Reinhard Keiser |
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Operas
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Der hochmütige, gestürzte und wieder erhabene Croesus (The Proud, Overthrown and Again Exalted Croesus) is a three-act opera (described as a "Singe-Spiel") composed by Reinhard Keiser. The German language libretto by Lucas von Bostel was based on Nicolò Minato's 1678 dramma per musica Creso, the music for which was composed by the Emperor Leopold I.
Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers, but is distinct from musical theater. Such a "work" is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor.
Reinhard Keiser was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann, but his work was largely forgotten for many decades.
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.
Keiser's Croesus received its first performance at the Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, in 1711 (exact date unknown). Later, the composer extensively revised the opera for a new version, which premièred at the same theatre on 6 December 1730. In the process, he discarded much of the original material, and, in consequence, only the 1730 version has survived in complete form. [1]
Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany with a population of over 1.8 million.
The year 1711 in music involved some significant events.
The year 1730 in music involved some significant events.
The first performance in modern times was given in 1990 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris (conductor René Clemencic), and first full performance in turn was given in 1999 at the Berlin State Opera (conductor: René Jacobs). The first British performance was given, in English, by Opera North on 17 October 2007, at the Grand Theatre, Leeds. It was conducted by Harry Bicket, designed by Leslie Travers and directed by Tim Albery. [2] The opera received its North American premiere on 1 March 2008, when Albery's production was performed (in German) by the Minnesota Opera at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. The theater is named not after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, but rather after the neighborhood in which it is situated.
The Berlin State Opera is a German opera company based in Berlin. Its permanent home is the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, commonly referred to as Lindenoper, in the central Mitte district, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra. Originally the Hofoper from 1742, it was named Königliches Opernhaus in 1844, and Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 1918. From 1949 to 1990 it housed the state opera of East Germany. Since 2004, the State Opera company belongs to the Berlin Opera Foundation, like the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Berlin State Ballet, and the Bühnenservice Berlin.
René Jacobs is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor but in recent years has become renowned as a conductor of Baroque and early Classical opera.
Croesus was the king of Lydia who, according to Herodotus, reigned for 14 years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC.
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian. Its capital was Sardis.
Tenor is a male voice type in classical music whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2 (two A♭s below middle C). At the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to the second F above middle C (F5). The tenor voice type is generally divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or spieltenor.
The story is loosely based on two incidents from Herodotus. Time: the 6th century B.C.E., place: Lydia. [3]
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire. He is known for having written the book The Histories, a detailed record of his "inquiry" on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. He is widely considered to have been the first writer to have treated historical subjects using a method of systematic investigation—specifically, by collecting his materials and then critically arranging them into a historiographic narrative. On account of this, he is often referred to as "The Father of History", a title first conferred on him by the first-century BC Roman orator Cicero.
Common Era or Current Era (CE) is one of the notation systems for the world's most widely used calendar era. BCE is the era before CE. BCE and CE are alternatives to the Dionysian BC and AD system respectively. The Dionysian era distinguishes eras using AD and BC. Since the two notation systems are numerically equivalent, "2019 CE" corresponds to "AD 2019" and "400 BCE" corresponds to "400 BC". Both notations refer to the Gregorian calendar. The year-numbering system utilized by the Gregorian calendar is used throughout the world today, and is an international standard for civil calendars.
Croesus, King of Lydia, is rich and hedonistic, and is insulted when the philosopher Solon tells him that riches do not necessarily bring happiness. His son, Atis, has been born dumb, and relies on Halimacus to interpret his sign language. Nevertheless, Elmira, who, with her mother, the former Queen of Media, has been rescued by Croesus after their country has been conquered by Cyrus, is in love with Atis and he with her.
Cyrus, keen to expand his empire further, declares war on Croesus, so the latter, with Atis, Halimacus, Elcius and the army depart from Sardis to take on the invader. Croesus leaves Eliates in charge, to the annoyance of Orsanes. Orsanes desires Elmira, who spurns him; he himself is desired by Clerida, but he spurns her, and Clerida is desired by Eliates, to whom she is indifferent.
Sardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart(Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near the Salihli in Turkey's Manisa Province. Sardis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times. As one of the seven churches of Asia, it was addressed by John, the author of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, in terms which seem to imply that its church members did not finish what they started, that they were about image and not substance. Its importance was due first to its military strength, secondly to its situation on an important highway leading from the interior to the Aegean coast, and thirdly to its commanding the wide and fertile plain of the Hermus.
Croesus loses the ensuing battle and is captured by the Persians, who are about to put him to death when Atis, who is nearby, suddenly finds that he has the power of speech and shouts at his father's captors. They spare Croesus's life, but take him to Cyrus, who imprisons and taunts him and threatens him with being burnt to death. Meanwhile, Atis and Halimacus hatch a plot. Atis will pretend to be a captured Persian soldier who closely resembles the Prince but, unlike him, can speak. Elcius, a cynical servant, escapes capture, deserts the army and becomes a travelling salesman.
Halimacus returns to Sardis with Atis, who wears Persian uniform and is now called Ermin, with the news that Croesus has been captured. Everyone marvels at Ermin's resemblance to Atis, but they accept that, because he can speak, he cannot be the Prince. Eliates sets about finding a ransom for Croesus.
Orsanes, seeing a way to further his own ambitions, suggests that "Ermin" should pretend to be Atis, and can then declare himself – via Halimacus – unfit to rule because of his speechlessness, and cede the throne to Orsanes. "Ermin" agrees to this, but points out that the real Atis should be returning that night, which could cause a problem. Orsanes has a solution: "Ermin" must kill Atis and dispose of the body before proceeding with the plan. "Ermin" agrees to do this, and next day appears as the dumb Prince.
