
''Siface re di Numidia'' (also: ''Siface'' or ''Viriate'') is a
libretto in three acts by
Pietro Metastasio. It is a reworking of ''La forza della virtù'' by
:de:Domenico David and was Metastasio's first work as a librettist. it was first performed with a setting to music by
Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo (1691 – 28 January 1761) was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred.
Life
Feo studied music at the '' Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà' ...
on 13 May 1723 at the Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples.
Action
The action is set in
Rusconia near
Cirta
Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria.
Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city ...
in
Numidia
Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tuni ...
, around 205 BCE. The characters are:
* ''Siface'' (
Syphax
Syphax (, ''Sýphax''; , ) was a king of the Masaesyli tribe of western Numidia (present-day Algeria) during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita'' (written c. 27–25 BC). ), King of Numidia
* ''Viriate'', Princess of
Lusitania
* ''Erminio'', General in Siface's army, lover of Ismene
* ''Ismene'', daughter of Orcanos
* ''Orcano'', her father
* ''Libanio'', confidant of Siface
Siface (Syphax) is planning a marriage of convenience with Viriate but then falls in love with Ismene. He then tries various intrigues to get rid of Viriate.
The following plot summary is based on the German translation of the libretto by
:de:Johann Philipp Praetorius, performed in 1727 in Hamburg with arias by
Nicola Antonio Porpora
Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students included composer ...
and recitative by
Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hi ...
.
Act 1
Outside the city wall of Rusconia: Siface, Erminio and Orcano await the arrival of Viriate. Trumpets sound and Viriate comes ashore, accompanied by Siface's confidant Libanio. They are welcomed by Siface, Orcano and Erminio. Viriate is slightly offended, however, when Siface immediately sends her with Libanio and Orcano to his castle in Cirta. Siface then admits to Erminio that he has now fallen in love with Ismene, who is waiting for him right now. Since Erminio is in love with Ismene himself, this sets up a conflict between his love and his duty.
Pleasant place near the royal palace: Siface meets Ismene. Because of his engagement, she wants to end the relationship. However, Siface declares that he only loves her and promises to marry and crown her the same day. After he leaves, Erminio arrives and complains that she has left him. Although she will not give up her new love, he decides to stay true to her.
Royal cabinet: Viriate tells Orcano that Siface now wants to marry Ismene. Orcano denies this and leaves. Libanio, arrives, sent by Asif we to look for weaknesses in her behavior. To lure her into behaving inappropriately he claims to be in love with her, but she ignores him. When Orcano finds Ismene, she tells him about her relationship with the king. He accuses her of acting dishonorably and decides to exile her to the Scythia. When she refuses, he pulls out his sword to kill her. At this moment, however, Viriate intervenes. Since Orcano already sees her as his queen, he hands over the sword and asks her to kill him as a punishment for his daughter's dishonor. Viriate tries to appease him. After he leaves, Viriate tries to talk to Ismene, telling her that Siface was only enjoying her love, but would never marry her. Siface appears and they both accuse him of infidelity.
Act 2
Magnificent colonnade: Libanio tells Siface that he has failed to compromise Viriate's virtue. Siface then orders her to be thrown into the dungeon. To justify this, he intends to falsify evidence of her infidelity and to sacrifice Ismene's admirer Erminio as well. Libanio goes to arrest Viriate. To appease Ismene, Siface shares his plan with her.
Orcano is still angry with his daughter and threatens her with the sword. Siface protects her, however, and Ismene leaves. Siface then affirms that he wants to marry Ismene and that Viriate had betrayed him. As proof, he shows him a fake letter from Viriate to Erminio. In it she writes about their love and their plan to murder Siface. Orcano secretly doubts the authenticity of the letter.
Libanio has Viriate captured. Erminio tries to free her, but is also captured. Ismene promises Viriate to use her influence with the King to free her, but Viriate doesn't believe her. After Viriate is kidnapped by Libanio, Ismene affirms to Erminio that she really loves him, but that the crown was more important to her.
Large courtroom: Libanio reports to Siface that he tried unsuccessfully to get Viriate's servant to testify against her and has therefore killed him. Siface decides to blame this murder on Erminio. The trial begins with Orcano as the judge. Viriate refuses to answer the lies about her and does not defend herself. Seeing through Siface's lies, Orcano pronounces judgment: he announces that the traitor must die but does not name them. Siface is ready to pardon Viriate if she acknowledges her guilt and leaves the country. When she rejects this, she is again led away. Siface now asks Erminio to confess, but he only admits to loving Ismene and assures Siface that Ismene only wants to marry him because of the crown. Siface angrily leaves the room.
Act 3
Prison cell: Libanio brings Viriate poison and a dagger and asks her to choose her death. She chooses poison, but wishes to write a letter to her father beforehand. Siface secretly watches her write. Finally, fearing that his actions will be betrayed, he snatches the letter from her. However, it only contains an appeal to her father to forgive Siface, as she has already forgiven him. Siface is touched, but continues to insist on her death. She throws the poison cup away and demands his sword to kill herself. At that moment Erminio and Orcano come in and free her. However, when they try to kill Siface, Viriate stands protectively in front of him and sends them away. Finally she returns the sword to Siface and tells him now to enforce the judgment of the court.
