Atalanta (opera)

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Atalanta (opera)

Atalanta is an opera

Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
in three acts by George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was an England Baroque music composer of Germany birth who is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerto grosso. His life and music may justly be described as "cosmopolitan": he was born in Germany, trained in Italy, and spent most of his life in England....
composed in 1736. It is based upon the mythological

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
female athlete, Atalanta

Atalanta

Atalanta is a character from ancient Greek mythology.After being told by an oracle she would be ruined if she were to marry, Atalanta set up a contest to win her hand in marriage....
, the libretto (which is in Italian) being derived from the book La Caccia in Etolia by Belisario Valeriani. The identity of the librettist

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
is not known.

Handel composed it for the London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
celebrations of the marriage in 1736 of Frederick, Prince of Wales

Frederick, Prince of Wales

The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the Kingdom of Hanover and British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II of Great Britain and father of George III of Great Britain....
, eldest son of King George II

George II of Great Britain

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Encyclopedia

Atalanta is an opera

Opera

George Frideric Handel

Greek mythology

Atalanta

Libretto

London

Frederick, Prince of Wales

George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-L?neburg and Prince-elector#High Offices and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death....
. The first performance took place on 12th May 1736 in the Covent Garden Theatre. It closed with a spectacular display of fireworks, which was highly popular with the Prince of Wales and the London audience, and the opera and fireworks display were revived a number of times in the year of its first performance.

The opera is rarely recorded or performed nowadays (before a production in 1970 the critic Winton Dean

Winton Dean

Winton Dean is an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research concerning the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of the Baroque composer George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his book Handel?s Dramatic Oratorios and Masques ....
claimed that it had never been revived since 1736). However, one arioso

Arioso

In European classical music, arioso is a style of Solo opera singing between recitative and aria. Literally, arioso means airy. The term arose in the 16th century along with the aforementioned styles and monody....
from it, Care Selve, Ombre Beate, has acquired popularity as a recital piece. In the original score it is sung by Meleagro - despite being a male character, a soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....
part, nowadays taken as a breeches role

Breeches role

A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing . In opera it can also refer to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer....
though in the original production it was taken by the castrato

Castrato

A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto human voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinology condition, never reaches sexual maturity....
Gioacchino Conti

Gioacchino Conti

Gioacchino Conti , best known as Gizziello, was an Italy sopranist castrato opera singer....
.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 12 May 1736 (Conductor: - )
Atalanta	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....
Meleager	soprano
Irene	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of European classical music female voice type whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above ....
Aminta	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....
Nicandro	bass	Gustavus Waltz Gustavus Waltz Gustavus Waltz was a bass opera singer who collaborated with George Frideric Handel.Like Handel himself, Waltz was a naturalized Englishman, originally German, and is said to have worked for Handel as a cook....
Mercurio (Mercury Mercury (mythology) In Roman mythology, Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Cronus, and Jupiter .... ), the messenger of god	bass

Synopsis

The plot is generally described as thin, with some critics rating it thin in the extreme. It takes place in legendary times in Greece, circa 13th century BC. The hero is Meleager

Meleager

In Greek mythology, Meleager was the son of Althaea and Oeneus and, according to some accounts father of Parthenopeus and Polydora. His story has similarities with the Scandinavian Norna-Gests ??ttr....
, the young King of Etolia. He is courting the eponymous Atalanta, who runs away to the woods of Etolia where she lives under the name of Amaryllis among the nymphs and shepherds. Meleager follows her there and disguises himself as a shepherd, taking the name of Thyrsis. There their loves become confused with those of a couple of young shepherds, Irene and Amyntas (Aminta); Irene's father, Nicandro is the only person who knows Meleager's true identity. In the end, however, Atalanta falls in love with Meleager in his disguised form, and they are revealed to each other by Nicandro; Irene and Amyntas are reconciled, and all ends happily.

Arias

The complete list of arias is as follows:

Lascia ch'io parta solo; Meleager

S'è tuo piacer, chio mora; Aminta

Impara, ingrata; Nicandro

Come alla tortorella langue; Irene

Riportai gloriosa palma; Atalanta

Non sarà poco; Meleager

Lassa! ch'io t'ho perduta; Atalanta

Sì, mel raccordero; Meleager

Soffri in pace il tuo dolore; Irene

Dì ad Irene, tiranna; Aminta

M'allontano, stegnose pupille; Meleager

Se nasce un rivoletto; Atalanta

Bench'io non sappia ancor; Atalanta

Diedi il core ad altra Ninfa; Aminta

Ben'io sento l'ingrata; Irene

Or trionfar ti fanno; Nicandro

Sol prova contenti; Mercurio

There are two duets in the opera sung by Meleager and Atalanta. They are Amarilli? - Oh Dei, che vuoi and Caro/Cara.

E-book

of Atalanta (ed. Friedrich Chrysander

Friedrich Chrysander

Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander was a Germany music history and music critic, whose edition of the works of George Frideric Handel and authoritative writings on many other composers established him as a pioneer of 19th-century musicology....
, Leipzig 1882)

External links

of the opera as recorded at a live performance by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland, California and Emeryville, California....
in 2005
sung by Linda Maguire