Philemon und Baucis (Haydn)

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Philemon und Baucis
Opera by Joseph Haydn
Portrait by Thomas Hardy, 1791
LanguageGerman
Based onPhilemon und Baucis: Ein Schauspiel in Versen von einem Aufzuge by Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel
Premiere
2 September 1773 (1773-09-02)[1][2]
Esterháza puppet theater

Philemon und Baucis, oder Jupiters Reise auf die Erde (Philemon and Baucis, or Jupiter's Journey to Earth),

Hob. XXIXb:2, is an opera in one act by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn to a German libretto, possibly by Prince Esterházy's librarian, Phillip Georg Bader.[3][4] The text is based upon a play by G. K. Pfeffel,[5][6][7] itself a retelling of the Baucis and Philemon myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses.[8] The work is in the form of a Singspiel.[9]

Composition history

Hob.
No. 		Subtitles Dates Key Notes
XXIXa:1 Philemon und Baucis 1773 puppet-opera
XXIXa:1a Prelude to XXIXa:1 D major Der Götterat; music lost
XXIXb:2 Philemon und Baucis 1776 D minor Singspiel after puppet-opera XXIXa:1

Premiering in 1773 for a visit from Empress

Hob. I:50.[13] Philemon und Baucis was revised to be a traditional opera in 1776.[14][15]

In 1950, an original manuscript was uncovered at the

Habsburgs,[12][20] remain lost, likely destroyed in the Eszterháza fire of 1779.[8]

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 2 September 1773
Conductor: Joseph Haydn[4]
Humans
Philemon, old man tenor Johann Haydn
Baucis, his wife soprano Elisabeth Griessler
Aret, their son tenor Michael Ernst
Narcissa, his wife soprano Eleonora Jager
Chorus: peasants
Gods
Mercury spoken
Jupiter
 spoken

The opera is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 clarini (natural trumpets), timpani, 2 violins, viola, and continuo.

Synopsis

Philémon et Baucis donnant l'hospitalité à Jupiter et Mercure by Jean-Bernard Restout, 1769

Part I

Setting: A village in ancient Phrygia

Philemon and Baucis, husband and wife, assist their son Aret and his fiancé Narcissa in preparing for their wedding. As narrator, Mercury furtively watches the family and the other peasants of the village as their behavior grows more and more raucous and depraved. The other gods entreat Jupiter to stop the madness. At the top of Mount Olympus, the gods agree to send a storm upon Phrygia as punishment. The oncoming storm surprises the peasants, and Aret and Narcissa are killed by a bolt of lightning. At first, Philemon and Baucis beg the gods for mercy, but eventually resolve to accept the divine judgment. The storm dissipates.

Part II

After being rejected from all other homes in the village, Jupiter and Mercury arrive at the doorstep of Philemon and Baucis, dressed incognito as

urns. Touched by the couple's hospitality and grief, Jupiter and Mercury reveal their true identities and reanimate the bodies of Aret and Narcissa from the ashes. Filled with gratitude, Philemon and Baucis plead with Jupiter to turn their hut into a temple
so that they may serve his honor as priest and priestess. Jupiter agrees, and everyone sings his praises. The gods rebuke the earlier unwelcoming peasants before ascending to heaven.

Recordings

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9783825317997
    . Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780847803880
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  3. ISBN 9780193163072
    . Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781442247970
    . Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  5. ISBN 9783412200206
    . Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  6. ^ Geiringer, Karl; Geiringer, Irene (1968). Haydn: A Creative Life in Music. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 286. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  7. ISBN 9780226078113
    . Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  8. ^
    ISBN 9780571268733
    . Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  9. ISBN 9780140514759
    .
  10. ISBN 9781139000895
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  11. ISBN 9780802868527
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  12. ^
    ISBN 9780253372659
    . Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  13. ^
    ISBN 9780253334879
    . Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  14. ISBN 9780937276174
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  15. ISBN 9780893415310
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  16. JSTOR 40857941
    .
  17. ISBN 9780520043176
    . Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  18. ISBN 9783492024129
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  19. ISBN 9780670496501
    . Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  20. ISBN 9780500011683
    . Retrieved July 30, 2022.

External links
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