Magnificent gallery: Unable to free Viriate, Erminio and Orcano decide to snatch Ismene from the tyrant and go in search of her. Meanwhile, Ismene and Libanio are waiting for the king to perform the wedding ceremony. Libanio is upset and leaves Ismene alone. Now Erminio comes and urges her to flee with him to avoid the king's anger. Orcano also comes and reports that Viriate has been released and Siface wants to marry her. He advises his daughter to recognize the queen and to ask for mercy. Then she could marry Erminio. When Siface arrives with his guard, the two ask him for forgiveness. However, he thanks them for saving his honor. Viriate also comes with her retinue and is praised by the choir as a royal bride. Siface offers her the throne and apologizes for his previous behavior. Now Ismene comes back and asks Viriate to punish her. However, she hugs her as a sign of forgiveness. She brings Ismene together with her admirer Erminio. At the end of the opera, the choir repeats its song of praise for the new queen.
Development
Metastasio wrote this adaptation of
:de:Domenico David’s ''La forza della virtù'' one year before his first original libretto, ''
Didone abbandonata
''Didone abbandonata'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio. It was his first original work and was set to music by Domenico Sarro in 1724. The opera was accompanied by the intermezzo ''L'impresario delle Isole Canarie'', also b ...
''. Although Metastasio set the plot in ancient Numidia, the original story had nothing to do with the historical Syphax and was actually about king
Peter of Castile
Peter ( es, Pedro; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V f ...
, based in an account in volume four of the fifteen volume ''(Story of the loss and recovery of the Kingdom of Spain occupied by the Moors)'' by Bartolomeo de Rogatis.
in 1353 Peter was compelled to make a diplomatic marriage with
Blanche of Bourbon
Blanche of Bourbon (1339–1361) was Queen of Castile as the wife of King Peter. She was one of the daughters of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon and Isabella of Valois.
Marriage
On 3 June 1353, aged 14, she married in person at Valladolid, Spa ...
although he loved
María de Padilla
María Díaz de Padilla ( 1334 –Seville, July 1361) was the mistress of King Peter of Castile.
Family
She was a Castilian noblewoman, daughter of Juan García de Padilla (died between 1348 and 1351) and his wife María de Henestrosa (di ...
and had Blanche arrested immediately after their wedding. Maria remained his lover up to his death in 1361.
As well as relocating the story in classical North Africa, Metastasio reduced the number of characters and tightened the plot, also reducing some of the emotional impact of the work. In particular the character of Viriate was much more strongly motivated by honour in Metastasio's version than in David's. Making Syphax the main character connected the drama with works about
Sophonisba
Sophonisba (in Punic, 𐤑𐤐𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 Ṣap̄anbaʿal) (fl. 203 BC) was a Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco. She held influence over the Numidian political landscape, co ...
, which were then very popular, and also dealt with love outside marriage and included poison in their story.
David's libretto ''La forza della virtù'' had first been set to music in Venice in 1692 by Carlo Pollarolo. It was praised of by several members of the
Accademia dell’Arcadia and subsequently used by other composers including
Giacomo Antonio Perti
Giacomo Antonio Perti (6 June 1661 – 10 April 1756) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. He was mainly active at Bologna, where he was ''Maestro di Cappella'' for sixty years. He was the teacher of Giuseppe Torelli and Giovanni B ...
in Bologna in 1694. In 1699 Pollarola's opera ''Creonte tiranno di Tebe'' with arias by
Alessandro Scarlatti was performed in Naples. Metastasio knew these versions and adapted elements of them for his own treatment.
Separately from David's work, the story of Peter of Castile was retold by several French authors, including
Charles Regnault in his tragicomedy ''Blanche de Bourbon, reyne d’Espagne'' (1641),
Pierre de Belloy in ''Pierre le cruel'' (1772) and
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
in ''
Don Pèdre, roi de Castille'' (1775).
In 1725 Metastasio adapted the text for a setting by
Nicola Antonio Porpora
Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students included composer ...
, that was performed simultaneously in Venice and Milan on 26 December. He strengthened the characterisation “the perfidy of Syphax, the uprightness of Viriate, the ambition of Ismene and the magnanimous conduct of Orcano.”
In addition, he removed Ismene's attack on Viriate, includec in the first version, and thus ensured a more convincing conclusion to the opera. These two Porpora versions differ slightly. The version performed in Milan was heavily edited and also contained replacement arias from older Porpora operas. While Porpora attended the performance in Milan, Metastasio attended the premiere in Venice, accompanied by
Nicolò Grimaldi and
Marianna Bulgarelli
Marianna Bulgarelli (c. 1684 – 26 February 1734), also known as Maria Anna Benti, was an Italian soprano of the 18th century.
Bulgarelli was born and died in Rome; hence her nickname, "La Romanina." She is best remembered as an early patron ...
, the stars of
Francesco Feo
Francesco Feo (1691 – 28 January 1761) was an Italian composer, known chiefly for his operas. He was born and died in Naples, where most of his operas were premièred.
Life
Feo studied music at the '' Conservatorio di Santa Maria della Pietà' ...
’s 1723 version.
Settings to music
The following composers set this libretto to music:
Digital versions
[German libretto of the setting by Porpora](_blank)
at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
This is a list of the state libraries (german: Landesbibliothek) for each of the Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. These libraries hold the right for legal deposit for the publications in their respective state.
Landesbibliothek
S ...
.
References
[''Metastasio, Pietro'' in ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', S. 50861 ff (vgl. MGG Bd. 9, p.229ff.) Bärenreiter-Verlag 1986 Digital Library vol.60).]
[Don Neville: ''Siface re di Numidia.'']
Online, PDF
{{Metastasio
Libretti by Metastasio
1723 operas
Italian-language operas
Operas