Everyone still accepts that Atis and Ermin are different people, but Elmira is upset when Ermin gives her a letter in Atis's handwriting in which he says that he is happy for her to take Ermin as a lover. When "Ermin" then reveals who he really is, she is confused and does not believe him, while Orsanes discovers that "Ermin" isn't as stupid as he had thought. Meanwhile, Elcius reappears at the court with his wares and is recognised by Trigesta, who is happy to see him again.
Eliates has raised a ransom, but Cyrus is not interested and prepares to execute Croesus. The Lydian court visit Cyrus to try to save their king, and Atis offers himself as an alternative victim, but Cyrus is implacable. Solon is on hand, however, and he points out that, as Croesus's pride went before a fall, so may Cyrus's.
Cyrus relents, a chastened Croesus is restored to his throne, Elmira and Atis embrace, Orsanes is discomfited, Clerida turns to Eliates and everyone rejoices.
This article concerns the period 549 BC – 540 BC.
The year 547 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as year 207 Ab urbe condita. The denomination 547 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Tissaphernes was a Persian soldier and statesman, Satrap of Lydia. He was a grandson of Hydarnes, one of the six conspirators who had supported the rise of Darius the Great.
Artaphernes, flourished circa 513–492 BC, was a brother of the Achaemenid king of Persia, Darius I, satrap of Lydia from the capital of Sardis, and a Persian general. In his position he had numerous contacts with the Greeks, and played an important role in suppressing the Ionian Revolt.
The Battle of Thymbra was the decisive battle in the war between Croesus of the Lydian Kingdom and Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus, having pursued Croesus into Lydia following the drawn Battle of Pteria, met the remains of Croesus' partly disbanded army in battle on the plain north of Sardis in December, 547 BC. Even though Croesus' army was reinforced with many new men, Cyrus utterly defeated it, despite being outnumbered more or less 2:1. This proved decisive, and after the 14-day Siege of Sardis, the city and possibly its king fell, and Lydia was conquered by the Persians.
At the Battle of Pteria in 547 BC, the Persian forces of Cyrus the Great fought a drawn battle with the invading Lydian forces of Croesus, forcing Croesus to withdraw back west into his own kingdom.
Astyages was the last king of the Median Empire, r. 585–550 BCE, the son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great. His name derives from the Old Iranian Rishti Vaiga, which means "swinging the spear, lance-hurler." In the inscriptions of Nabonidus the name is written Ishtuvegu.
Sosarme, re di Media is an opera by George Frideric Handel written in 1732 for the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London, where it ran for 12 performances. The text was based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi, Dionisio, Re di Portogallo, and adapted by an unknown writer. The original setting of Portugal was changed to Sardis in Lydia.
Le mage is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Jean Richepin. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra in Paris on 16 March 1891 in costumes by Charles Bianchini and sets by Auguste Alfred Rubé, Philippe Chaperon and Marcel Jambon, Amable and Eugène Gardy, Alfred Lemeunier, and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre and Eugène Carpezat.
Mazares was a Median general who defected to Cyrus the Great when the latter overthrew his grandfather, Astyages and formed the Persian Empire. Mazares is mentioned by Herodotus as a Median general in the service of Cyrus the Great who died while putting down a revolt in Asia Minor.
"Croesus and Fate" is a short story by Leo Tolstoy that is a retelling of a Greek legend, classically told by Herodotus, and Plutarch, about the king Croesus. It was first published in 1886 by Tolstoy's publishing company The Intermediary. Tolstoy's version is shorter than that by Herodotus, and Tolstoy's characterization of Croesus was designed to parallel the title character in his 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilych.
In the Siege of Sardis , the last decisive conflict after the Battle of Thymbra, which was fought between the forces of Croesus of Lydia and Cyrus the Great, Cyrus followed Croesus to his city. He laid siege to it for 14 days, and then captured it.
Alcmaeon, son of the Megacles who was guilty of sacrilege with respect to the followers of Cylon, was invited by Croesus, king of Lydia, to Sardis in consequence of the services he had rendered to an embassy sent by Croesus to consult the Delphic oracle. On his arrival at Sardis, Croesus made him a present of so much gold that he couldn't carry it all out of the treasury. Alcmaeon took the king at his word by putting on a most capacious dress, the folds of which he stuffed with gold, and then strewed in his hair gold-dust and stuffed more in his mouth. Croesus laughed at the trick, and presented him with as much again. This was supposed to have taken place around 590 BC. The wealth acquired thus is said to have contributed greatly to the subsequent prosperity of the Alcmaeonidae.
Tabalus the Persian was the first satrap of Sardis. Cyrus the Great of Persia put him in place after conquering Lydia, c.546 BC. Herodotus mentions him in his histories :
Presently, entrusting Sardis to a Persian called Tabalus, and charging Pactyes, a Lydian, to take charge of the gold of Croesus and the Lydians, he himself marched away to Agbatana, taking with him Croesus, and at first making no account of the Ionians. For he had Babylon on his hands and the Bactrian nation and the Sacae and Egyptians; he was minded to lead an army himself against these and to send another commander against the Ionians.
Pactyes was the Lydian put in charge of civil administration and gathering Croesus's gold when Lydia was conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia around 546 BC:
Presently, entrusting Sardis to a Persian called Tabalus, and charging Pactyes, a Lydian, to take charge of the gold of Croesus and the Lydians, he himself marched away to Agbatana, taking with him Croesus, and at first making no account of the Ionians. For he had Babylon on his hands and the Bactrian nation and the Sacae and Egyptians; he was minded to lead an army himself against these and to send another commander against the Ionians.
Malvina di Scozia is a dramma tragico in three acts by Giovanni Pacini. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto.