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Orfeo Ed Euridice in London, Florence and Naples 1770–1785 Contrasting Styles and Competing Ideals

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Orfeo Ed Euridice in London, Florence and Naples 1770–1785 Contrasting Styles and Competing Ideals Performing Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in London, Florence and Naples 1770–1785 Contrasting styles and competing ideals Emma Sohlgren Master Thesis 2020 Department of Musicology Uppsala University Supervisor: Lars Berglund Abstract In this master thesis I look at the revivals of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in London (1770 and 1785), Florence (1771), and Naples (1774). After the premiere of Orfeo ed Euridice in Vienna in 1762, Gluck himself reworked the opera for new productions in Parma (1769) and Paris (1774). The versions studied in my thesis, however, were adapted and included music by other composers, such as Johann Christian Bach and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. There were a number of added scenes, new characters, and inserted arias, sometimes in a very contrasting style to what Gluck and Calzabigi tried to achieve in their reform of opera seria. For this reason, the reworkings have often been called pasticcio versions in modern literature. Through a comparative study of the music manuscripts and the printed libretti, I show that these four productions of the opera exhibit four unique approaches to performing the opera at public opera houses in the late eighteenth century. Orfeo was consistently lengthened in order to make the performance long enough for an evening at the opera, but how it was changed varied considerably according to the context of the performance. This suggests a complexity and nuance of the practice of adaptations and substitutions in late eighteenth-century opera in general, and the reception of Orfeo in particular, that have not previously been fully acknowledged. Table of contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 5 The changeable nature of opera seria ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Orfeo ed Euridice on stage in the late eighteenth century .............................................................................................................. 6 Purpose, method, and theory ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Previous research ......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Four different approaches to performing Orfeo ed Euridice in London, Florence and Naples ............... 12 London (1770): clarity and contrast ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Gaetano Guadagni and the genesis of the London performance ......................................................................... 12 Why the opera needed changes in a public opera house......................................................................................... 14 How the opera was changed in London: clearly attributed additions in a contrasting style ............................. 15 Contemporary reception and criticism of the London version ............................................................................. 20 The performances in London in 1771 and 1773 ...................................................................................................... 21 Tenducci: from London to Florence ........................................................................................................................................... 22 Florence (1771): imitation and assimilation ............................................................................................................................. 24 Opera culture and earlier reform opera in Florence ................................................................................................ 25 The Parma version as the basis for Gluck’s music in Florence 1771 and other Italian performances ........... 26 How the opera was changed: imitation of Gluck’s dramatic structure ................................................................ 27 Reception of the Florence version .............................................................................................................................. 30 Tenducci: the genesis of the Naples version ................................................................................................................................ 31 Naples San Carlo (1774): merging the London and Florence versions ...................................................................................... 32 How the opera was changed in Naples: taking arias and scenes from London and Florence ......................... 33 Reception of the Naples version ................................................................................................................................. 37 Tenducci: bringing Orfeo back to England ................................................................................................................................ 38 London (1785): “A Concert of Ancient Music” ...................................................................................................................... 39 Concerts of Ancient Music in 1780s London ........................................................................................................... 39 How the opera was changed in London: fewer additions, more Handel ............................................................. 40 Gluck’s Paris reworking and other performances of Orfeo ed Euridice in the early 1770s ......................................................... 42 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 44 2. The contrasting attitudes to musical style and dramatic structure in London 1770 and Florence 1771 46 An overview of style and drama in opera in the second half of the eighteenth century .................................................................. 47 Gluck’s musical style ...................................................................................................................................................... 47 Musical style in opera seria ........................................................................................................................................... 48 London (1770) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 50 The recitatives ................................................................................................................................................................. 52 “Non è ver” by Johann Christian Bach ...................................................................................................................... 52 “Contenta assai” by Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi .................................................................................................... 54 The style and structure of other additions ................................................................................................................. 56 Florence (1771) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 57 The context and structure of the scene ...................................................................................................................... 57 The chorus: “Sciolto ognun” ....................................................................................................................................... 59 Orfeo’s recitatives .......................................................................................................................................................... 59 The aria “Placate quel core” ......................................................................................................................................... 60 The aria “Perché sì ingrate” .......................................................................................................................................... 62 The significance of this scene ...................................................................................................................................... 63 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................ 64 3. The Orfeo reworkings as examples of competing and changing aesthetic ideals in the eighteenth century ........................................................................................................................................................... 65 The contrast between court theatres and public opera houses ...................................................................................................... 65 The importance of previous exposure to reform ideals ................................................................................................................. 67 Reworkings and the “work” Orfeo ........................................................................................................................................... 70 The work
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