{{Short description|Italian opera by Francesco Cavalli}} {{italic title}} {{see also|Xerxes (disambiguation){{!}}Xerxes}} thumb|Title page of the original libretto
'''''Il Xerse''''', usually written '''''Xerse''''' ({{langx|en|Xerxes|link=no|italic=yes}}; {{langx|fr| Xerxès |link=no|italic=yes}}), is an Italian opera by Francesco Cavalli (specifically, a ''dramma per musica'') about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini (''Xerse'', 1694) and George Frideric Handel (''Serse'', 1738). Minato's plot outline is loosely based on Book 7 of Herodotus's ''Histories''. The opera, consisting of a prologue and three acts, was composed in 1654 and first performed on 12 January 1655 at the Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice.<ref>Brown 1993. Clinkscale (1992) gives the year as 1654, which is what is shown in the original libretto. However, the New Year in Venice at the time was celebrated on March 1, so the year by the Gregorian calendar was actually 1655 (see ''more veneto'').</ref> It was dedicated to the Ferrarese nobleman Marchese Cornelio Bentivoglio.<ref name=ds12 />
==Background== Although Nicolò Minato took the framework of his libretto from the seventh book of Herodotus's ''Histories'', as translated into Italian by Matteo Maria Boiardo in the 15th century, the plot is actually based on a 1651 comedy by Raffaele Tauro, ''L'ingelosite speranze'', which in turn was an Italian adaptation of Lope de Vega's 1625 Spanish comedy ''Lo cierto por lo dudoso''.<ref>Sara Elisa Stangalino, Hendrik Schulze (January 2019). [https://www.takte-online.de/en/complete-ed/detail/artikel/tragikomischer-despot-cavallis-oper-il-xerse-in-neuer-edition/index.htm "''Il Xerse'' by Francesco Cavalli at the Festival della Valle d'Itria"], takte-online.de. Retrieved 14 May 2024.</ref>
The premiere at Venice was probably conducted by Cavalli from the keyboard.<ref name=ds12>Silva (2021), p. 12</ref> The opera was highly popular in Italy: at least nine different revivals were given there while Cavalli lived.<ref name=Clink>Clinkscale (1992)</ref>
In 1660 Cavalli was persuaded to travel to France to produce a new opera for the wedding of Louis XIV in Paris. He soon became entangled in court intrigue which ensured that the projected opera, ''Ercole amante'', was not ready in time and had to be replaced by a revival of ''Xerse'' at the last minute. ''Xerse'' was given with ballets by Cavalli's rival Jean-Baptiste Lully, who had become the official court composer in France. The whole spectacle lasted eight or nine hours and the French audience had little appreciation for an opera in a foreign language, preferring Lully's dance music.<ref name=ds12 />
The opera was performed in many different versions. In its Paris form, apart from having the additional ballet suites, the plot was rewritten to make it more congenial to the court, including the enhancement of Xerse himself to a more kingly role comparable to the status of the King of France - which necessitated a change of the register of the part, originally written for a castrato, to a baritone. Many of the recitatives were also rewritten.<ref>Silva (2021), p. 13</ref> Surviving manuscripts including Cavalli's own annotations from performances of Xerse in Venice, Genoa, Naples and Bologna clearly demonstrate that he often amended, cut, and reorganized material as each production was being prepared.<ref>Silva (2021), p. 7</ref>
The first act begins with the well-known aria "Ombra mai fu" ("There was never a shadow").<ref name=Brown>Brown 1993.</ref> According to Martha Novak Clinkscale, Handel's later, more famous setting "is neither more poignant nor mellifluous than Cavalli's".<ref name=Clink />
== Roles == {| class="wikitable" |+{{sronly|Roles, voice types}} !Role<ref>Roles and role descriptions are from the [https://www.loc.gov/resource/music.musschatz-19824/?sp=7&st=image&r=-0.1,-0.023,1.111,1.047,0 1654 {{Bracket|1655}} libretto], Library of Congress. The roles of the prologue are omitted, since the music is lost.</ref> !Voice type<ref>Voice types are from Clinkscale 1992, except Aristone, Periarco [''contre-ténor'' is replaced with alto], Clito, Sesostre, Scitalce, and Capitano, which are from the booklet accompanying the 1985 recording conducted by René Jacobs ({{OCLC|46404174}}).