Prima la musica e poi le parole
| Antonio Salieri |
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Operas
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Prima la musica e poi le parole (First the music and then the words), also called Prima la musica, poi le parole is an opera in one act by Antonio Salieri to a libretto by Giovanni Battista Casti. The work was first performed on 7 February 1786 in Vienna, following a commission by the Emperor Joseph II.[1] The opera (more specifically, a divertimento teatrale) was first performed at one end of the orangery of the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna by an Italian troupe: simultaneously, Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor was staged at the other end.
The title of the opera is the theme of Richard Strauss's opera Capriccio which debates the relative importance of music and drama in opera.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 7 February 1786 (Conductor: – ) |
|---|---|---|
| Eleonora, a prima donna | soprano | Nancy Storace |
| The composer | bass | Stefano Mandini |
| The poet | bass | Francesco Benucci |
| Tonina, a comic singer | soprano | Celeste Coltellini |
Synopsis
Count Opizio contracts a new opera to be written to be ready in four days. The composer has already created the score, but the poet is suffering from writers block and resorts to trying to adapt previous verses he has written to the existing music. The composer and poet are interrupted when Eleonora, the prima donna hired by the Count, enters and delivers a sample of her vocal artistry. Together with the Poet and the Maestro, she acts out a scene from Giuseppe Sarti’s Giulio Sabino that devolves into a grotesque parody. Eleonora exits, and the librettist and the composer again wrestle with the problems of the libretto for the new opera in which a lengthy dispute between the two men ensues. Tonina (whose character is a parody of opera buffa) enters and demands a role in the new opera. The composer and the librettist quickly concoct a vocal number for her. A quarrel then erupts between Eleonora and Tonina over which of them should sing the opera’s opening aria. The scene culminates in having both sing their arias simultaneously. The composer and the librettist are able to pacify the two ladies by agreeing to a juxtaposition of the seria and buffa styles, thereby putting a conciliatory end to their quarrel.
Recordings
| Year | Cast: (Eleonora, The composer, The poet, Tonina) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Maria Casula, Graziano Polidori, Giorgio Gatti, Kate Gamberucci | Domenico Sanfilippo, Orchestra da Camera della Filarmonica della Boemia del nord | CD: Bongiovanni Cat: GB 2063/4-2[2] |
| 1987 | Roberta Alexander, Robert Holl, Thomas Hampson, Julia Hamari | Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra | CD: Teldec, Cat: 8 43336[3][4] |
References
- ↑ "Salieri: Prima la musica e poi le parole" by Jane Schatkin Hettrick at Opera Today, 19 February 2008
- ↑ "Antonio Salieri – Prima la Musica, Poi le Parole – Domenico Sanfilippo (1986)". operaclass.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ↑ "Antonio Salieri – Prima la Musica, Poi le Parole – Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1987)". operaclass.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ↑ "Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Der Schauspieldirektor / Salieri, Antonio: Prima la musica, poi le parole". Thomas Hampson. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Sources
- John A. Rice: "Prima la musica e poi le parole", Grove Music Online ed L. Macy (accessed 28 May 2007), grovemusic.com (subscription required)
- Online libretto of Prima la musica e poi le parole