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La favola di Orfeo
Libretto of the opera "La favola di Orfeo" in several verse forms. Poliziano's version of the legend of Orfeo differs from the story in Monteverdi or Gluck's operas. In Poliziano's ending, Orpheus is torn to pieces by the maenads (or Bacchantes). This copy includes Bernardino Baldi's eclogue "Celeo e l'Orto," a culinary poem that describes the production of polenta.
Giulio Cesare : opera in tre atti
This is a [ca. 1743] score of "Giulio Cesare," an Italian opera seria in three acts by Handel. The performance forces include: flute, oboe, horns (in A and D), strings (violin, viola, violoncello, bass), continuo (theorbo and viola da gamba), harp, chorus of mixed voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), and soloist singers. A list of solo arias and duets of each act appears on p.170 followed by a list containing the names of the subscribers on pp.[171-172]. Two mythological figures [possibly, the god Apollo and the Muse Erato] and musical instruments signed by the London engraver [John] Strongitharm of Pall Mall appear on the title page. The name of each character appear at the top of p.3 with the names of the actual performers inscribed with pencil. The names of the casting coincide with those listed in the Oxford Dictionary of Music (online, 2009): "the castratos Senesino, Gaetano Berenstadt and Giuseppe Bigonzi (Caesar, Ptolemy and Nirenus), Francesca Cuzzoni (Cleopatra), Margherita Durastanti (Sextus), Anastasia Robinson (Cornelia), Giuseppe Boschi (Achillas) and John Lagarde or Laguerre (Curius)."
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