Erismena is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. First performed in Venice in 1655, it was designated as a dramma per musica.
Libretto
The Italian libretto was by
Aurelio Aureli, the only work by this writer for Cavalli. It was dedicated to Giacomo Cavalli (1617-1674), one of the sons of Federico Cavalli (1567-1618), benefactor of the composer.
[Gino Benzoni, "CAVALLI, Giovanni", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 22 (1979).]
The work is also unusual for having been translated into English in the 17th century.
Erismena is the first full-length opera known to have been translated into English and may have been first performed in England in 1674.
Performance history
The performance history indicates that the opera was well received.
It was first performed in
Venice at the Teatro Sant'Apollinare on 30 December 1655
[Amadeus Almanac (see references) gives the date as 26 December 1655.] with further performances between that date and 28 February 1656. Cavalli revised the work in 1670. Both versions have survived as well as one with an English translation, also dated to the 17th century.
Roles
|
| Erimante, King of Media | bass | |
| Erismena, daughter of Erimante | soprano | |
| Aldimira, favourite of Erimante | soprano | |
| Alcesta, Aldimira's former nurse | contralto | |
| Idraspe (Erineo), Prince of Iberia | contralto | |
| Orimeno, Prince of Colchus | soprano | |
| Agrippo, servant of Orimeno | bass | |
| Diarte, a prison guard | bass | |
| Clerio | soprano | |
| Flerida | soprano | |
| Oriste | bass | |
|
Score
Many opera scores by Cavalli have survived among the manuscripts of Venice's Biblioteca Marciana. According to Grove, there are two versions of
Erismena
/ref> There is another score in the
Bodleian Library.
While the libretto was published in 1655, the score was not published until 2018 when Bärenreiter edition appeared, based on one of the Marciana scores. The volume also includes the English version which uses the Bodleian score.
The 'English 'Version'
A manuscript score of
Erismena, with English underlay, is the oldest surviving opera score in England,
dating from the 1670s. The score was in a private library until 2008. A public subscription raised £85,000 to donate the score to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, after export of the score had been blocked by the British Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art.
The manuscript has a unique allegorical prologue, with characters who do not feature in the opera; this is believed to indicate that the version was performed, or intended to be performed, for a Royal audience.[ "The earliest opera in English saved for the nation: The Bodleian library acquires Erismena", Bodleian Library website, 16 January 2009, accessed 30 August 2016.]
A version of the English score was given by Alan Curtis who recorded it in 1968 (see below). Another one, this time by Lionel Salter, was staged by the Edinburgh University Opera Club in 1989. In the 21st century, a version of the opera was performed by English Touring Opera,
Recordings
-
Pier Francesco Cavalli: L'Erismena Sung in English. Oakland Symphony; Conductor: Alan Curtis. Principal singers: Walt McKibben (Alcesta), Carole Bogard (Aldimira), Edward Jameson (Argippo), Leslie Retallick (Clerio), Edgar Jones (Diark), Walter Matthes (Erimante), Delreen Hafenrichter (Erismena), Holly Alonso (Flerida), Melvin Brown (Idraspe), Paul Esswood ( Orimeno) Recording date: 1968 Label: Vox - SVBX 5213 (LPs)
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Cavalli: Erismena Sung in Italian. There is a live video recording of the 2017 production for the Festival D'Aix-en-Provence with Leonardo García Alarcón and the Cappella Mediterranea, starring sopranos Francesca Aspromonte and Susanna Hurrell, countertenors Carlo Vistoli and Jakub Jósef Orlinski, and baritone Alexander Miminoshvili. There is a full version available on YouTube.
[Archived at Ghostarchive and the
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine: ]
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Atto I Scena 4: "Speranze voi che siete" Scena 5 "O stelle, a che mi sforzate" "A me il veleno" Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo García Alarcón, Thomas Dunford, Sarah Van Oudenhove, Mariana Flores 2014
Notes
Sources
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Clinkscale, Martha Novak (1992), " Erismena " in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London)
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Hall, George (9 October 2006) "Erismena" The Guardian. Accessed 7 September 07.
External links
