The opera was the culmination of the celebrations for the (proxy) wedding of King Henri IV of France and Marie de' Medici in Florence in 1600 and was performed in the Sala delle Commedie in the Uffizi Palace on 9 October in front of an audience of 3,000 gentlemen and 800 ladies. The performance lasted five hours and cost 60,000 scudi, a huge sum.[2][3] Among the singers were Melchior Palantrotti, Jacopo Peri, Francesco Rasi and five members of Caccini's own family, including his daughter Francesca and his son Pompeo.[4]
Three days earlier, Caccini and Peri's opera Euridice had been staged in the Pitti palace. Unlike that work, Il rapimento soon fell into obscurity.[5] Caccini published the final chorus and an aria in his collection Le nuove musiche (1602) but the rest of the score is lost. Il rapimento di Cefalo contained many elements from the Florentine intermedi as well as making use of the new style of recitative. The Florentine audience admired the scenery of the production (by Bernardo Buontalenti), but found the music tedious.[6]
Rolesedit
This is a hypothetical cast list with probable voice types as reconstructed by Tim Carter. In his description of the performance, Michelangelo Buonarotti the Younger claimed that four female members of the Caccini family ("with angelic voices") took part. Carter believes that the most likely candidates are: Caccini's second wife, Margherita di Agostino Benevoli della Scala; his 13-year-old daughter Francesca Caccini; Margherita Gagnolanti, his sister-in-law by his first wife; and Ginevra Mazziere detta l’Azzurina, who had been seduced or raped by his son, Pompeo, whom she may have married. [7]
Catherine Deutsch, "Restituer l’instrumentation du Rapimento di Cefalo", Analyse Musicale LXXII (2013), pp. 21–29.
April 11, 2024
rapimento, cefalo, abduction, cephalus, first, italian, operas, most, music, written, giulio, caccini, stefano, venturi, nibbio, luca, bati, piero, strozzi, also, contributed, libretto, gabriello, chiabrera, prologue, five, scenes, epilogue, based, classical, . Il rapimento di Cefalo The Abduction of Cephalus was one of the first Italian operas Most of the music was written by Giulio Caccini but Stefano Venturi del Nibbio Luca Bati and Piero Strozzi also contributed The libretto by Gabriello Chiabrera is in a prologue five scenes and an epilogue and is based on the Classical myth of Cephalus and Aurora 1 The opera was the culmination of the celebrations for the proxy wedding of King Henri IV of France and Marie de Medici in Florence in 1600 and was performed in the Sala delle Commedie in the Uffizi Palace on 9 October in front of an audience of 3 000 gentlemen and 800 ladies The performance lasted five hours and cost 60 000 scudi a huge sum 2 3 Among the singers were Melchior Palantrotti Jacopo Peri Francesco Rasi and five members of Caccini s own family including his daughter Francesca and his son Pompeo 4 Three days earlier Caccini and Peri s opera Euridice had been staged in the Pitti palace Unlike that work Il rapimento soon fell into obscurity 5 Caccini published the final chorus and an aria in his collection Le nuove musiche 1602 but the rest of the score is lost Il rapimento di Cefalo contained many elements from the Florentine intermedi as well as making use of the new style of recitative The Florentine audience admired the scenery of the production by Bernardo Buontalenti but found the music tedious 6 Roles editThis is a hypothetical cast list with probable voice types as reconstructed by Tim Carter In his description of the performance Michelangelo Buonarotti the Younger claimed that four female members of the Caccini family with angelic voices took part Carter believes that the most likely candidates are Caccini s second wife Margherita di Agostino Benevoli della Scala his 13 year old daughter Francesca Caccini Margherita Gagnolanti his sister in law by his first wife and Ginevra Mazziere detta l Azzurina who had been seduced or raped by his son Pompeo whom she may have married 7 Role Voice type hypothetical Premiere cast hypothetical 9 October 1600Poesia Poetry soprano Female Caccini 1Aurora soprano Female Caccini 2Cefalo Cephalus tenor Pompeo CacciniTitone Tithonus bass Melchior PalantrottiOceano Oceanus bass Florentine bassFebo Phoebus tenor Jacopo Peri or Francesco Rasi doubled with Giove Amore Cupid soprano Florentine boy singer or castratoNotte Night soprano Female Caccini 3Berecintia Berecyntia soprano Female Caccini 4Mercurio Mercury tenor Florentine tenor or Peri or Rasi Giove Jupiter tenor Jacopo Peri or Francesco Rasi doubled with Febo Fama Fame soprano Female Caccini 1Chorus of hunters chorus of sea gods chorus of heavenly signs chorus of godsReferences edit Viking p 175 Pirotta p 237 and note Carter Carter Pirotta p 237 Viking p 175 Carter Section 5 and Table 2Sources editTim Carter RediscoveringIl rapimento di Cefalo Journal of Seventeenth Century Music Volume 9 No 1 Music and Theatre from Poliziano to Monteverdi by Nino Pirrotta Cambridge University Press 1982 pp 236 38 Italian Opera by David R B Kimbell Cambridge University Press 1994 p 53 The Viking Opera Guide ed Holden Viking 1993 p 175 New Grove Dictionary of Music entry on Il rapimento di Cefalo by Barbara Russano Hanning Catherine Deutsch Restituer l instrumentation du Rapimento di Cefalo Analyse Musicale LXXII 2013 pp 21 29 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Il rapimento di Cefalo amp oldid 1071969037, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
