Motezuma (Mysliveček)
Template:Mysliveček operas Motezuma is an opera in three acts by Josef Mysliveček set to a libretto by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi that is based on legends associated with the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II . This opera (and all the rest of Mysliveček's operas) belong to the serious type in Italian language referred to as opera seria.
Performance history
The opera was first performed at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence on 23 January 1771. It was the second of the composer's three operas produced in Florence, in this case at a time of intense activity as a composer in the city. The chronological setting of the opera in the early sixteenth century was unusually late for its day, when serious operas in Italian were typically set in ancient times, and rarely in a time period later than the European Dark Ages. The libretto was first set for a lavish production in 1765 at the Teatro Regio in Turin with music by Gian Francesco de Majo. It is unlikely that the Florence production was equally sumptuous, and the cast was not particularly distinguished, although it was an interesting one for the dominance of male singers (it was generally only in Rome, wear women were forbidden to appear on stage, that casts would feature so many male singers). Motezuma was the first of the composer's operas to be revived in modern times (for a performance in Prague in 1931). It was likely the exotic setting and the availability of a score of the opera in Vienna that made it so attractive for revival at that time, apparently a response to a trend in German-speaking lands in the 1920s to revive works by pre-Romantic German composers such as George Frideric Handel.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 23 January 1771, Teatro della Pergola, Florence |
|---|---|---|
| Motezuma | soprano castrato | Carlo Nicolini |
| Guacozinga | soprano castrato | Giovanni Carmignani |
| Ferdinando Cortes | tenor | Salvator Casetti |
| Teutile | tenor | Marcello Pompili |
| Lisinga | soprano | Maddalena Mori della Casa |
| Pilpatoe | bass | Francesco Papi |
References
- Freeman, Daniel E. Josef Mysliveček, "Il Boemo." Sterling Heights, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 2009.