Griselda

Griselda is an opera seria in three acts by the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti, the last of Scarlatti’s operas to survive completely today. The libretto is by Apostolo Zeno, with revisions by an anonymous author. Zeno wrote his work in 1701 and it had already been set by Pollarolo and Antonio Maria Bononcini (Albinoni, Giovanni Bononcini and Vivaldi would later produce versions). It is based on the story of Patient Griselda from Boccaccio'... more

Griselda is an opera seria in three acts by the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti, the last of Scarlatti’s operas to survive completely today. The libretto is by Apostolo Zeno, with revisions by an anonymous author. Zeno wrote his work in 1701 and it had already been set by Pollarolo and Antonio Maria Bononcini (Albinoni, Giovanni Bononcini and Vivaldi would later produce versions). It is based on the story of Patient Griselda from Boccaccio's Decameron. Scarlatti's opera was first performed at the Teatro Capranica, Rome in January, 1721 with an all-male cast (five castratos and a tenor). The opera begins with a conventional three-movement Italian overture followed by the basic musical constituent of the recitative-aria format. Many of the arias are imposing pieces, accompanied mostly by full strings, often with woodwind support. Scarlatti also used horns prominently in the embarkation scene in Act 1, the hunting scene in Act 2, and the garden scene in Act 3. Unusually in such a... less