is an opera by

Antonio Sacchini Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his musical education. He made a name for hi ...

, set to a libretto by

Mattia Verazi Mattia Verazi (1730 – 20 November 1794) was an Italian librettist primarily active at the court of Charles Theodore in Mannheim. He became known as the leader of a group of librettists who challenged the conventions of ''opera seria'' in the mid- ...

. It was first performed in

Schloss Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...

on 11 February 1770 and the

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

s were set by French

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Louis Dauvigny Louis-Aimé d'Auvigny (about 1738, in Paris – after 1795, in Tulchyn,Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, ''Pamiętniki czasów moich'', Warszawa, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1957, v. I, p. 55. Poland, now Ukraine) was an 18th-century French dancer, balle ...

. The opera follows the usual pattern of ''

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called '' dramma per musica'' or '' melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to a ...

'' of the time: ''secco'' recitative interlaced with ''da capo''

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

s. Within this format Sacchini introduced strong dramatic music to suit the libretto: ''stromentato'' recitative is also used for extra dramatic effect, and the arias are sometimes interrupted by bursts of recitative. Stylistically, the work is thought to anticipate Italian opera of the following decade, and in particular

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's ''

Il re pastore ' (''The Shepherd King'') is an opera, K. 208, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Metastasio, edited by Giambattista Varesco. It is an opera seria. The opera was first performed on 23 April 1775 in Salzburg in the Rit ...

''.

Roles

References

Italianopera, 12 February 2011
* * Marita P. McClymonds: "Calliroe", ''Grove Music Online'' ed L. Macy (Retrieved 3 June 2007)
grovemusic.com
subscription access. {{Authority control Operas by Antonio Sacchini Opera seria Operas Operas based on classical mythology 1770 operas