La passione di Gesù Cristo

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La passione di Gesù Cristo is a libretto by Pietro Metastasio which was repeatedly set as an azione sacra or oratorio by many composers of the late baroque, Rococo and early classical period.

Writing and original setting[edit]

The libretto was written by the imperial poet in Rome on the instruction of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor.[citation needed] Court composer Antonio Caldara's original setting of La passione di Gesù Cristo signor nostro was performed on 3 April 1730, as part of Holy Week, in the holy sepulchre of the Hofburgkapelle [de], the court chapel in the Hofburg in Vienna.[1][2]

The oratorio marks a departure from the settings of actual Gospel passion narratives such as the Latin Passio Secundum Ioannem of Alessandro Scarlatti to a more theatrical style. The four central roles are S. Pietro, S. Giovanni, Maria Maddalena, Giuseppe d'Arimatea – with John, Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea answering Peter's questions about the crucifixion.

Other settings[edit]

  • 1733 Carlo Sodi, Rome.
  • 1735 Giovanni Lorenzo Gregori, Lucca.
  • 1735 Giuseppe Venturelli, Modena.[3]
  • 1736 Michelangiolo Magagni, Florence.
  • 1737 Domenico Natale Sarro, Rome.
  • 1742 Davide Perez (1711–1778), Palermo.
  • 1743 Domenico Valentini, Venice. (music lost)
  • 1743 Niccolò Conti, Venice.
  • 1747 Giovanni Cordicelli, Rome.
  • 1749 Andrea Cornario, Rome.
  • 1749 Niccolò Jommelli, La Passione di NS Gesù Cristo, Venice.[4] Which was considered "remarkably well set" by Charles Burney and admired by James Edward Smith.[5][6]
  • 1750 Johann Georg Schürer, Dresden
  • 1751 Jan Batista Runcher, Trento.
  • 1754 Carlo Alisio Pietragrua, Bamberg.
  • 1754 Ignaz Holzbauer, Mannheim.
  • 1754 Johann Gottlieb Harrer, Leipzig.
  • 1755 Johann Ernst Eberlin in German translation at the Convent of the Benedictines, Salzburg.
  • 1756 Giuseppe Feroci, Arezzo.
  • 1759 Giovanni Masi, Florence.
  • 1759 Francesco Zannetti, Volterra.
  • 1762 Domenico Francesco Vannucci (1718–1775), Lucca.
  • 1767 Johann Gottlieb Naumann, Padua.[7]
  • 1772 Pietro Pompeo Sales (1729–1797), Ehrenbreitstein.
  • 1773 Josef Mysliveček, Florence.
  • 1775 Pietro Maria Crispi, maestro di capella, Rome.[8]
  • 1776 Antonio Salieri, Vienna. – Metastasio is recorded to have said before the emperor that Salieri's setting "was the most expressive of any written on this poem."[9][10]
  • 1776 Francesco Antonio Uttini, Stockholm.
  • 1776 Andrea Luchesi, Bonn.
  • 1778 Joseph Schuster, Dresden. (Pupil of Johann Georg Schürer above).
  • 1778 Giuseppe Morosini patrizio veneto, Venice.
  • 1778 Joseph Schuster, Dresden.
  • 1778 Joseph Starzer (1726–1787), Vienna.
  • 1779 Giammaria Pavani, Ancona.
  • 1780 Antonio Calegari (1757–1828), Florence.
  • 1780 Gian Francesco de Majo, Bologna.
  • 1782 Francesco Azopardi, Manoel Theatre, Valletta.[11]
  • 1783 Giovanni Paisiello, Saint Petersburg, also Warsaw, 1784.[12]
  • 1783 Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Vienna.
  • 1783 Luciano Xavier dos Santos (1734–1808), Lisbon.
  • 1785 Carlo Commandini.
  • 1786 Alessio Prati, Florence.
  • 1787 Federico Torelli, Bologna[13]
  • 1787 Nicola Antonio Zingarelli, Milan.
  • 1788 Carlo Spontoni, Bologna.
  • 1789 Gaetano Andreozzi, Naples.
  • 1789 Vincenzo Fiocchi, Rome.
  • 1790 Pietro Guglielmi, Madrid.
  • 1790 Antonio Teiber, Vienna.
  • 1791 Almerici.
  • 1792 Stanislao Mattei, Bologna.
  • 1794 Johann Simon Mayr, Venice.
  • 1794 Michele Mortellari, London.
  • 1799 Giuseppe Nicolini, Naples.
  • 1812 Francesco Morlacchi, Dresden. (Pupil of Stanislao Mattei above).
  • 2023 Flavio Ferri-Benedetti, Basel

References[edit]

  1. ^ Harry White, Johann Joseph Fux and the Music of the Austro-Italian Baroque, 1992
  2. ^ Howard E. Smither, A history of the oratorio, p. 395.
  3. ^ Azione sacra del sig. abate Metastasio poeta di SM ces. cat. Musica del signor Giuseppe Venturelli dilettante[full citation needed]
  4. ^ Musica e storia: Vol. 9 Fondazione Levi – 2001 "esecuzione presso i padri filippini di Venezia."[full citation needed]
  5. ^ Smith, J. E., Sir. A sketch of a tour on the continuent in the years 1786 and 1787, p. 275, 1807 ed. "At seven in the evening we went to the church of St. Maria Novella, to hear a most delightful oratorio of Metastasio on the Passion, the music by Jomelli."
  6. ^ Recordings (1) Lugano Chamber Society Orchestra, dir Arturo Sacchetti, Musidisc. 1994 (2) Eufonia Ensemble, Sigismondo d'India Vocal Ensemble, Berlin Baroque Academy conducted by Alessandro De Marchi. K617, 1996
  7. ^ Recording conducted Sergio Balestracci CPO 2008
  8. ^ "Musica di Pietro Crispi, maestro di cappella della medesima chiesa"[full citation needed]
  9. ^ Jane Schatkin Hettrick Salieri – Mass in D minor vii 2002
  10. ^ Recordings (1) Alberto Turco, 1 CD Bongiovanni 1995. (2) Christoph Spering. 2004 Capriccio 2004
  11. ^ Gérard Gefen, booklet notes to CD Les manuscrites de Malte III SM, Paris, 1995
  12. ^ Recordings (1) Wojciech Czepiel, Warsaw Chamber Opera Chorus, Warsaw Sinfonietta, 2CD, Arts 1998. (2) Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti, 2CD, CPO 2007.
  13. ^ Corrado Ricci, I teatri di Bologna nei secoli XVII e XVIII, 1888 p. 736: "Vi cantò Francesca Boccarelli, Domenico Bedini, Antonio Speciali e Francesco Barbieri. Il primo violino fu Francesco Rastrelli"

Further reading[edit]

  • Salieri, Antonio. La Passione di Gesù Cristo, critical edition by Elena Biggi Parodi, Suvini Zerboni, Milan 2000, XLIV, 222 pages. OCLC 48150359, 165002056
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