</ref> |- |Xerse, ''King of Persia'' |alto |- |Amastre, ''eventually his wife, daughter of the King of Susia, disguised as a man'' |soprano |- |Arsamene, ''brother of Xerse'' |alto |- |Romilda, ''daughter of Ariodate, sister of Adelanta'' |soprano |- |Adelanta, ''daughter of Ariodate, sister of Romilda'' |soprano |- |Ariodate, ''Prince of Abydos, Xerse's vassal'' |tenor |- |Eumene, ''Xerse's favourite eunuch and his field marshal'' |soprano |- |Aristone, ''noble of Susa, old guardian of Amastre'' |bass |- |Periarco, ''ambassador of Ottane, King of Susia'' |alto |- |Elviro, ''servant of Arsamene'' |alto |- |Clito, ''page of Romilda'' |soprano |- |Sesostre, ''magician'' |tenor |- |Scitalce, ''magician'' |bass |- |Capitano, ''captain of Xerse's guards'' |bass |- |colspan="2"|Chorus: ''Persians in Xerse's guard, Romilda's ladies-in-waiting, Ariodate's soliers, Periarco's pages, spirits guarding the plane tree, sailors of the ships on the Hellespont, Indians in Xerse's militia, Greeks in Xerse's militia'' |- |}
==Editions== Martha Novak Clinkscale included a modern transcription of the full score in the second volume of her Ph.D. thesis ("Pier Francesco Cavalli's ''Xerse''") at the University of Minnesota, 1970.<ref name=Brown /> René Jacobs used Clinkscale's edition as the starting point for his version,<ref name=Jacobs>René Jacobs, "Realization and Adaptation", pp. 17–32, in the booklet accompanying his recording, 1985, reissued in 2000. {{OCLC|46404174}}.</ref> performed at the Bordeaux Festival in May 1985 and issued on four LPs.<ref name=Salter>Lionel Salter, [https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/32256/page/98 Review of Cavalli's ''Xerse'' conducted by René Jacobs], ''Gramophone'', October 1985, pp. 540, 543.</ref> The two surviving Italian manuscript scores both lack the music of the prologue, so Jacobs added the prologue from Cavalli's 1654 opera ''Il Ciro''. The ballet music marked in the printed librettos is also absent, so he added short ''sinfonie'' by Cavalli and contemporaries to introduce acts and several important scenes and for changes of scenery. He also added from the Paris version an aria for Aristone ("Con tuoi vezzi lusinghieri") and a duo for Romilda and Arsamene in act 3 ("Arsemene mio bene..."). In addition, he cast the role of Eumene with Guy de Mey, a tenor, which required transposing his music down an octave. The manuscript scores "offer no more than a kind of sketch of what should actually be played",<ref name=Jacobs /> so Jacobs realized parts and added other instruments, such as two recorders, which probably were not used in Venice at the time, and used a ''basso continuo'' group of two harpsichords, theorbo, baroque guitar and chamber organ.<ref name=Jacobs /><ref name=Anderson>Nicholas Anderson, [https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/32256/page/10 "René Jacobs and ''Xerse''], ''Gramophone'', October 1985, p. 456.</ref> Lionel Salter was not convinced of the authenticity of guitars in Ariodate's first entry aria.<ref name=Salter />
The Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles with Bärenreiter produced an edition of the 1660 Paris version, edited by Barbara Nestola, in 2015.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA8914-72/ |title=Cavalli, Francesco; Lully, Jean-Baptiste: Xerxès. Dramma per musica in one prologue and three acts. Paris version 1660. |editor-last1=Nestola |editor-first1=Barbara |editor-last2= Stangalino |editor-first2=Sara Elisa |editor-last3=Klaper |editor-first3=Michael |editor-last4=Schulze |editor-first4=Hendrik |orig-date=1660 |publisher=Bärenreiter |access-date=25 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id= l6vHfx5FcjA |title=Cavalli : Xerse - Centre de musique baroque de Versailles}} [short documentary video in French], 25 May 2016.</ref> This version was the basis for a staged production by Le Concert d’Astrée under Emmanuelle Haïm, performed at the Opéra de Lille in October 2015 and the Théâtre de Caen in January 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Xersé for Opera de Lille |url=https://www.studiowarmerdam.com/portfolio/xerse-for-opera-de-lille/ |website=Studio Warmerdam |access-date=19 April 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Bernard Schreuders |title=Emmanuelle Haïm 'Xerse, c'est une sorte de Così' |language=fr |url=https://www.forumopera.com/emmanuelle-haim-xerse-cest-une-sorte-de-cosi/ |website=forumopera.com |date=8 October 2018 |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Xerse |url=https://lesarchivesduspectacle.net/s/66825-Xerse |date=18 November 2015 |website=LesArchivesduSpectacles.net |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Sébastien Foucart |title=De Venise à Paris |language=fr |url=https://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=10958 |website=ConcertoNet.com |date=<!