The rediscovery of the opera "Il re pastore" (by J.Ch. Richter and J.A, Hasse) from the Dresden Music Heritage (1762) | Results of the research project "Discovering of Saxony's opera treasures!"
Funded by the Performing Arts Fund (Fonds Darstellende Künste) with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the program NEUSTART KULTUR
Summary
The Saxon State and University Library (SLUB) has a large collection of music from the time of Augustus the Strong and especially his son Augustus III, King of Poland, who were known as great patrons of the arts, especially the musical theater. This rich collection of operas by important composers such as J.A. Hasse, Zelenka, Porpora, Schmidt and others has not been sufficiently researched to this day. Their rediscovery should shed light on a time when Dresden was an important cultural metropolis between southern and northern Europe, between the Protestant and Catholic worlds. The research work "Discovering Saxony´s Opera Treasures" is a small step in this direction. The subject of the work are two operas written in the same year (1762) to the beautiful Metastasio libretto "Il re pastore". One was penned by the still unknown Dresden composer Johann Christoph Richter and was probably performed in German at the Morettisches Theater, the other is the second version of the opera "Il re pastore" written by Johann Adolf HASSE in 1755 for Hubertusburg and in 1762 for Warsaw. An attempt is made to understand the cultural climate in Dresden around 1760 and to compare the two scores. Finally, this work deals with the perspectives of a renaissance of music from this time and why that would be important today.
Opera in Dresden of the two Kings of Poland
With the founding of the Dresden court orchestra in 1458 by Moritz von Sachsen under the first Kapellmeister Johannes Walter, Dresden began to develop into an important music center. Influences from the Italian Renaissance were soon to come with Heinrich Schütz and so German opera was born when he composed “Dafne” for a wedding of the electoral couple in their residence in Torgau, to a libretto by the Silesian poet Martin Opitz (actually translation of Rinuncinis/Peris"Dafne").
In 1667 the "Klengelsche Opernhaus" was opened in Dresden with the opera "Teseo" by Giovanni Andrea Moneglia. This is how the Italian opera in Dresden began to sound.
Immediately afterwards, under the rule of August the Strong and his son, Dresden developed into an important cultural metropolis in Europe. The reigns of Friedrich August I as Elector of Saxony were between 1695-1733 (while he ruled under the title August II, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania between 1697-1706 and 1709-1733) and Friedrich August II from 1733 -1763 (as August III of Poland between 1733-1763).
In addition to painters, scientists and architects, the two electors invited important composers, singers and musicians to Dresden, and operas, ballets and other music were written at their court (and later in Warsaw). In 1719, as part of the "Planet Festivals", a new opera house was opened at the Zwinger with the drama per musica "Giove in Argo" by Antonio Lotti and an ensemble with well-known Italian virtuosos such as Senesino and Santa Stella was hired for it. August the Strong was a well-known collector and patron, but his son August III. was a great admirer and connoisseur of Italian opera. In 1731 Johann Adolf Hasse and his wife, the famous singer Faustina Bordoni, were invited to Dresden to assume the title of Royal Kapellmeister. The performance of the opera "Cleofide", based on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, was the first in a long series of operas that the composer performed in Dresden. Many of these operas were premiered in Hubertusburg, in Dresden or in the king's second residence in Warsaw. When the king died in 1763, the composer returned to Vienna and finally to Venice, where he died in 1783. Until then, it was mainly Italian operas that were heard in the court of the Catholic Monarchs.
But there was a turning point in Europe during the Enlightenment, also in music. The opera reform of Ch.W. Gluck brought many changes to the art of opera. One of them is the promotion of works in the mother tongues of the European peoples and the transition from baroque music to classical music.
“Let us end the cold beauties of convention that composers felt obliged to uphold. The true task of music is to serve poetry without interrupting or inhibiting its actions!” (Christoph W. Gluck)
On October 5, 1762, Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice" was performed in the Vienna Court Theater, ushering in a new era in operatic history. Gluck wanted a return to the “theater” element in opera, i.e. the interpretation of the text. The recitativo secco (accompanied by the basso continuo) was replaced by the recitativo accompagnato with the orchestra, and the arias changed their style and dispensed with the many coloraturas. The singer's voice was seen as an instrument for the actor's recitation rather than a musical instrument. During this time the era of composers like Hasse came to an end and the era of composers like Mozart began. The comprehensibility of the texts for the general public became a desirable element.
