Giustino ("Justin", HWV 37) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The opera was first given at the Covent Garden Theatre in London on 16 February 1737. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Charles VI's court poet Pietro Pariati's libretto for Giustino (1711), after the much older original libretto of Nicolò Beregan (1682). The libretto had already been adapted by many composers including Vivaldi's Giustino of 1724 and Tomaso Albinoni's lost opera of 1711.
By the 1736–37 season in London, the German-born Handel was presenting both operas he had composed in Italian, as he had done for more than twenty years, and oratorio in English, which was a newer form for him. Giustino was one of three new operas composed by Handel that season. In addition he revived earlier operas and oratorios and presented two new oratorios. [1]
In the middle of all this work, Handel suffered an illness which temporarily left his right hand paralyzed, as reported in the London Evening Post on 14 May 1737: "The ingenious Mr. Handel is very much indispos'd, and it's thought with a Pareletick Disorder, he having at present no Use of his Right Hand, which, if he don't regain, the Publick will be depriv'd of his fine Compositions." [1]
Handel led the performances of his operas and oratorios from the keyboard and often played organ concertos between the acts; nevertheless he was absent from the theatre while he recovered, which he did fairly speedily although he suffered occasional relapses of this ailment for the rest of his life. [1]
Of the three new operas Handel presented that season, Giustino was the most successful with audiences. [1]
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 16 February 1737 |
|---|---|---|
| Giustino | alto castrato | Domenico Annibali |
| Anastasio | soprano castrato | Gioacchino Conti ("Gizziello") |
| Arianna, widow of the emperor | soprano | Anna Maria Strada del Pò |
| Leocasta | contralto | Francesca Bertolli |
| Amanzio | contralto | Maria Caterina Negri |
| Vitaliano | tenor | John Beard |
| Polidarte | bass | Henry Theodore Reinhold |
| La Fortuna | treble | William Savage [2] |
Time: early 6th century
Place: the Byzantine Empire
In Constantinople, widowed Empress Arianna is celebrating her marriage to her new husband Anastasio when they receive news that they are threatened by a rebellion. Vitaliano has raised an army and is demanding that Arianna marry him instead and place him on the throne by her side. Anastasio sends a defiant message and sets off to fight the rebel. Arianna determines to follow her husband.
In a rural setting, the ploughboy Giustino is working his fields when he falls asleep and has a vision of great fortune awaiting him. He wakes to see a maiden being chased by a wild bear and rescues her. The maiden turns out to be Princess Leocasta, sister of Anastasio, and, much smitten by her rescuer Giustino, she invites him to the palace where he is acclaimed as a hero and sent to help Empress Arianna and her new husband against the rebel Vitaliano.
Arianna has been taken prisoner by the rebels and is brought to Vitaliano, who demands that she marry him. When she refuses, Vitaliano condemns her to be thrown to the sea monster who has been ravaging the country. Arianna laments her fate but swears she will remain faithful to Anastasio.
Giustino and Anastasio have joined forces to try to rescue Arianna, but the ship carrying them on this mission is wrecked in a storm. They crawl to the shore and take refuge in a nearby hut.
Meanwhile, Vitaliano gives the captive Arianna one last chance to accept his hand and save her life, but she refuses. He therefore chains her to a rock by the sea to be devoured by the sea monster and leaves her to her fate. As the monster rises from the sea, Giustino rushes in and slays it. Arianna and Anastasio are delighted to be reunited and are led to safety. Vitaliano, now regretting condemning Arianna to such a cruel death, returns but finds only the dead sea monster. He decides to seek Arianna.
Leocasta, awaiting the others in the palace garden, expresses her love for Giustino. He himself appears, dragging in Vitaliano, whom he has captured. Arianna and Anastasio express their gratitude to Giustino and send him back into battle to defeat the rebels. General of their armies Amanzio grows jealous of the upstart Giustino and the glory he is winning for himself. Vitaliano begs Arianna for one kind look before he dies, but Arianna repulses him and orders him to prison to await his execution.
Vitaliano manages to escape from prison. General Amanzio takes a sash covered in jewels that belonged to Vitaliano and gives it to Anastasio, suggesting to him that his wife is betraying him with Giustino. Anastasio gives the sash to Arianna, who bestows it on Giustino in gratitude for saving her life. When Anastasio hears of this, both Arianna and Giustino are banished.
Wandering in the countryside, Giustino bemoans his betrayal by fortune and falls asleep. Vitaliano chances to find him and is about to murder him in his sleep when a nearby mountain splits in two and the voice of his dead father warns Vitaliano that Giustino is in fact his long lost brother, a fact which is confirmed by a birthmark in the shape of a star on Giustino's arm. Giustino and Vitaliano now swear friendship and form a pact to save the kingdom from wicked General Amanzio.
Back at the palace, Amanzio has defeated Anastasio and placed himself on the throne. Anastasio, Arianna and Princess Leocasta are in chains but Giustino rushes in, defeats Amanzio and sends him off to be executed. Anastasio is restored to the throne with his wife, begging her pardon for having doubted her fidelity, and Giustino pleads for the now repentant Vitaliano to be forgiven. Anastasio grants this request and gives Giustino the hand of his sister Leocasta in marriage. All celebrate such a happy turn of events. [1]
The opera had eight further performances in its original London season. It was also performed in Braunschweig in August 1741. The first modern performance took place in Abingdon, England on 21 April 1963.
