On the Nature of Things | Forum

First performed at Teatro S Bartolomeo in Naples on 25 October 1734, Adriano in Siria was commissioned for the birthday celebrations of the Bourbon queen mother Elizabeth Farnese. In keeping with his love of theatrical splendour, Charles Bourbon of Spain, newly restored to the throne of Naples after defeating the Austrians, bankrolled a glittering cast headed by the famous castrato Caffarelli in the role of the Parthian prince Farnaspe. Metastasio’s 1732 libretto, already set twice previously, involves a fictional plot based on an invented victory by the Emperor Hadrian - Adriano - over King Osroa of Antioch. Given Hadrian’s supposed Spanish ancestry, the choice of such a subject may have had particular expediency at that particular moment in the history of Naples, although until his predictable act of clemency at the end of the opera, Adriano is not an especially admirable character. Despite being betrothed to the Roman noblewoman Sabina, he has fallen in love with Emirena, the daughter of Osroa, who is betrothed to Farnaspe. Adriano’s pursuit of Emirena is encouraged and aided by Aquilio, his confidante, who has an agenda of his own – his desire for Sabina. Thus a scenario is established for the usual complexities, misunderstandings and intrigue that are the stock in trade of opera seria in general and Metastasian librettos in particular.

The performance stems from a production mounted in Pergolesi’s birthplace Jesi in 2010 to mark the tercentenary of the composer’s birth. It forms part of a wider project to make all Pergolesi’s operas available on DVD. While not attempting a historical staging, the production (by Ignacio Garciá) has the inestimable merit of sensitive handling and simplicity. Thus while the curtain does not open with the ‘grand piazza in Antioch magnificently adorned with trophies’ called for in the libretto, the single set consisting of ruined classical columns may be even more appropriate, given that historically Antioch was destroyed by an earthquake two years before 117AD, the supposed date of the events that unfold in the opera.

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Apollonius wrote:Música en la corte de Carlos V - various composers ; Nuria Rial, soprano ; Carlos Mena, countertenor ; Orphénica Lyra directed by José Miguel Moreno.
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Live concert from September 20, 2000 at Saint-Leu, Amiens (France).

If a ship is guided to port
by the light of a friendly star
after a raging tempest,
the greater the relief
felt by its fearful steersman.

And if after so many torments
our hearts can rejoice,
sweeter still will be
the pleasure they feel.