During this period many opera companies and impresarios traveled around Europe presenting plays and comedies. It is possible that these troops did much to spread Enlightenment ideas throughout Europe. In Dresden, too, the singer and impresario Agnelo Mingotti received permission in 1746 to build a wooden theater (Das "Mingottisches Theater" am Zwinger) near the Zwinger in order to play operas in the "folk style". The opera, performed there by various ensembles, was open to a paying audience. This was something new, since until then the operas had only been performed for the court. The Mingottian Theater burned down in 1748, but his idea survived.
1754 also received the Italian actor and impresario Pietro Moretti from Augustus III. permission to build a comedy house in the "Italian village" (at the current location of the Semperoper), in which he was allowed to perform "German comedies". In 1780 this theater (called "Morettisches Opernhaus") was renamed the "Kleines Hoftheater". The "Royal Court Theater" (Königliches Hoftheater, which opened in 1719 with "Giove in Argo") was damaged by Prussian soldiers just a year later during the Seven Years' War and the destruction of Dresden: scores by Hasse and Schütz were also then burned. Now the theater performances could take place in the "Morettische Opernhaus".
The opera "Il re pastore" by Johann Christoph Richter was probably also performed in this house. On the one hand, this information is not found in Moritz Fürstenau’s book (“Musik und Theater am Dresdner Hof”), but since in 1762 operas were only allowed to be played in this house, and the fact that “Il re pastore” was sung in German, we assume that this piece was played in the later "Kleines Hoftheater".
In this historic year 1762, when Gluck's "Orfeo" celebrated its premiere in Vienna, a new musical epoch began in Dresden, which had been destroyed and impoverished by the war. Hans Schnoor describes the culture around the "Morettische Theater", as follows: "Inwardly viewed, it was a sanctuary of the kind that very few in Germany have had, because Weber, Tieck and the masters of the sinking "Italianismo", the Paer, Morlacchi acted there; here the Dresden theater genius created the most precious memories in the light of German classicism and early romanticism; here was the birthplace of Wagner's musical drama, the first nurturing of a national theater idea, a "Dresden style" in opera and drama." He also mentions the importance of Moretti's theater and the German comedy troupes traveling from city to city for Development of the Singspiel - also with influences from the English-speaking world - and finally for paving the way for Weber's romantic opera.
1762, a year before the death of the Saxon Polish King Augustus III., in Dresden, too, a musical epoch came to an end and a new one began. The two operas "Il re pastore" are examples of these two worlds.
The fact that these two tendencies can be found in the “Florence on the Elbe” in Dresden speaks a lot for the character of the reign of Augustus III. The patron of the arts supported many painters and composers, had many monuments erected both in Poland and in Dresden, supported Winkelmann and opened museums and educational institutions, but even today he does not have a really good reputation and is misunderstood in both countries. He is considered a weak, wasteful person. But his actions present him as an enlightened promoter of all new cultural currents, and despite his Catholic denomination he also supported the music of Protestantism in Saxony. Permission to open the comedy house to German comedy companies was important for the further development of theater culture in Saxony.
