When one considers what Haydn thought of himself and his talents and destiny, the first of his Italian operas was certainly a long time coming. First and foremost, he considered himself to be a composer of vocal works. So far he had written a modest amount of sacred music and some arias for singspiels, along with a very few cantatas. But in later 1762, the word was out that the Prince's eldest son, Anton, would be married to Countess Marie Erdödy in January 1763.
As was usual, an opera was commissioned to celebrate the occasion, and Haydn was given the story of Acis and Galatea, a popular and frequently told tale. Like many (most?) operas of the day, this one was based on mythological characters, in this case from a known source, the Roman poet Ovid having told it in his famous Metamorphoses. It had been set as an opera many times, the most famous probably being that of Handel.
Young Esterházy and the Countess were wed in Vienna on January 10, 1763. After banqueting with the Imperial Family, the entire retinue traveled back to Eisenstadt for a three day party that probably set the standard for three day parties in 18th century Austria! The depth of planning and the activities provided are amazing. The road itself was illuminated, no small feat in those days. The entire palace was sumptuously decorated. A special ceremonial gate had been constructed and the guests were greeted with trumpets and drums while the grenadiers paraded nearby. After a Te Deum in the chapel, a feast for 120 guests capped off the day.
On Day One of the actual party, the morning was spent with a huge variety of entertainments for all interests, and after lunch, the company and orchestra, in specially made uniforms of maroon with gold trim, gave the opera, Acide. Copies of the libretto bound in taffeta, silver paper and parchment were handed to the guests. On the subsequent days, another opera buffa was given, and the entire affair was topped off by a masked ball for 600 guests! And this is just a taste of the splendor that Goethe called 'the Esterházy fairy-tale kingdom'.
This libretto by Giovanni Migliavacca had a few differences from the norm which make it uniquely suited for the occasion. There is plenty of tragedy in the original story (the hero gets crushed by a large boulder by his jealous rival, after all), but this version doesn't dwell on that aspect, in fact, Acis is raised from the dead by another Deity which provides the mandatory happy ending. It is the love between Acis and Galatea which dominates the action. It also has a few other things in its favor, such as being rather too brief for a true opera seria, and the characters were not true historical people. Ultimately, this would be called a festa teatrale instead.
Even though parts of the original 1763 production still exist, and other parts are found in the 1774 revival manuscript, it is sad to say that this work is a fragment. In fact, only nine of the parts still exist. One is a lively three movement overture, then there are arias for all three main characters and the fourth, Neptune (who was added in to the 1774 version). Finally, there remains a vocal quartet which is the finale in the current reconstruction.
Apparently, Acide was popular enough with the Esterházy court to remain in the repertoire until at least 1774. It achieved enough fame that bits and pieces of it have been discovered as far off as Paris and Berlin. The libretto exists intact because a copy of the handout to all the original guests managed to survive in the Esterházy archives. The overture itself differs in no way from a standard sinfonia of the time, with the exception of not having repeats marked.
Although we don't have many opportunities to compare Haydn's festa teatrale to his concurrent little comedies such as La Marchesa Nespola, musicologists say that Haydn seems more comfortable doing comedy than he was doing drama at that stage of his career. Whoa, what a surprise!! Despite the fact that he mastered the dramatic form in later times, I would venture to say that he was always more comfortable doing comedy. Even many parts of his London symphonies were comedy, after all.
I am aware of only one effort to record this lovely little work, so making a recommendation is really not much of a challenge. This disk by The Haydn Sinfonietta Wien / Manfred Huss is a worthy addition to your Haydn collection. There is nothing about it not to like. Huss has combined all the remaining parts into one work, with only one repetition, an aria that Haydn rewrote in 1774 for the new character, Neptune. Both versions are presented here, along with entr'acte's consisting of two movements of Symphony #12, which Huss gives a very plausible and convincing explanation as being the actual original entr'acte's, which were filled out into a delightful symphony later in 1763. All in all a fine production.
Next time we will move on into 1763, a particularly fine year.
Thanks for reading!
