyist, a few (including l’Ipermestra) are in Cavalli’s own hand and were actually used during rehearsals and performances. The composer’s alterations and indications added during rehearsals offer invaluable insights into his intentions.
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Festa Teatrale
L’Ipermestra is not only remarkable because we have access to the composer’s original annotated score. It also marked a pivotal point in Cavalli’s career. Prior to l’Ipermestra, Cavalli wrote his operas for theatres in Venice (in which he also had commercial interests), but at the height of his fame, around 1655, he began to enjoy the patronage of benefactors outside Venice, such as Cardinal Gian Carlo de’Medici in Florence. After l’Ipermestra, Cavalli was even invited to Paris to compose an opera – Ercole amante (1662) – in honour of the wedding of Louis XIV.
Certain sources maintain that the cardinal was already in the possession of the score to l’Ipermestra in 1654, waiting for a suitable opportunity to perform it. Nothing is known about the relationship between the score and the libretto. In any case, the report printed in 1689 and mentioned above contending that the libretto was sent post-haste to Venice to be set to music is pure fiction.
The same could be said for the remainder of this report. While it is necessary to take the description of this magnificent festa teatrale with a grain of salt, it is nevertheless valuable and fascinating reading. It describes the theatre, the artistic staff made up of soloists, chorus, and dancers, the 300 costumes (original sketches of these are housed in London), the 12 scene changes (engravings of the decor are included in the score), and 30 theatrical machines. Despite a certain amount of exaggeration in the documentation, this production, consisting of a prologue, three acts, two ballets, and a combattimento (battle scene) with 50 horsemen, must have been a remarkable spectacle indeed.
Cavalli’s music for l’Ipermestra is undoubtedly the work of a master. He was able to ‘wring out of the hearts of others the most tender and pitiful sentiments most appropriate to the expression of words and of poetic events’. There are arias, love duets, quartets, choruses, laments, through-composed ritornelli and sinfonias, accompagnato arias, and recitatives. l’Ipermestra is, musically speaking, unarguably one of the richest operas of the seventeenth century.
After the premiere in 1658, as mentioned above, the opera was revived twice as a commercial production in Genoa (1668) and Pisa (1680). The original pageantry was, according to sources, too costly to reproduce for the general public at these performances.
The Utrecht production of l’Ipermestra uses the original Florentine manuscript – which is, in fact, the only surviving contemporary source – as its musical basis. The approach to the actual staging, however, more resembles the later commercial productions. The sinfonia, which is missing from the manuscript, has been reconstructed by conductor Mike Fentross.
●Translation: Jonathan Reeder
Photo: Marco Borggreve