<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The article aims at assessing the differences between Hasse's original setting of Metastasio's <italic>Siroe</italic> in 1733 and the composer's second setting of the same drama, exactly thirty years later, in terms of dramatic, vocal, and musical balance. The two versions will be comprehensively compared with a focus on two main issues. The first is the origin of the two settings, which goes back to two distinct versions of the libretto, originally conceived by Metastasio for Venice and Naples respectively; a different starting point which gave birth to two, largely separate dramatic projects, differentiated by a number of distinctive facets. On the other hand, special attention will be devoted to the play's characters, which, though basically the same in both settings, demonstrate remarkable differences in individual characterisation and overall balance, both as far as drama and music are concerned.</p>
</abstract>

The article aims at assessing the differences between Hasse's original setting of Metastasio's Siroe in 1733 and the composer's second setting of the same drama, exactly thirty years later, in terms of dramatic, vocal, and musical balance. The two versions will be comprehensively compared with a focus on two main issues. The first is the origin of the two settings, which goes back to two distinct versions of the libretto, originally conceived by Metastasio for Venice and Naples respectively; a different starting point which gave birth to two, largely separate dramatic projects, differentiated by a number of distinctive facets. On the other hand, special attention will be devoted to the play's characters, which, though basically the same in both settings, demonstrate remarkable differences in individual characterisation and overall balance, both as far as drama and music are concerned.

Hasse's <italic>Siroe</italic>, Thirty Years Later: A Veritable Work in Progress

Musicology Today

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Hasse's , Thirty Years Later: A Veritable Work in Progress

The article aims at assessing the differences between Hasse's original setting of Metastasio's Siroe in 1733 and the composer's second setting of the same...

	Venice 1726 Vinci	Naples 1727 Sarro	Bologna 1733 Hasse	Dresden 1763 Hasse
Cosroe	5	5	4	3
Siroe	5	5	5	4
Medarse	5	4	4	3
Emira	5	5	4	4
Laodice	5	5	4	3
Arasse	2	3	3	3
Total no. of arias	27	27	24	20

	Venice 1726 Vinci	Bologna 1733 Hasse	Naples 1727 Sarro	Dresden 1763 Hasse
Total arias	27	24	27	20^*
Arias on texts by Metastasio	27	16 + 3 from Porpora's and Sarro's Siroe	27	16,5
Arias appearing both in Hasse 1733 and 1763 (texts only)				13

Hasse's Siroe, Thirty Years Later: A Veritable Work in Progress

Data publikacji: 31 gru 2021

Zakres stron: 65 - 74

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/muso-2021-0007

Słowa kluczowe
opera, libretto, singers’ role, musical setting, character

© 2021 Raffaele Mellace, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Musical example 1

Musical example 2

Musical example 3

Musical example 4

Musical example 5

Number of arias in Hasse's Siroe settings and in their sources

Arias in Hasse's Siroe settings compared with their sources

Hasse's Siroe, Thirty Years Later: A Veritable Work in Progress

Data publikacji: 31 gru 2021

Zakres stron: 65 - 74

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/muso-2021-0007

Słowa kluczoweopera, libretto, singers’ role, musical setting, character

© 2021 Raffaele Mellace, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Musical example 1

Musical example 2

Musical example 3

Musical example 4

Musical example 5

Number of arias in Hasse's Siroe settings and in their sources

Arias in Hasse's Siroe settings compared with their sources

Słowa kluczowe
opera, libretto, singers’ role, musical setting, character