As often happened, a monarch here tried to assert his claim to power with an opera. But Steffani’s “Henrico Leone” is more than just propaganda in sound. A new edition now makes this remarkable work available.
Agostino Steffani’s “Henrico Leone” is a work which stands out from late 17th century opera history because of the conjunction of several quite different aspects. The newly-built opera house in Hanover opened with its premiere in 1689. At the same time, the Hanoverian Duke Ernst August used this “dramma per musica” to demonstrate his claim to power, and for political propaganda. The libretto by Bartolomeo Ortensio Mauro is based on a historical subject matter which is intended not only to be understood as an allegory of the ruling house, but directly recalls the most famous ancestor from the Welf dynasty, Henrico Leone. The most spectacular aspect was the state-of-the-art stage technology which Ernst August incorporated into the new opera house, probably designed by no less than the well-known stage designer Johann Oswald Harms. This first-class machinery was naturally used at the premiere of “Henrico Leone” (e. g. for the gryphon flight of Henry the Lion). As well as this, the newly-reorganised court ensemble with excellent, largely French instrumentalists was available to Ernst August, and he succeeded in attracting other first-class artists with famous Italian singers such as Nicola Paris and Vittoria Tarquini and the composer Steffani.
The music itself offered something quite astonishing for its time. Already in the opening Sinfonia, not only was the thunder machine set to use to depict a storm at sea, but contrary to expectations the chorus of sailors with their cries for help was also used.
Hand in hand with the music, there are notable dramaturgical tricks. Perhaps the most impressive example in this stage work is found in Scene 10, Act II: Henrico is on a dangerous and, above all, protracted journey back from the Holy Land. Meanwhile, his wife Metilda waits faithfully for the return of her husband, whilst her entire entourage, particularly Almaro, tries to convince her that her spouse, missing for years, is dead. The background to Almaro’s attempts is nothing less than his unbridled wish to marry Metilda. But she persistently rejects him and his requests. Only when her wet nurse Errea conjures up a false spirit by means of her magic powers, which presents her dying husband before Metilda’s eyes, does the supposed widow agree to marry Almaro. The aria of the false Henrico “Morirò frà strazi” (No. 33) is the musical and dramaturgical pièce de résistance in this scene. By means of an apparition within the plot, it makes possible a first encounter between Metilda and her husband, who is in reality still far away from her – the physical confrontation of the spouses only follows later in Scene 3 of Act III.
The new edition of “Henrico Leone” makes a milestone in the early history of opera available, and offers the composer’s final version in the main section, whilst the Appendix enables an insight into all of Steffani’s early manuscripts. This ensures that, on the one hand, a coherent version can be presented on the basis of previously-known sources and, on the other hand, the genesis of the work does not disappear from view. In addition, the digitised versions of all relevant sources and their intelligent linking with the edition mean that each editorial decision is transparent and can be checked directly in the accompanying app.
On the other hand, the purely digital edition of the text includes not only the text of the stage work itself, but also the paratexts (including their French and German translations). This edition therefore offers a comprehensive insight into this opera.
Christin Seidenberg
(from “[t]akte” 2023 / translation: Elizabeth Robinson)