Montezuma (Graun)

  • Montezuma (mezzo- soprano), Emperor of Mexico
  • Eupaforice (soprano ), Queen of Tlascala, his bride
  • Erissena (soprano), her confidante
  • Tezeuco (soprano ), a minister of the Emperor
  • Pilpatoè (Alt ), Imperial General
  • Hernán Cortés (soprano), the Spanish conquerors
  • Narvès (tenor ), one of his captains
  • The entourage of Montezuma and Cortez, Mexican and Spanish soldiers, people

Montezuma is an opera seria in three acts by Carl Heinrich Graun. The libretto was written by Prussian King Frederick the Great in French and converted by Giampetro Tagliazucchi in an Italian libretto version. The title role was originally written for the voice of a castrato, but is now usually sung by a mezzo- soprano, rare of an alto or countertenor.

Action

The piece describes how the Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés deceive the Aztec emperor Montezuma by cunning and take him prisoner. Although Montezuma's bridal designs a rescue plan to fail all efforts to find a peaceful solution and the Emperor is killed.

Motivation for the opera

Frederick the Great describes the opera a counterpart to himself His libretto performs strongly against what happens to a territory, the military not sufficiently hedges and foreign armies confronts friendly. A better argument for its own military buildup was hard to find. Only a year after the premiere of " Montezuma " in Berlin in 1755 the King of Prussia invades Saxony in 1756 to forestall an attack by the allied neighboring countries Prussia.

Performances

After the death of Frederick the Great, the work was rarely performed, only the three hundredth anniversary of the King in 2012, the opera was shown several times again, such as the New Palace in Potsdam and at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater in Berlin.

Recordings / records

1966 Richard Bonynge; London Philharmonic Orchestra Montezuma: Lauris Elms Erissena: Elizabeth Harwood Eupaforice: Joan Sutherland Tezeuco: Joseph Ward Pilpatoè: Rae Woodland Hernán Cortés: Monica Sinclair Decca 6.35516 ( 2 LP ) / Decca 448 977 2 (CD)

1992 Goritzki; Chamber Choir Cantica Nova, Soloists Ensemble of the German Chamber Academy Montezuma: Encarnación Vázquez Erissena: Angélica Uribe Sánchez Eupaforice: Dorothea Wirtz Tezeuco: Conchita Julian Pilpatoè: Lourdes Ambriz Hernán Cortés: Maria Luisa Tamez Narvès: Ana Caridad Acosta Capriccio 6003-2 (2 CD 135'46 Studio)

Moctezuma II. Integrated Authority File
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