Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Figures
- Tables
- Musical examples
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Pasquale Bondini
- 2 Die Entführung aus dem Serail
- 3 The Italian troupe in Prague
- 4 The Prague Figaro
- 5 The genesis of Don Giovanni
- 6 The première of Don Giovanni
- 7 The casting of Don Giovanni
- 8 The Leipzig Don Giovanni
- 9 The 1788 Prague Don Giovanni
- 10 Mozart’s music in Leipzig
- 11 Josepha Duschek’s academy (22 April 1788)
- 12 Mozart’s academy (12 May 1789)
- 13 Guardasoni in Warsaw
- 14 The première of La clemenza di Tito
- 15 The Leipzig reception of the Da Ponte operas (1792–1794)
- 16 Guardasoni diversifies
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
14 - The première of La clemenza di Tito
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Figures
- Tables
- Musical examples
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Pasquale Bondini
- 2 Die Entführung aus dem Serail
- 3 The Italian troupe in Prague
- 4 The Prague Figaro
- 5 The genesis of Don Giovanni
- 6 The première of Don Giovanni
- 7 The casting of Don Giovanni
- 8 The Leipzig Don Giovanni
- 9 The 1788 Prague Don Giovanni
- 10 Mozart’s music in Leipzig
- 11 Josepha Duschek’s academy (22 April 1788)
- 12 Mozart’s academy (12 May 1789)
- 13 Guardasoni in Warsaw
- 14 The première of La clemenza di Tito
- 15 The Leipzig reception of the Da Ponte operas (1792–1794)
- 16 Guardasoni diversifies
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The circumstances in which Guardasoni was awarded the contract to provide an opera seria for the imperial coronation in 1791 remain unclear. Although his troupe had not performed in the city for two years, its previous association with Prague probably gave it an advantage over other contenders. A review of the company’s recent history published in the Theater-Kalender for 1793 implied that Guardasoni had been sent for:
Herr Guardasoni took over the company on his own account in 1787 from the late Bondini, for whom he had been manager, and performed in turn in Prague during the winter and Leipzig during the summer. In 1789, the Polish parliament induced him to go to Warsaw. There he remained until last year the Royal Estates of the Kingdom of Bohemia called him back to Prague for the festivities for the Coronation of the now deceased Emperor Leopold.
This account suggests that Guardasoni’s company received an official invitation to return to Prague in 1791 and that they did not make the long journey as a speculative venture. The contract which he agreed with the Bohemian Estates on 8 July 1791 spelled out his responsibilities very clearly. In addition to recruiting a castrato, he had to agree to seek out a woman singer of the first rank:
Specification of the items that I, the undersigned, promise the exalted Estates of Bohemia to honor, and that I require of Their Excellencies, above mentioned, in connection with a grand opera seria to be performed in this National Theater on the occasion of the coronation of His Imperial Majesty within the space of the beginning of [deleted: the first half of] the month of September next, when I will be presented and granted six thousand Gulden, or six thousand five hundred, if the musico should be Marchesi.
First, I promise to give them a primo musico of the first rank, for example either Marchesini or Rubinelli, or Crescentini, or Violani, or another, as long as he is of the first rank. Likewise, I promise to give them a prima donna also of the first rank, and certainly the best of that rank who is free, and to fill the rest of the cast with members of my own company.
Second, I promise to have the poetry of the book composed on one of the two subjects given to me by His Excellency the governor and to have it set to music by a famous composer, but in case it may not be possible to do that because of the shortness of time, I promise to procure an opera newly composed on the subject of Metastasio’s Titus [deleted: or another equal one].
Third, I promise to have two new changes of scenery made expressly for this spectacle. Likewise I promise to have new costumes made, and especially for the leading roles in the opera.
Fourth, I promise to illuminate and to decorate the theatre with garlands, to present the said opera complete, and to perform it gratis for one evening, to be specified by the High Estates, within the above mentioned time.
One of the prime donne in the Warsaw roster was Margherita Morigi Simoni. While not herself a singer of the first rank, she may nonetheless have had some influence on Guardasoni’s choice of castrato, Domenico Bedini, with whom she had recently sung in Andreozzi’s Virginia in 1787.
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- Performing Operas for MozartImpresarios, Singers and Troupes, pp. 170 - 177Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011