Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria

Names
	Maria Antonia Walpurgis Symphorosa

Maria Antonia of Bavaria
Maria Antonia of Bavaria
	Katholische Hofkirche
Spouse	Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony (m. 1747; died 1763)
Issue	Frederick Augustus I, King of Saxony; Anthony, King of Saxony; Maria Amalia, Duchess of Zweibrücken; Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony;
Names
Names
	Maria Antonia Walpurgis Symphorosa
House	Wittelsbach
Father	Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria Amalia of Austria

Maria Antonia, Princess of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (18 July 1724 – 23 April 1780) was a German princess, composer, singer,

Electress of Saxony as the wife of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony. Following the latter's death in 1763, she became the Regent of Saxony for their son Frederick Augustus I of Saxony

.

Family and background

Baptized Maria Antoina Walpurgis Symphorosa, she was born at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich to Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria and Elector Karl Albert of Bavaria. Throughout her life she received an outstanding education, particularly in the arts; including that of painting and writing poetry, as well as music.

She was the fourth of seven children of the Elector and his wife.

Marriage

A marriage

by proxy took place in Munich on 13 June 1747 to Frederick Christian, the heir to the Electorate of Saxony

, while they would wed in person in Dresden on 20 June 1747. That same year she became a member of the Accademia dell’Arcadia of Rome, a significant institution in operatic reform. With her marriage, she moved to Dresden. She had nine children with Friedrich Christian, seven of whom survived infancy.

Regency

She left Dresden during the

textile factory in 1763 and a brewery

in 1766.

Musical training and composition

While in Munich, Maria Antonia studied music with renowned opera composers Giovanni Battista Ferrandini and Giovanni Porta. After moving to Dresden she continued her studies with Giovanni Alberto Ristori, Nicola Porpora and Johann Adolph Hasse. Indeed, opera played a major part throughout Maria Antonia’s life. The court of Munich celebrated her birth with a performance of the opera Amadis de Grecia by Pietro Torri. Her betrothal to Friedrich Christian was likewise celebrated with opera performances, including Hasse’s La Spartana generosa, sets by Bibiena, and Gluck’s opera Le nozze d’Ercole e d’Ebe. Shortly after moving to Dresden, she penned the libretto for Hasse’s oratorio, La conversione di Sant’Agostino (1750), in addition to her composing work. Her own compositional style shows a strong affinity for that of Hasse, especially his conception of opera seria. She also performed actively as a singer and keyboard player in court performances, including leading roles in both of her operas. In addition to her two operas, a number of arias, a pastorale, intermezzos, meditations and motets are attributed to her.

Talestri

The

foil

to Talestris.

Several operas took on the same principle over the next century, with Maria Antonia crafting her own libretto and music. The plot centers on Talestris’ relationship with a

Tomiris, the high priestess of Diana

, who is—as revealed near the end of the opera—the mother of Orontes. Ultimately, the plot ends happily, with each couple united and war averted, as the Scythians and Amazons manage to peacefully co-exist. The depiction of the benevolent, thoughtful ruler Talestris coming to be a political leader suggests the possibility that the opera is a semi-autobiographical rendering of Maria Antonia herself.

Critical reception

Though published using the pseudonym ETPA, standing for Ermelinda Talea Pastorella Arcadia, Maria Antonia’s operas were successfully published by Breitkopf and enjoyed warm reviews both in their premieres at the court theater, which she sang in, and also throughout other European cities. Music critic Charles Burney praised her opera and her singing in his 1773 work, The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands and United Provinces. Also of note, the philosopher and music theorist Antonio Eximeno y Pujades included an aria from Talestri in his 1774 treatise Dell’ origine e delle regole della musica, putting her in the company of five other selected composers: Palestrina, Nanini, Clari, Pergolesi, and Corelli.

Although her music is treated somewhat more broadly with less musical analysis, the entire treatise is used to model compositional techniques, implying a high regard for her work by Antonio Eximeno y Pujades, and presumably other contemporaries.

Works

Il trionfo della fedeltà: opera, libretto by Maria Antonia (Dresden, summer 1754)
Talestri, regina delle amazoni: opera, libretto by Maria Antonia (
Nymphenburg
, 6 February 1760)

Discography

Talestri, regina delle amazoni: Dramma per musica. CD, Berlin: Folkert Uhde, 1999 and 2003

Ancestry

Ancestors of Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria^{Benedicta-Henrietta of Simmern}

References

Citations

^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 40.

Sources

Allroggen, Gerhard: Maria Antonia Walpurgis, Electress of Saxony. Grove Music Online. Ed. L. Macy. Accessed January 30, 2007. [1] Archived 16 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
Burney, Charles: The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Provinces. London, 1773.
López, Pilar Ramos: Maria Antonia Walpurgis: Baroque Composer. Accessed January 30, 2007.
Seiferling, Steffen: Talestri, Regina delle Amazzoni. (Liner notes of CD, see discography).
Walpurgis, Maria Antonia: Talestri, regina delle Amazzoni: drama per music, de E.T.P.A. Leipzig: G. G. I. Breitkopf, 1765.
Antonio Eximeno y Pujades: Dell' origine e delle regole della musica, colla storia del suo progresso, decadenza, e rinnovazione. Rome, 1774.
Heinrich Theodor Flathe: Maria Antonia von Bayern. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 20, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, S. 371–374.

German royalty
Maria Antonia of Bavaria House of Wittelsbach Born: 18 July 1724 Died: 23 April 1780
Vacant Title next held by Maria Josepha of Austria	Electress consort of Saxony 5 October 1763 – 17 December 1763	Vacant Title last held by Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

[1] Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 40.