Il re pastore

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Il re pastore

Il re pastore (The Shepherd King) 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....
, K.

Köchel-Verzeichnis

The K?chel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig Ritter von K?chel....
208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty; at seventeen he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position, always...
to an Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
libretto

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....
by Metastasio

Metastasio

Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italy poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti....
, edited by Gianbattista Varesco

Varesco

Father Varesco was a chaplain, musician, poet and librettist to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His given name variously appears as Giambattista, Gianbattista, Giovanni Battista and Girolamo Giovanni Battista....
. It is an opera seria

Opera seria

Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to ca....
. The opera was first performed on April 23 1775

1775 in music

Events * Premiere of Pierre Beaumarchais's play, The Barber of Seville, which will later provide material for more than one opera.*Wilhelm Hauser becomes organist at the monastery of Lavaldieu and the teacher of ?tienne M?hul....
in Salzburg

Salzburg

is the List of cities and towns in Austria#List of cities and towns by population size in Austria and the capital city of the states of Austria of Salzburg ....
, at the Palace of the Archbishop Count Hieronymus von Colloredo.

In 1775 the opera was commissioned for a visit by the Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria

Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria

Maximilian Francis von Habsburg-Lothringen was AN Archbishop of Cologne, the last child of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor....
, the youngest son of Empress Maria Theresa

Maria Theresa of Austria

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Encyclopedia

Il re pastore (The Shepherd King) 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....
, K.

Köchel-Verzeichnis

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
libretto

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....
by Metastasio

Metastasio

Varesco

Opera seria

1775 in music

Salzburg

Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria

Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa was the List of rulers of Austria, List of rulers of Hungary, List of rulers of Croatia, Queen of Bohemia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany and a Holy Roman Emperor by marriage to Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor....
, to Salzburg. Mozart spent six weeks working on the opera. It consists of two acts and runs for approximately 107 minutes.

Metastasio wrote the libretto in 1751, basing it on a work by Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso was an Italy poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem ....
called Aminta
Aminta

Aminta is a Play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, represented during a garden party at the court of Ferrara. Both the actors and the public were noble persons living at the Court, who could understand subtle allusions the poet made to that style of life, in contrast with the life of shepherds, represented in an idyll way....
. The libretto was picked up when Mozart (just 19 at the time) and his father saw a performance of it set to music composed by Felice Giardini

Felice Giardini

Felice Giardini was an Italy composer and violinist.Felice Giardini was born in Turin. When it became clear that he was a child prodigy, his father sent him to Milan....
— Mozart's version, however was two acts rather than Giardini's three, and has a few substantial changes. Each act lasts for around an hour in performance. The Salzburg court chaplain Varesco was largely responsibly for this editing of Metastasio's libretto.

It is often referred to not as an opera, but as a serenata, a type of dramatic cantata. The appearance of a quartet of lovers (Aminta and Elisa, Agenore and Tamiri) of somewhat dubious fidelity automatically puts a modern audience in mind of Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte

Cos? fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte....
. The principal psychological theme of the opera is, however, the demands of love against the demands of Kingship, as Aminta, the Shepherd-king, tussles with his conscience, and in this Il re pastore is closer in theme to Idomeneo
Idomeneo

Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by Andr? Campra as Idom?n?e in 1712....
than any other of Mozart's operas. Indeed, Idomeneo was the next completed opera that Mozart wrote after Il re pastore, after his six-year-long break from the stage.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types....	Premiere Cast, April 23, 1775 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.... : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart )
Aminta, a shepherd, rightful heir to Sidon Sidon Sidon,or Sa?da, is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, Lebanon of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean Sea coast, about 40 km north of Tyre, Lebanon and 40 km south of the capital Beirut....	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.... (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.... )	Tommaso Consoli
Elisa, Phoenicia Phoenicia Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and the Palestinian territories.... n shepherdess	soprano	Maria Anna Fesemayr
Tamiri, daughter of the deposed tyrant, Stratone	soprano	Maria Magdalena LippMaria Magdalena Lipp was married to Michael Haydn Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the Classical music era, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.... . She had also created the role of Barmherzigkeit (Divine Mercy) in Mozart's first musical play, Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes *Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes* , K?chel-Verzeichnis 35, is a sacred musical play composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767 when he was 11 years old.... to which her husband had contributed the second part (now lost)./Maria Anna Braunhofer
Agenore, Sidonian aristocrat	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....	Felix Hofstätter
Alessandro, King of Macedonia Macedon Macedon or Macedonia was the name of a monarchy centred in the northernmost part of ancient Greece. The homeland of the ancient Macedonians, it was bordered by the kingdom of Epirus to the west and the region of Thrace to the east....	tenor	Franz Anton Spitzeder

Synopsis

The king of Macedonia, Alessandro, has overthrown Stratone, the tyrant of Sidon, but aims to find the rightful king.

