Pietro Metastasio (1 gen 1698 anni – 1 gen 1782 anni)

Descrizione:

an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.

Metastasio
1. Metastasio was the premier librettist of the eighteenth century.
2. He set the number of main roles at six, two pairs and a remainder.
3. At the top were the “primo uomo” and “prima donna,” the latter a term still in use today.
4. He also regularized the types of arias.
5. Metastasio saw the aria as a reflective piece, not soliloquy.

Metastasio’s Musicians
1. Metastasio’s most frequently used libretto is Artaserse.
2. Opera seria was sung in Italian, all over Europe.
a. The singers were usually Italian virtuosos.
b. They interpolated much into operas, including their own favorite pieces.
3. The greatest eighteenth-century singer was Farinelli (Carlo Broschi, 1705–82), a castrato.
a. The arias Farinelli sang gave him the opportunity to show off various aspects of
his voice, including elaborate ornamentation, long phrases, etc.
1) The crucial point for such display was the cadenza.
b. Not everyone admired such fireworks.

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