Scipione affricano (Scipio Africanus) is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. It was designated as a dramma per musica. The Italian libretto was by Nicolò Minato, based on Livy's "The Continence of Scipio".
Performance history edit
It was first performed in Venice at the Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo on 9 February 1664. It was also given in Rome in 1671 with the castrato Giovanni Francesco Grossi as a celebrated Siface. Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani produced a greatly revised version of the opera for the Carnival of Venice in 1678.
Roles edit
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 9 February 1664[1] |
---|---|---|
Asdrubale | tenor | |
Ericlea | soprano | |
Luceio | soprano | |
Polinio | soprano | |
Siface | alto castrato | Giovanni Francesco Grossi |
Massanissa | bass | |
Sofonisba | soprano |
Recordings edit
- Atto III Scena 3: "A tuo dispetto amor" Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo García Alarcón, Clematis, Thomas Dunford 2014
- "Hora si ch'assai più fiero" Filippo Mineccia (counter-tenor) Nereydas Javier Ulises Illán Glossa 2018
References edit
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Scipione affricano, 9 February 1664". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
Further reading edit
- Clinkscale, Martha Novak, "Scipione affricano", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7