La Salustia

In 1731 Pergolesi's long years of study at the Conservatorio dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo in Naples were reaching their end. He had already begun to make a name for himself and was able to pay off his expenses by working as a performer in religious institutions and noble salons, first as a singer then as a violinist. In 1729–30 he had been "capoparanza" (first violin) in a group of instrumentalists and, according to a later witness, it was the Oratorian Fathers who made most regular use of his artistic services as well as those of other "mastricelli" (little maestros) from the Conservatorio.^[2] The first important commission Pergolesi received on leaving the school was linked to this religious order and on 19 March 1731 his oratorio La fenice sul rogo, o vero La morte di San Giuseppe [it] ["The Phoenix on the Pyre, or The Death of Saint Joseph"] was performed in the atrium of the church today known as the Chiesa dei Girolamini, the home of the Congregazione di San Giuseppe. This two-part oratorio, with a text by Antonino Maria Paolucci, was the first important work by the composer from Jesi. "The following summer Pergolesi was asked to set to music, as the final exercise of his studies, a dramma sacro in three acts by Ignazio Mancini, Li prodigi della divina grazia nella conversione e morte di san Guglielmo duca d’Aquitania ["The Miracles of Divine Grace in the Conversion and Death of Saint William, Duke of Aquitaine"]. The performance took place in the cloisters of the monastery of Sant'Agnello Maggiore, the home of the Canons Regular of the Most Holy Savior."^[3]

Whether as a result of the renown Pergolesi had earned from such precocious activity,

The company employed by the Teatro San Bartolomeo enjoyed a high reputation. Following the conventions of the operatic theatre of the time the company was usually supposed to consist of a couple of female singers[8] to take the roles of prima and seconda donna (first and second ladies); a couple of musici ("musicians", a euphemistic term for "castrati"), who might be replaced by women en travesti, for the roles of first and second amorosi ("lovers"); a baritenor (or, if there was no alternative, a bass) for the roles of father, general or rival – if the characters were good – or, more often, the villain; and probably other singers used in the tertiary roles, of little importance and often even lacking independent arias.^[9] These roles could also be filled by singers employed in the comic intermezzi, if there were any, generally a bass and a soprano (or, in an earlier period, a contralto).

The leading singer in the company of San Bartolomeo was the contralto Nicolò Grimaldi, known as "Cavalier Nicolino", a true star of the international operatic stage. Then nearing his sixties, he had been at the top of his profession for three decades. Next to him, in the role of secondo amoroso was Angiola Zanuchi (or Zanucchi), a

Everything was therefore ready for the premiere of La Salustia, scheduled according to the libretto for "the winter of 1731", when an unexpected crisis threw all the planning into confusion. We do not know the precise details of the events, but while the rehearsals were probably underway, or at least scheduled, on 1 January 1732 (the timing suggests a brief illness) "Cavalier Nicolino" suddenly died, forcing the theatre management and Pergolesi to take emergency measures. They hired a musico from Rome by the name of Gioacchino Conti (later famous as "Giziello") to take over the dead man's post. Giziello was a promising singer but he was not yet 18; he had received his musical education in Naples and was still fresh from his debut on the Roman stage. His arrival upset the casting: the eccentricity of entrusting the role of a wicked father to a castrato, even though it might have been feasible with a tried and tested singer in his sixties, became unacceptable in the hands of a novice who was under 18, so it was decided to make some face-saving alterations. The part of Marziano was handed to the tenor Tolve while Giziello took over the less demanding role of Claudio, thus reverting to the standard company casting but forcing Pergolesi to revise his score at the last minute.^[18] "Some arias were substituted, others were transposed downwards (from contralto to tenor) or upwards (from tenor to soprano)" and by the end the most satisfied performer was probably Tolve, whose character remained musically central, even keeping the virtuoso aria in the finale originally intended for Nicolino.^[19]

The opera was staged with the revisions and the new cast, probably in the second half of January 1732 and only enjoyed a short run before it was replaced by Francesco Mancini's Alessandro nell'Indie, scheduled for 2 February.^[20] After that it was almost completely forgotten, although the opera's documents were preserved in the archives in the expectation of a revival: they have allowed a precise reconstruction of both the original, unstaged version with the role of Marziano for the contralto range, and the second version with this role transposed for a tenor and that of Claudio transposed for soprano.^[21]

Not until the 21st century did La Salustia finally reappear on stage. In 2008 it was performed, first at the Opéra Comédie in Montpellier in July and then at the

This is a list of the instrumentation used in the score of La Salustia:[24]

• 2 oboes
• 2 horns
• 2 trumpets
• strings
• basso continuo

Synopsis

Background: The 13-year-old Alessandro Severo (

The opera begins with a celebration of the anniversary of Alessandro's coronation. Alessandro appoints Salustia's father Marziano (Seius Sallustius) as the head of the army. Giulia suffers from her growing jealousy. In a sub-plot, young Albina arrives in Rome in search of her former beloved Claudio. As he has lost interest in her, she begs Salustia for help. Giulia tricks her son into signing a document by which he unwittingly repudiates his wife. When Salustia's father hears of this he decides to kill Giulia with the help of Claudio – first by poison, then if that fails, by the sword. Albina overhears their conversation. She betrays the conspiracy to Salustia to get revenge on Claudio. At the subsequent banquet Salustia prevents the poisoning. Since she is unwilling to name the culprit – her father – suspicion falls on her. Neither Giulia's threats nor Alessandro's pleading can make her speak. Claudio learns from Albina that she is the one who betrayed the plot. He is impressed by her decisiveness. When Giulia falls asleep in her bedchamber, Marziano undertakes a second murder attempt – but Salustia saves the empress's life. Marziano is arrested and sentenced to be torn apart by wild animals in the arena. At Salustia's request, Giulia decides he will only have to fight a single wild beast and will be set free if he wins. He triumphs and Giulia's anger vanishes. She accepts Salustia as her daughter-in-law and forgives Marziano. Claudio and Albina are also able to marry.^[25]

Recordings

References