Act 1

In a meadow. The city of Sidon can be seen from a distance.

Elisa is with her lover Aminta, the shepherd. She assures him that the war between King Alessandro and Stratone, the tyrant of Sidon, will not affect their love for each other. Having deposed Stratone, Alessandro searches for the rightful heir to Sidon. He thinks that Aminta is the rightful heir. He comes to Aminta in disguise and offers him to take him to Alessandro. Aminta wants to remain a shepherd. Meantime, Agenore encounters his beloved Tamiri, daughter of Stratone. Tamiri is comforted to learn that Agenore still loves her.

Elisa gets permission from her father to marry Aminta. Agenore tells Aminta that he is the rightful heir to the throne and that his father was driven out by Stratone when he was a baby. Aminta promises to return to Elisa after claming his throne. Aminta loves Elisa but Alessandro suggests that when Aminta is hailed king, royal duties take precedence over love. Alessandro suggests that Tamiri marry Aminta in order to ascend her father's throne. Aminta disagrees.

Act 2

Macedonian Camp.

Elisa is prevented by Agenore from seeing Aminta. He also discourages Aminta from pursuing her. Alessandro tells Aminta to dress like a king so he can be presented to his subjects. He also decides that Tamiri marry Aminta. Aminta is distraught. Agenore is upset. He breaks the news to Elisa. Tamiri does not want to marry Aminta. Agenore, too, is tormented by the planned marriage. Tamiri tells Alessandro that she and Agenore are in love. The women threw themselves in Alessandro's mercy. Elisa begs him to give her back Aminta who declares his love for Elisa ("L'amerò, sarò costante"). Realizing the potential injustice he was about to inflict, Alessandro tells Aminta to marry Elisa and Tamiri to marry Agenore. Aminta is crowned king of Sidon.

Noted arias

"Intendo, amico rio" — Aminta in Act 1
"Alla selva, al prato" — Elisa in Act 1
"Aer tranquillo e di sereni" — Aminta in Act 1
"Si spande al sole in faccia" — Alessandro in Act 1
"Per me rispondete" — Agenore in Act 1
"Di tante sue procelle" — Tamiri in Act 1
"Barbaro! oh Dio mi vedi" — Elisa in Act 2
"Se vincendo vi rendo felici" — Alessandro in Act 2
"L'amerò, sarò costante" — Aminta in Act 2
"Se tu di me fai dono" — Tamiri in Act 2
"Sol può dir come si trova" — Agenore in Act 2
"Voi che fausti ognor donati" — Alessandro in Act 2

Selected recording

1967 — Reri Grist
Reri Grist

Reri Grist is an United States coloratura soprano, one of the pioneer African-American singers to enjoy a major international career in opera....
(Aminta), Lucia Popp
Lucia Popp

Lucia Popp was a Slovaks noted operatic soprano. She began her career as a soubrette soprano, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Strauss and Wagner operas....
(Elisa), Arlene Saunders
Arlene Saunders

Arlene Saunders is a celebrated American soprano. After making her operatic debut as Rosalinde von Eisenstein, in Die Fledermaus, with the National Opera Company in 1958, she made her first appearance with the New York City Opera in 1961, as Giorgetta in Il tabarro ....
(Tamiri), Nicola Monti
Nicola Monti

Nicola Monti is an Italian opera singer, one of the leading tenore di grazia of the 1950s.Born in Milan, Italy, Monti studied voice from an early age, and made his debut in concert in Florence in 1941, and that same year sang his first major role, the Rigoletto, in Cagliari....
(Agerone), Luigi Alva
Luigi Alva

Luigi Alva was the foremost tenor of the third quarter of the 20th century. He was admired for his purity of tone, the elegance of his phrasing and the clarity of his diction....
(Alessandro) — The Orchestra of Naples, Denis Vaughan
Denis Vaughan

Denis Vaughan is an Conducting most famous for his role as the driving force behind the creation of the United Kingdom's National Lottery . He is a campaigner for wider access to arts and culture for young people, and promotes the health benefits of music, the arts and sport....
— 2 CDs RCA
RCA

RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today, the RCA is owned by the France conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson....

External links

at
at Mozart Archiv