La divisione del mondo
Music by Giovanni Legrenzi · libretto by Giulio Cesare Corradi · premiered 1675 · at Teatro Goldoni
La divisione del mondo (The Division of the World) is an opera in 3 acts by composer Giovanni Legrenzi. The opera uses an Italian-language libretto by Giulio Cesare Corradi and was commissioned by the Marquis Guido Rangoni. The opera tells the story of the division of the world after the Titan deities were defeated by the Olympian gods. The goddess Venus provides the central conflict of the opera through a series of moral temptations which lead all of the other gods, with the exception of Saturn, into debauchery. La divisione del mondo premiered on 4 February 1675 in Venice at the Teatro San Salvador. The opera was immensely successful at its premiere and became Lengrenzi's most widely performed work, with 13 productions in Italy between 1683 and 1699. Part of the work's success was due to the elaborate and expensive sets, machinery, and special effects employed at its premiere. In 2000 La divisione del mondo had its first modern revival at the Schwetzingen Festival using a performance score prepared by musicologist Thomas Hengelbrock. The production was directed by Philippe Arlaud and starred Sonora Vaice as Venus, Kobie van Rensburg as Jupiter, Gabriele Sima as Juno, Simone Kermes as Cinzia, Matthias Rexroth in Apollo, Ilana Davidson as Cupid, Bernhard Landauer as Mercury, Hilary Summers as Mars, James Taylor as Neptune, Wolf Matthias Friedrich as Pluto, and Petteri Salomaa as Saturn. Hengelbrock conducted the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble. The opera was revived in March 2019 at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy to widespread acclaim.
Text from the Wikipedia article "La divisione del mondo", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Giovanni Legrenzi (baptized August 12, 1626 – May 27, 1690) was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late 17th century, and extremely influential in the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Giovanni Legrenzi", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Giovanni Legrenzi
- Eteocle e Polinice (1674)
- Giustino (1683)