UCLA Department of Music and Committee on Fine Art Productions
Present
The UCLA Opera Workshop and Chamber Orchestra In
Orontea, Queen of Egypt
By Antonio Cesti (1649)
Musical Edition by William c. Holmes
Libretto by Giacinto Cicognini
English Translation by John Hall
Jan Popper, Conductor
John Hall, Stage Director
Natalie Limonick, Musical Preparation
Archie Sharp, Scenic and Lighting Design
Gail Bixby, Costume Design
West Coast Premiere
Friday and Saturday
May 19, 20 and 26, 27, 1972
8:30pm
Schoenberg Hall
About the Opera
Though Antonio Cesti (1623-1669) is remembered today principally for his festival work, “Il pomo d’ oro,” in his own day he was recognized as a master of the lyric chamber cantata as well as one of the most popular composers of the operatic stage. His fame was in no small part due to the success of “Orontea,” his first opera, which had its premiere at the Teatro SS. Apostoli, Venice in 1649. Taken into the repertory of the Febi armonici, Italy’s first traveling opera company, Orontea soon made its way to several other cities. During the next thirty-five years, as we know from extant printed librettos, it was given at least twenty-three different productions in Italy, Germany and Austria. This is truly an astonishing record for a work in an age which idolized the new and was noted for its short musical memory.
Orontea’s success rested upon its sparkling comedy, its memorable melodies and its striking dramatic and musical characterizations. Andrea Cicognini’s libretto, reflecting then current fashions, drew upon elements of both the popular commedia dell’ arte and contemporary Spanish theater. Cesti’s setting also incorporated new attitudes and ideas. He carefully constructed his music so that the moments of reflection, set as arias and duets, more nearly balanced those of action, set as recitative. The recitative is dramatic, but often moves along at the more rapid pace generally associated with operas of a later period. The melodies of the arias are tuneful, simple and graceful, yet designed to characterize both musically and psychologically the personalities and emotions of the characters on stage. The conflict between love and duty, the eternal triangle of love, an older woman’s pursuit of happiness with a young man, a drunken servant’s moments of truth, all are portrayed so vividly that they can still capture the attention of a modern audience. Thus Orontea is a romantic comedy in the best sense of the term, a worthy predecessor to such later masterpieces as Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro.”
In recent times the score of Orontea was thought to have been lost, though some of its arias, copied separately in manuscript collections, were known to a few singers and scholars. It was only in the early 1950’s that three Italian scores were brought to the attention of the public, and since then another score has been discovered in England. The edition of the opera used in this performance was prepared from these manuscripts by Professor William C. Holmes of the University of California, Irvine, and is to be published this summer by Wellesley College.
Notes by Dr. Frank D’Accone