--no date--> |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref> It was also presented at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 18 October 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Xerse at Theater an der Wien |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/austria/regional/Xerse-142687 |website=broadwayworld.com |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref>
A critical edition of the 1655 version by Sara Elisa Stangalino and Hendrik Schulze made in 2019<ref>[https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA8915_01/ "Cavalli, Francesco: ''Il Xerse''. Dramma per musica. Venice 1655"]. Bärenreiter.</ref> was the basis for a performance as part of the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca in 2022, conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli and staged by Leo Muscato with the Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli in the title role.<ref>Mattia L. Palma (2023). "A Tangle of Affections and Relationships", p. 13, in the booklet accompanying the Dynamic 2023 Blu-ray disc. {{OCLC|1392290287}}.</ref>
Another new edition of the Paris version was prepared by Marcio da Silva for a concert performance at the Cockpit Theatre, London in 2021, although the title role was sung by a countertenor rather than a baritone, and the ballets were omitted.<ref>Silva (2021), pp. 13–14.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=George |date=22 February 2021 |title=Xerse |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/xerse-ensemble-orquesta-cockpit |website= The Stage|doi= |access-date=25 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=WbJYO5c-fYc |title=Francesco Cavalli: Xerse (1655). Ensemble OrQuesta }}. Recorded at the TheCockpit on 20 February 2021. Duration:2h 33m 15s.</ref>
==Recordings== * 1985: ''Xerse'', René Jacobs (Xerse), Judith Nelson (Amastre), Jeffrey Gall (Arsamene), Isabelle Poulenard (Romilda), Jill Feldman (Adelanta), John Elwes (Ariodate), Guy de Mey (Eumene), Dominique Visse (Elviro), Concerto Vocale, conducted by René Jacobs (4 CDs, Harmonia Mundi, 1985) * 2022: ''Il Xerse'' (video), Carlo Vistoli (Xerse), Ekaterina Protsenko (Amastre), Gaia Petrone (Arsamene), Carolina Lippo (Romilda), Dioklea Hoxha (Adelanta), Carlo Allemano (Ariodate), Orchestra Barocca Modo Antiquo, conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli, recorded live, July 2022, Valle d'Itria Festival, Teatro Verdi, Martina Franca (Blu-ray, Dynamic, 2023)
==References== {{reflist|2}} '''Sources''' * Brown, Jennifer Williams (1993). "Francesco Cavalli. ''Xerse''", p. 193, in ''The Viking Opera Guide'', edited by Amanda Holden. London: Viking. {{ISBN|0670812927}}. Reprinted with minor alterations in 2001, p. 161 in ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', edited by Amanda Holden. London: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0140293124}}. * Clinkscale, Martha Novak (1992). "Xerse (i) ('Xerxes')", vol. 4, p. 1185, in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', four volumes, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|9780333485521}}. [https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006830 Online reprint (2002)], Grove Music Online. * Silva, Marcio da (2021). [https://www.ensembleorquesta.com/whats-on/xerse-2021 Programme for ''Xerse''], Cockpit Theatre, London (20 February 2021).
==External links== * {{IMSLP|work=Il Xerse (Cavalli, Francesco)|cname=''Il Xerse'' (Cavalli)}} * [https://operabaroque.fr/CAVALLI_XERSE.htm ''Il Xerse''] at the Opéra Baroque website * {{YouTube |id=yqJYYHkovNI |title=Cavalli: Ombra mai fù}} {{Bracket|video of a concert performance by French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky}}
{{Francesco Cavalli}} {{Portal bar|Opera}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xerse, Il}} Category:Operas by Francesco Cavalli Category:Operas Category:1655 operas Category:Italian-language operas Category:Operas set in ancient Persia Category:Cultural depictions of Xerxes I