The first London performance since Handel's time was presented in November 1983. [3] With the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Giustino, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. [4] Among other performances, the opera was staged at the Theater an der Wien in December 2019. [5]
A number of the extended da capo arias feature oboe obbligato, specially written for the virtuoso instrumentalist Giuseppe Sammartini. [6]
The opera is scored for two recorders, bass flute, two oboes, bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, strings and continuo (cello, lute, harpsichord).
Semele is a 'musical drama', originally presented "after the manner of an oratorio", in three parts by George Frideric Handel. Based on an existing opera libretto by William Congreve, the work is an opera in all but name but was first presented in concert form at Covent Garden theatre on 10 February 1744. The story comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses and concerns Semele, mother of Bacchus. Handel also referred to the work as 'The Story of Semele'. The work contains the famous aria "Where'er you walk".
Samson is a three-act oratorio by George Frideric Handel, considered to be one of his finest dramatic works. It is usually performed as an oratorio in concert form, but on occasions has also been staged as an opera. The well-known arias "Let the bright Seraphim", "Total eclipse" and "Let their celestial concerts" are often performed separately in concert.
Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi is an opera seria in three acts composed for the first Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi. Rodelinda has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works.
Agrippina is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Grimani's libretto, considered one of the best that Handel set, is an "anti-heroic satirical comedy", full of topical political allusions. Some analysts believe that it reflects Grimani's political and diplomatic rivalry with Pope Clement XI.
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Arminio is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is based on a libretto of the same name by Antonio Salvi, which had been set to music by Alessandro Scarlatti. It is a fictionalisation of events surrounding the Germanic leader Arminius, who defeated the Romans under Publius Quinctilius Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, and his wife Thusnelda. The opera was performed for the first time at the Covent Garden Theatre on 12 January 1737.
Teseo is an opera seria with music by George Frideric Handel, the only Handel opera that is in five acts. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Philippe Quinault's Thésée. It was Handel's third London opera, intended to follow the success of Rinaldo after the unpopular Il pastor fido.
Riccardo primo, re d'Inghilterra is an opera seria in three acts written by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music (1719). The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli, after Francesco Briani's Isacio tiranno, set by Antonio Lotti in 1710. Handel wrote the work for the Royal Academy's 1726–27 opera season, and also as homage to the newly crowned George II and the nation where Handel had just received citizenship.
Orlando is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel written for the King's Theatre in London in 1733. The Italian libretto was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's L'Orlando after Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, which was also the source of Handel's operas Alcina and Ariodante. More an artistic than a popular success at its first performances, Orlando is today recognised as a masterpiece.
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.
Theodora is a dramatic oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus. It had its first performance at Covent Garden Theatre on 16 March 1750. Not popular with audiences in Handel's day, Theodora is now recognised as a masterpiece. It is usually given in concert, being an oratorio, but is sometimes staged.
Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, is a biblical oratorio by the composer George Frideric Handel. Most scholars believe the libretto was prepared by Charles Jennens, who also compiled the biblical texts for Handel's Messiah. It is composed entirely of selected passages from the Old Testament, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms.
Poro, re dell'Indie is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Alessandro nell'Indie by Metastasio, and based on Alexander the Great's encounter with Porus in 326 BC. The libretto had already been set to music by Leonardo Vinci in 1729 and was used as the text for more than sixty operas throughout the 18th century.
Floridante is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli after Francesco Silvani's libretto for Marc'Antonio Ziani dramma per musica La costanza in trionfo of 1696.
Arianna in Creta is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Francis Colman from Pietro Pariati's Arianna e Teseo, a text previously set by Nicola Porpora in 1727 and Leonardo Leo in 1729.
Esther is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It is generally acknowledged to be the first English oratorio. Handel set a libretto after the Old Testament drama by Jean Racine. The work was originally composed in 1718, but was heavily revised into a full oratorio in 1732.
Ezio is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel to a libretto by Metastasio. Metastasio's libretto was partly inspired by Jean Racine's play Britannicus. The same libretto had already been set by many other composers, first of all Nicola Porpora who managed to preempt the official Rome premiere of Pietro Auletta's setting for 26 December 1728 with his own version for Venice on 20 November, a month earlier. The libretto continued to be set and reset for another 50 years, including two versions of Ezio by Gluck. Handel's Ezio is considered one of the purest examples of opera seria with its absence of vocal ensembles.
Parnasso in festa, per li sponsali di Teti e Peleo, by George Frideric Handel, is a festa teatrale, a form also called a "serenata", a type of Italian opera intended as entertainment to celebrate a festive royal or state occasion. The work was written to celebrate the marriage of Anne, Princess Royal and Prince William of Orange. Parnasso in festa had its first performance in London at the King's Theatre on 13 March 1734 and was repeated five times. The operatic entertainment, to an anonymous libretto, was such a success at its London premiere that although it was intended as a one-off production for a royal wedding, Parnasso in festa was revived by Handel in several subsequent seasons.
Il Giustino is an opera in three acts by composer Giovanni Legrenzi. The work uses an Italian-language libretto by Nicolò Beregan based on the life of Emperor Justin I. The opera premiered on 12 February 1683 at the Teatro San Salvador in Venice; Selfridge-Field gives 7 February as the date. Legrenzi dedicated the work to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma.
Maria Caterina Negri was an Italian contralto who created numerous roles in 18th-century operas, including many by George Frideric Handel. She primarily portrayed male characters en travesti or female warriors such as Bradamante. Negri was born in Bologna and made her debut there at the age of 15. Her last known performance was in 1744. The date and place of her death are unknown. In its prime, her voice was known for its agility and wide vocal range.
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