Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, Pastoral opera in 2 parts (Festa teatrale in due atti)

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Librettist: Abbé Giuseppe Parini

First performance: Teatro Regio Ducal, Milan, 17 October 1771

W. A. Mozart, 1790, portrait by Johann Georg Edlinger, see also: face only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy. ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Dramatis Personæ

• Venere (Venus) (soprano)
• Ascanio, her grandson, son of Aeneas (male soprano)
• Silvia, a nymph descended from Hercules (soprano)
• Aceste, a priest of Venus (tenor)
• Fauno, a shepherd (male soprano)
• Genii, Shepherds & Shepherdesses (chorus)

Setting: the site of the future city of Alba Longa, near Rome; mythical times. Dramatis personae is a Latin phrase (literally the persons of the drama) for the characters in the plot of a play, and is used to refer collectively to the characters represented in a dramatic work (various forms of theater, but also on screen) to be played by the acting cast... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice ranging approximately from the A below middle C to high C two octaves above middle C (i. ... A sopranist is a male singer who sings in the soprano vocal range. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as a countertenor). ... Alba Longa was a city of ancient Latium in central Italy about 19 km (12 miles) southeast of Rome. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2. ...

Index

• Overture
• No.1 Ballet: Andante grazioso
• No.2 Coro di geni e grazie: Di te più amabile, ne Dea maggiore
• Recitativo Venere: geni, grazie, ed Amori, fermate il piè
• No.3 Aria Venere: L'ombra de' rami tuoi
• Recitativo Ascanio & Venere: Ma la ninfa gentil
• No.4 Coro di geni e grazie: Di te più amabile, nè Dea maggiore
• Rectativo accompagnato Ascanio: Perchè tacer degg'io?
• No.5 Aria Ascanio: Cara, lontano ancora
• No.6 Coro di pastori: Venga, de' sommi Eroi
• Recitativo Ascanio & Fauno: Ma qual canto risona?
• No.7 Coro di pastori: Venga, de' sommi Eroi
• Recitativo Fauno & Ascanio: Ma tu, chi sei, che ignoto qui t'aggiri fra noi?
• No.8 Aria Fauno: Se il labbro più non dice
• Recitativo Ascanio & Fauno: Quanto soavi al core de la tua stirpe
• No.9 Coro di pastori e pastorelle: Hai di Diana il core
• Recitativo Aceste: Oh, generosa Diva
• No.10 Coro di pastori: Venga, de' sommi Eroi
• Recitativo Aceste: Di propria man la Dea a voi la donera
• No.11 Coro di pastori: Venga, de' sommi Eroi
• Recitativo Aceste: Oh mia gloria, oh mia cura
• No.12 Aria Aceste: Per la gioia in questo seno
• Recitativo Silvia & Aceste: Misera! Che farò
• No.13 Cavatina: Si, si, ma d'un altro amore
• Recitativo Aceste & Silvia: Ah no, Silvia t'inganni
• No.14 Aria Silvia: Come è felice stato
• Recitativo Aceste: Silvia, mira, che il sole omai s'avanza
• No.15 Coro di pastori: Venga, de' sommi Eroi
• Recitativo Ascanio & Venere: Cielo! Che vidi mai?
• No.16 Aria Ascani: Ah di sì nobil alma
• Recitativo Venere & Ascanio: Un'altra prova a te mirar conviene
• No.17 Aria Venere: Al chiaror di que' bei rai
• No.18 Coro di geni e grazie: Di te più amabile, nè Dea maggiore
• Recitativo Silvia: Star lontana non so
• No.19 Aria Silvia: Spiega il desio
• No.20 Coro di pastorelle: Già l'ore sen volano
• Recitativo Ascanio: Cerco di loco in loco
• Recitativo Silvia & Ascanio: Oh ciel! che miro?
• Recitativo Silvia, Ascanio & Fauno: Silvia, ove sei?
• No.21 Aria Fauno: Dal tuo gentil sembiante
• Recitativo Ascanio & Silvia: Ahimè! Che veggio mai?
• No.22 Aria Ascanio: Al mio ben mi veggio avanti
• Recitativo accompagnato Silvia: Ferma, aspetta, ove vai?
• No.23 Aria Silvia: Infelici affetti miei
• Recitativo Ascanio & Silvia: Anima grande
• No.24 Coro di pastorelle: Che strano evento
• Recitativo Ascanio: Ahi la crudel
• No.25 Aria Ascanio: Torna mio bene, ascolta
• No.26 Coro di pastori: Venga, de' sommi Eroi
• Recitativo Aceste: Che strana meraviglia
• No.27 Aria Aceste : Sento, che il cor mi dice
• Recitativo Silvia: Si, Padre, alfin mi taccia
• No.28 Coro di pastori e ninfe e pastorelle: Scendi, celeste Venere
• Recitativo Silvia, Aceste & Ascanio: Ma s'allontani almen
• No.29 Coro di pastori e pastorelle: No,non possiamo vivere
• Recitativo Aceste: Ecco ingombran l'altare
• No.30 Coro: Scendi, celeste Venere
• Recitativo Aceste, Silvia, Ascanio, Venere: Invoca, o figlia
• No.31 Terzetto Silvia, Ascanio, Aceste: Ah caro sposo, oh Dio!
• Recitativo Venere: Eccovi al fin di vostre pene
• No.32 Piccola parte del terzetto precedente Silvia, Ascanio, Aceste: Che bel piacer io sento
• Recitativo Silvia, Ascanio, Aceste, Venere: Ah chi nodi più forti
• No.33 Coro ultimo di geni, grazie, pastori e ninfe: Alma Dea, tutto il mondo governa

Plot

Act I

The opening scene introduces Venus and Ascanio, the son she had by Aeneas. The goddess vaunts the charms of Alba and invites her son to go and rule there. She urges him not to reveal his identity to Silvia, a nymph to whom he is betrothed, but to introduce himself to her under a false identity to test her virtue. While shepherds summon their promised ruler, Fauno reveals that the smiling face of Aceste, a priest, is a sign that the day will be a day of supreme happiness. Obeying the goddess, Ascanio pretends to be a foreigner attracted by the beauties of the place. Aceste tells the shepherds that their valley will be the site of a fine city and that they will have a sovereign, Ascanio, before the day is out. He also informs Silvia that she will be Ascanio’s bride, but she replies that she is in love with a young man she has seen in a dream. The priest reassures her, saying the young man in her can be none other than Ascanio. Venus then appears to Ascanio and asks him tot test the girl a little longer before revealing his true identity.

Act II

Ascanio spots Silvia among the shepherds and tries to talk to her. The girl immediately recognizes the young man from her dreams. Fauno intervenes and suggests to “the foreigner” (Ascanio) that he should go off and announce the building of Alba in foreign parts. Convinced that the foreigner is not Ascanio, Silvia runs off declaring she will never marry anyone else.

Aceste consoles Silvia, saying that her tribulations are about to come to an end. Venus is invoked by a magnificent chorus. Silvia and Ascanio add their voices to the chorus and the goddess descends on her chariot surrounded by clouds.

Venus unites the two lovers and explains how she had intended her son to discover the virtue of his fiancée. Aceste pronounces an oath of fidelity and loyalty to Venus, who then retires. It only remains for Ascanio to perpetuate the race of Aeneas and guide the city of Alba to prosperity.

Plot summary from Mozart Brilliant Classics

References

Libretto

Historical background and review by Jan-Willem Besuijen

Discussion of the article above