Brief biographical informations
Johann Adolf Hasse was born in 1699 in Bergedorf, a district of Hamburg. He died in Venice in 1783. Coming from a family of organists, he began studying singing in Hamburg and initially sang as a tenor at the Oper am Gänsemarkt and in Braunschweig (Oper am Hagenmarkt), where his first opera Antioco (1721) was written. He then traveled to Italy, where he studied composition in Naples with Porpora and Scarlatti between 1722-25. His opera compositions, which he performed in Naples and Venice, made him so well known that in Italy he was called "il divino Sassone" (the divine Saxon). In 1730 he married the famous opera singer Faustina Bordoni. Together they made guest appearances in Dresden in 1731 (Cleofide). August the Strong bestowed on him the title of "Royal Polish and Saxon Kapellmeister", and in 1733 his service began under the new ruler August III. in Dresden where he stayed for 30 years. During this time he formed one of the best ensembles of the time in Dresden and Warsaw, known throughout Europe. He continued to travel throughout Europe (much in Italy, Vienna, London and Paris) performing his operas everywhere, mainly to libretti by Metastasio, whose friend he was. The Hasse era in Dresden ended with the devastating Seven Years' War (1756-1763). After the death of Augustus III the couple moved to Vienna, where they lived until 1773 and where Hasse still wrote some operas commissioned by Maria Theresa, but fewer and fewer. After the Gluck reform, a new style of opera gained new adherents, but he remained true to his style. The couple spent the rest of their lives in Venice. Faustina died in 1781 and Hasse on December 16, 1783. His resting place is in the Church of San Marcuola in Venice.
Hasse was one of the most important exponents of opera seria of his time and his name is closely linked to Metastasio. Hasse left outstanding works not only in the opera genre, but also in cantatas and oratorios (a total of around 40 works based on Metastasio's libretto). His sacred music is also great. Finally, he also wrote instrumental music, symphonies, sonatas and solfeggi. In his time he was considered one of the most important composers in Europe.
Johann Christoph Richter is almost the same age as Johann Adolf Hasse, but unlike the second one would assume that his life and work took place solely in Dresden, save for a trip to Italy (1714-1716) where he was sent by the court orchestra to deepen into music studies. We read in Moritz Fürstenau's book about the opera at the court of Augustus: "Johann Christoph Richter was born in Dresden on July 15, 1700 and died on January 19, 1785. In August 1727 he was appointed court organist, an office he held for 57.5 years. He drew many good students, among whom Christian Gottlieb Dachselt (organist at the Frauenkirche) deserves special mention, and was famous in his day as a good organist and counterpoint player. There are 2 operas by him in Dresden: Metastasio's "Il Ré pastore" in a German translation and an "Opera dramatica" ("Il Natal di Giove" also on Metastasios Libretto) to celebrate the birthday of the Electress Maria Antonia in 1764. Since 1730, by the way, the protestant composer was engaged for the Hofkirchenmusik from the Oberkämmerei, although the Oberhofmaschallamt, as the previous authority, had raised an objection to it.”
Richter was also a student of Panteleon Habestreit, the inventor of a keyboard instrument that bears his name "Pantaleon", and played and taught this instrument in Dresden after his teacher retired from musical life. Finally, in Moritz Fürstenau's book we find his name next to Johann Sigismund Hauptmann as Prinzipalle (troupe leader or impressarios) in connection with a German comedy troupe that appeared in Dresden in 1741 at various theaters.
Pietro Metastasio
The real name of the most important poet and librettist of the 18th century was Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi. He was born in Rome on January 3, 1698 and died in 1782, so he was also a contemporary of the two composers mentioned above. Even as a child he spontaneously recited poems. It was on one such occasion that Giovani Vicenzo Gravina, a lawyer, writer and President of the "Accademia dell'Arcadia" in Rome, caught the eye of him and took over his training, taught him Latin and law and encouraged his literary talent. His first literary tasks (at the age of twelve) were the translation of Homer's "Iliad" and a tragedy in the style of Seneca. During these years he wore the habit of an abbe, after he had received the minor orders, without which it was impossible to advance a career in Rome. At the age of 20 his mentor Gravina died and he inherited his fortune. From 1721 he worked as a jurist in Naples but soon began his first musico-dramatic task to write texts, such as the serenata "Endimione" played at the wedding of Princess Pinelli di Sangro. In 1722, Metastasio wrote with Nicola Porpora for the birthday of Habsburg empress of Burgenland and performed the serenata "Gli orti esperidi" with singers like Farinelli or La Romanina. This soprano, amazed by his talent, persuaded the poet to give up law and devote himself to literature. In the house of La Romanina in Rome, Metastasio met the greatest composers of his time (Hasse, Pergolesi, Scarlatti, Vinci, Leo, Durante and Marcello), who later set his pieces to music. La Romanina became his patroness, she adopted him with his family in Rome and under her patronage (she often also sang the leading roles in the operas) he wrote his first major libretti. In 1729 Metastasio received the offer to succeed Apostolo Zeno as court poet at the Viennese imperial court of Charles VI. to become. Between 1730 and 1740 his best dramas were set to music and performed for the Imperial Court Theater. These were settings by Antonio Caldara, Vivaldi or Hasse. From 1745, when the wars began, he became less creative, he only wrote texts for cantatas and arias (such as "Ecco quel fiero istante" for Farinelli), he lived in seclusion in Vienna and died in 1782 after an illness. He bequeathed his fortune to the children of his friend Nicoló Martines, whose daughter, the singer and composer Marianna von Martines, he supported. His body is still in Vienna's Michaelerkirche. However, his fame continued to grow even after his death and his works were translated into several European languages and further set to music by many composers.
