Essay About Apostolo Zeno And Famous Operas

Alessandro Scarlatti
Essay Preview: Alessandro Scarlatti
Report this essay
Alessandro Scarlatti
Alessandro Scarlatti earned an important place in musical history for a variety
of reasons. He is said to have been the first composer to write a string quartet. Moreover,
in developing the “Italian” overture, as distinct from the “French” overture (Ewen). This
paper will be discussing some of Scarlattis most important works.
One of Scarlattis most famous operas is Mitridate Eupatore. It was written in
1707, for Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice. It is mainly about the revenge of
Prince Eupatore and his sister Laodice on their mother, Queen Stratonica. The Queen
has murdered their father and married her lover Farnace (Palisca). There are a lot of da
capo arias in this opera, one being “Esci ormai”. It opens with a sixteen-measure
concerto-like ritornello that sets the mood of fiery resolution. The Queen then proclaims
to her people that she is banishing mother-love from her breast for their sake. The
recitative actually tells us that she is scheming to sacrifice her son for her lover (Palisca).
Here is how “Esci ormai”, a da capo aria, is divided in a diagram.
Ritornello
16 mm. A
Esci ormai che piu non vhai loco
4 mm. A-E
Materno amore da questo sen!
Ritornello
Same text
8 mm. E-A
Ritornello
5 mm. A
In region petto un piu bel foco
4 mm. f#
Amor vaccese del comun ben.
Same text
5 mm. f#-E
Da capo
34 mm.
Scarlatti evolved this da capo form. It remained for him to fix a logical formal
structure for the aria, and this is what he came up with. This form can be found in a lot of
Scarlattis earliest works. This formula was approved by composers because it seemed to
settle the formal problems with which they had been struggling. In 1696, Scarlatti
evolved the Italian overture. In the opera Dal male il buono, he finally achieved the
form which he used almost without exception from then on. The form consisted of three
rather short movements built around subject matter which had no vital connection with
the main body of the opera. The first movement was quick and lively, the middle section
was slow, and the overture ended with a rapid movement of dancer character (Finney).
Scarlattis final opera, La Griselda is a perfect example of his overtures. The libretto was
by Apostolo Zeno, but there is not sufficient material for three acts. The story of “Patient
Grizzel” is in some ways effective for operatic treatment, as it affords welldefined and
strongly coloured characters; but this very reason is also a drawback. Gualliero is so
incredibly tyrannical and Griselda so incredibly patient that we can give up little
sympathy for such obviously stagey figures. Ottone is the meanest villain; Roberto and
Costanza are merely picturesque puppets, and Corrado hardly even that. Scarlatti has
made the most of the characters, such as they are, Griselda and Costanza being the most
successful. The finest example of dramatic expression is Griseldas air in the second act,
“Figlio!