Händel's Amadigi di Gaula: Spanish subject, French dramaturgy and Italian opera on English scenes

Authors

  • Andrea Garavaglia Université de Fribourg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13136/2284-2667/71

Keywords:

Händel, Amadís, migration of libretti, opera subjects, musical dramaturgy

Abstract

Handel’s opera Amadigi di Gaula (1715) combines elements of various European cultures: a Spanish subject derived from the chivalric novel Amadís de Gaula by Montalvo; a French dramaturgy, based on La Motte’s Amadis de Grèce; an Italian theatrical genre, conceived for the English audience. In addition to showing some of the effects of this synergy of elements (narrative, spectacular, aesthetic), this paper discusses the seventeenth-century operas based on the Spanish novel, the absence of the subject in Italian opera production, and the choice of the French libretto as source text for Amadigi. Finally, analysing the changes made to the key sections of the French opera (divertissements) in the Italian one, the article reflects on the peculiarities of the two dramatic poetics.

 

Author Biography

  • Andrea Garavaglia, Université de Fribourg

    prof. ass. in Musicologia

    Faculté des Lettres

    Domaine: Histoire de l'art et Musicologie

    Av. de l'Europe 20, CH-1700 Fribourg

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Published

2017-12-22

Issue

No. 5 (2017): After Manutius. Novels, printing press and the pleasure of reading

Section

Monographic

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