„Il re pastore“ Drama per musica
Metastasio's melodrama "Il re pastore" was first performed in Vienna in 1752 by Giuseppe Bono at Schönbrunn Palace. It was written at the request of Maria Theresa for a performance in the garden theater of Schönbrunn Palace, performed by members of the imperial court (one man - for the role of Alexander - and four women). Since then it has been set to music by many composers, including Christoph Willibald Gluck (1756, Vienna) and Mozart (Salzburg 1775), who became acquainted with the libretto in London in 1765 through Felice Giardini's setting.
The theme of the opera is based on Curtius Rufus' History of Alexander the Great (Historiae Alexandri Magni Macedonis), which in turn inspired Torquato Tasso's play Aminta. It tells the story of the shepherd Abdalonimus, who is promoted by Alexander to the rightful ruler of Sidon (city in present-day Jordan) because he proves with his character and virtue that he can be a good ruler. The story is inspiring and educational as it is about an ideal ruler who can only be one who cares for his people like a good shepherd.
The exact plot takes us back to the time of Alexander the Great, who defeated the tyrant Strato in his last campaign and is now on a quest to find the rightful king of Sidon. King Alessandro soon discovers that Aminta, seemingly just a humble shepherd, is heir to the throne of Sidon.
Aminta's sudden rise in power strains his relationship with shepherdess Elisa when Alessandro proposes a marriage between the new king and Tamiri, Strato's daughter, to ensure a peaceful and lasting transfer of power. Neither Tamiri nor Aminta want that, because each of them is in love with someone else. Tamiris is actually in love with Agenor, a Sidonian nobleman and friend of Alexander. After much drama, King Alessandro's legendary wisdom and sense of justice prevail and Aminta ascends the throne of Sidon with his true love Elisa at his side.
The Opera „Il re pastore“ by Johann Christoph Richter
Johann Christoph Richter wrote the opera "Il re pastore" based on the translation of the Metastasio libretto from 1755 (for the premiere of Hasse's opera in Hubertusburg). The translator is unknown. The place or reason for the performance of the opera is also unknown, but it can be assumed that it was performed in front of a large audience in the Morettisches Theater with a German comedy troupe, as is so often the case in this theatre.
The presentation of the opera in German as well as some musical peculiarities of the score allows us to assign this work to the new tendencies in the theater world, which began to establish themselves in the music world after the Gluck reforms. Although the recitatives are still accompanied by a basso continuo, a particularly beautiful and dramatic 'Recitativo accompagnato' (with orchestra) precedes Agenor's last aria 'Von dergleichen herben Plagen'. The arias are simple, without too much coloratura and virtuosity. Tamiris' Act III aria, 'If you give me to someone else', is quite novel in structure even without the traditional orchestral introduction. The music shows traits of classicism, such as the Alexander aria from Act 3 ("You, gods") or a drama (such as "Barbar" by Elisa from Act 2), that reminds "Sturm und Drang" and the music of Beethoven. In any case, this is an attempt to free oneself from the rococo style, and one can already recognize elements reminiscent of Mozart's music.
The roles in this opera are all written on the soprano clef. It can therefore be assumed that all roles were sung by female voices or castrati. The protagonist, shepherd Aminta, was mezzo-soprano or alto, Elisa (his beloved) and the princess Tamiris sopranos, while Agenor and Alexander (male roles) were sopranos or high castrati. We decided to give the role of Alexander to a tenor.
