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Arianna e Teseo
Libretto of the opera seria "Arianna e Teseo" by Pietro Pariati. The story unfolds in the island of Crete where several young Athenian men are brought to be ritually sacrificed, and Athenian maidens are to be delivered as victims to a minotaur that lives in a labyrinth. Among the Athenians is Arianna, the daughter of Minos (Minosse), King of Crete, who was abducted as a child by King Aegeus, and Teseo, Aegeus's son. Teseo is determined to kill the minotaur in order to save Arianna's friend Laodice, but Arianna believes that he loves her friend. In spite of her doubts, she hands over to Teseo the secret how to kill the minotaur and vanquish Tauride, King Mino's champion, which she overheard from Minos. The work ends with Teseo's victory over the minotaur and his reconciliation with Arianna.
Sofonisba
This is a ca. 1764 copy of the libretto of the opera seria "Sofonisba" by Mattia Verazi. Baldassare Galuppi set this libretto to music for the 1764 carnival season in Turin. Mattia Verazi became a court poet at Mannheim and Stuttgart in 1756. Duke Carl Eugen favored operas with French influence, and Verazi catered to his tastes by providing libretti that deviated from Metastasian opera conventions. In 1762, Verazi and Tommaso Traeta collaborated to create operas following French models. Sofonisba was the result of such collaboration. Sofonisba and Siface, king of Numidia, are married and have a child. When Siface fails to return from battle against the Romans, Massinissa, Sofonisba’s former suitor, renews his advances. Siface appears among the captives and rejoins his wife but fail in their attempt to escape from their Roman captors. Afraid that she will be marched in chains through the streets of Rome, Sofonisba poisons herself and is dying when the news arrives that all has been resolved. Baldassare Galuppi composed the music of the opera for the 1764 Turin carnival season. The opening scene includes a programmatic sinfonia that accompanies a pantomimed battle, and later, another pantomime that depicts gladiatorial games. Verazi included detailed instructions for staged actions. Verazi's dramatic ending to the opera included Sofoniba's dramatic suicide. The library's copy of "Sofonisba" is bound with the following librettos: "Ifigenia in Aulide" by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi; "Catone in Utica" by Pietro Metastasio; "Arianne e Teseo" by Pietro Pariati; and "Le piacevoli poesie" by Gasparo Gozzi.
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