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Partenope
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- For other uses, see Parthenope
Partenope is an opera by George Frideric Handel, first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 24 February, 1730.
opera, which is in three acts, is composed to an Italian libretto adapted by an unknown hand from an libretto originally written in 1699 by Silvio Stampiglia. Stampiglia's libretto had received many previous settings, including one by Caldara which Handel may have seen in Venice around 1710.
It was Handel's first comic (or, rather, unserious) opera since the much earlier Agrippina, breaking away from the more traditional Opera Seria works for which the composer was known in London.
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Encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Parthenope
Partenope is an opera by George Frideric Handel, first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 24 February, 1730.
Background
The opera, which is in three acts, is composed to an Italian libretto adapted by an unknown hand from an libretto originally written in 1699 by Silvio Stampiglia. Stampiglia's libretto had received many previous settings, including one by Caldara which Handel may have seen in Venice around 1710.
It was Handel's first comic (or, rather, unserious) opera since the much earlier Agrippina, breaking away from the more traditional Opera Seria works for which the composer was known in London. He originally proposed the libretto to the opera company the Royal Academy of Music in 1726. They however rejected the work because of its frivolous nature, its relatively few extended arias and its long passages of recitative. The opera manager Owen Swiney opined that the project was uncommercial; in a letter of 1726 he wrote:
[The libretto] is the very worst book (excepting one) that I ever read in my whole life. Signor Stampiglia [...] endeavours to be both humorous and witty in it: if he succeeded in his attempt on any stage in Italy, 'twas merely from a depravity of taste in the audience; for I am very sure it will be received with contempt in England'
The opera was presented during the 1730 season at the King's Theatre when Handel was working in partnership with the director John Jacob Heidegger. The score was completed by Handel just two weeks before the premiere.
Roles
Synopsis
Prince Arsace of Corinth and Prince Armindo of Rhodes are seeking Queen Partenope, the founder of the city of Naples, in marriage. A third prince, Emilio of Cumae, is at war with Naples and with Partenope. Partenope is primarily attracted to Arsace. However, she does not know that Arsace has previously abandoned Rosmira, who is disguised as a man named Eurimene, and is trying to win him back. Rosmira, confronts him as Eurimene and harasses him for his faithlessness, and demands that he keep her true identity secret. Ultimately, Rosmira/Eurimene challenges her lover to a duel in a court of honour, but her identity is revealed when he demands the condition that they fight stripped to the waist.
Modern revival
A production in English (entitled Parthenope) was staged in 2008 (premiere October 9, 2008, with the title role sung by Rosemary Joshua) by the English National Opera, in a co-production with Opera Australia. The libretto was translated by Amanda Holden. The production was set in an 1920s atmosphere and was inspired by the surrealist images of Man Ray.
Recording
- Harmonia Mundi IC 157-99 855-8: Kristzina Laki, Helga Müller Molinari, René Jacobs, John York Skinner, Martyn Hill, Stephen Varcoe; La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor.
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