Reading Metastasio's libretto, both in the original language and in the German and Polish translations, we immediately noticed the perfection of this text. Not only dramaturgically we are dealing with an incomparable harmony of the scenes, which makes it a pleasure to follow the plot. The text contains supreme philosophical truths, e.g. the dialogues between Aminta and Alexander on how a ruler should be, or the recitative of Alexander in which he regards the vocation of helping a man on his path of vocation as higher than wars to lead and conquer countries.
So it is the important educational value of this libretto that makes Richter's opera (in understandable German) particularly valuable!
In 2022 we also transcribed and performed a fragment from the score of Richter's second opera (“Il Natal di Giove”). Richter wrote Metastasio's other beautiful libretto for the birthday of Princess Maria Antonia Walpurgis, who was widowed just a year ago. It should be noted that Maria Antonia was also a librettist, singer (student of Hasse and Porpora) and composer, member of the "Accademia dell'Arcadia", and her works are also part of the music collection in Dresden. Since Il "Natal di Giove" was written this time for the court and not for the common people, it is written in the original Italian. We edited the "Licenza" from this score, i.e. the final aria that conveys the birthday wishes to Maria Antonia. It begins with a beautiful recitative “accompagnato”, the musical emotions are sublimed (because of the early loss of Friedrich Christian and the situation in Saxony) and it ends with a very melodic and melancholic aria, which also has classical traits and is more of a prayer to the gods (Jupiter in this case) for the fate of the Electress. This serenata was played in 1764.
The Opera „il re pastore“ by Johann Adolf Hasse
Johann Adolf Hasse wrote the opera to a libretto by his friend Metastasio for the birthday of Augustus III. It was performed on October 7, 1755 in Hubertusburg, where the Saxon King of Poland had his hunting residence and where there was also an opera house. Important Italian virtuosi of the time sang the leading roles. In 1762, when the king was living in Warsaw with his court and Prussian soldiers were ravaging Dresden, Hasse wrote a second version (for the new singers hired in Warsaw) and partly used other orchestral instruments. It was the last opera Hasse wrote for the birthday of Augustus III. The king died in Dresden on October 5, 1763.
The roles are all written in soprano clef, with the exception of Alessandro (alto). Aminta was a high castrato (now mezzo-soprano or high countertenor), Elisa a high mezzo-soprano, Tamiris soprano, Agenore a high castrato or soprano, and finally Alessandro an altus.
The music is masterfully written: one hears Hasse in his maturity as a composer. The use of instruments is beautiful and rich, the melodies noble and graceful with beautiful, virtuosic coloraturas. Hans Schnoor, quoting the musicologists Rudolf Gerber and Friedrich Chrysander, writes: “The inspection of Hasse's complete works, one of the most rewarding, most urgent tasks of future German and international scholarship, will still yield many a surprise. Going beyond the eminent research results of Mennicke, Gerber already showed how much internalized natural romanticism could be found in the works of the later period, even in the arias ("il re pastore", Hubertusburg 1755) - there is a musical "landscape painting", as worthy as Weber or Schubert. Hasse has folk-song-like elements in parallel to Händel, as well as very individual coloristic traits and metrical-rhythmic formations as well as harmonic peculiarities that deserve a thorough, systematic elucidation. If one only thinks of the Dresden musical heyday around the middle of the century, a peak and a turning point in Hasse's life and work, one can agree with Chrysander that dealing with the art of "divino Sassone" is like a voyage of discovery in distant countries. The wonders of musical genius are truly plentiful and tangible."
Conclusion and perspectives
Dealing with the two operas "Il re pastore" by J.A.Hasse, J.Chr.Richter and the librettist Pietro Metastasio in Dresden around 1762 made us understand that the Saxon state capital was an important cultural metropolis in Europe at that time and the scene of a cultural turning point. Further study and research of this musical event (both the works before 1762 and those after) would help to understand the importance of Dresden as a place of cultural "cooking" between new and old tendencies, between German, Italian culture, the influences from other cultures the West and East about the traveling of the comedy troupes, and finally the coexistence between the Catholic and Protestant cultures in Dresden, a city on the border between German-speaking countries, Bohemia and Poland. The awareness of the citizens of Dresden and Saxony but also of Poland for the cultural policy of the two Augustans would prove to be very positive: firstly for the recognition of the importance of the Saxon Baroque as a European cultural heritage of the first rank, secondly for the Polish-German friendship.
In my opinion, Dresden's late baroque heritage should become the focus of interest for musicians and young people in the region and especially between Poland, Saxony and Bohemia, and dealing with this heritage should give new impetus for the future development of the region.
Another element is the role of Saxony, its musicians and philosophers in the Enlightenment and Classicism in Saxony and Poland. Augustus' legacy in Saxony and Poland was certainly an inspiration for the last Polish king, Stanislaw August Poniatowski, who also became an enlightened ruler - a patron of arts and culture. With the opportunity to engage with this art, the rest of Europe could also visit our region and learn about this times in European history. This would also fill a gap as there is a great interest in Hasse's music worldwide, as evidenced by the many positive messages we received as soon as the project was released.
Under this premise, the author of these lines would like to continue to devote herself to this task. As chairwoman of the Ars Augusta e.V. and with the help of the Polish-German Lausitzer Barockensemble she founded and the experience from the implementation of academic projects with young singers, the goal for the coming years remains to dig up, research, perform and promote these treasures from Dresden’s cultural heritage, not only from the time of baroque opera, but also the unknown development in the musical culture of the city around 1762, i.e. the change from Rockoko to Classic, the Singspiel (Hiller/Weisse) and the first German operas.
She would like to do this in cooperation with artists from Saxony and Poland and found a small group of artists who are dedicated to this task and document it over the years. Specifically, it is about the presentation of instrumental works, operas and singspiels and their performance in theaters in the region, such as the barn in the baroque palace Könighain or the Kurtheater in Bad Warmbrunn and finally also in Hubertusburg, Dresden and the Royal Theater in Warsaw (Lazienki). A further cooperation with similar societies in Bohemia is also planned, and finally the connection with Italy. The works are documented in scores, videos and CDs. This could mean a renaissance of this heritage and make our region internationally more attractive and worth seeing. At these four locations, for example, the first performance of the opera "Il re pastore" by Johann Adolf Hasse could start in 2023 or 2024.
Sources
Moritz Fürstenau „Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Hofe zu Dresden nach archivalischen Quellen“ Dresden 1862 (Seiten: 17-18, 91, 341)
Hans Schnoor „Dresden: Vierhundertjahre Deutsche Musik-Kultur“. Dresdner Verlagsgesellschaft, 1948 (Seiten: 59-95, 119-127)
Friedrich Chrysander „Musik und Theater in Mecklenburg“ (Auf lexikus.de)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Metastasio
Further online sources:
Daten über den Aufführungsort von Richters „Re pastore“: https://exhibits.stanford.edu/operadata/catalog/183-51885
Ulrich Rosseaux: Freiräume: Unterhaltung, Vergnügen und Erholung in Dresden 1694–1830
Morettisches Opernhaus https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morettisches_Opernhaus
Fotos vom Morettischen Opernshaus https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Morettisches_Opernhaus_(Dresden)?uselang=de
Das Opernhaus von Mingotti https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opernhaus_am_Taschenberg
Hoftheater am Zwinger https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opernhaus_am_Zwinger
Biografie Pietro Morettis https://saebi.isgv.de/biografie/Pietro_Moretti_(um_1720_-_1773)
Further lectures:
1. Margret Scharrer-Heiko Laß - Matthias Müller „Musiktheater im höfischen Raum des frühneuzeitlichen Europa. Heidelberg 2020.
2. Johann Mattheson. „Der vollkommene Capellmeister“ Hamburg 1739
PARTITURAS, SCORES AND LIBRETTI
of the two operas "Re pastore" by J.A.Hasse and J.Ch.Richter can be found under the link: https://www.arsaugusta.org/sachsens-opernschätze .
