Pietro Metastasio and Opera Seria

Ever heard the name Pietro Metastasio? Probably not. Ever heard of Jean Sebastian Bach? Well, you would be amazed to learn that 200 years ago, I would have gotten exactly the opposite answer. Explaining the rise of Bach would be a very good subject for another post but, as for now, I want to focus on Pietro. Indeed, there is no denying that today Metastasio is undeservedly forgotten. Let‘s fix that, shall we?

Well, first why should you care about Metastasio? Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi was an opera writer, the most celebrated Italian poet of his time in fact. Yet, this is still undeserving Metastasio. He was more than that. He was THE opera writer in an age where all that mattered was opera! The historian Daniel Heartz literally called the 18th century the “age of Metastasio“. Voltaire. Rousseau. Mozart. This oft-forgotten “musician poet by excellence“ inspired them all - heavily.

And “by excellence“ is appropriate. Metastasio was utterly unmatched. Metastasio's short lines with varied sounds and balancing assonance, consonance and meter were a perfect fit for the musical stage. All this, using a language acclaimed at that time for its capacity for opera (Italian). Opera Seria (a style I will explain below) is what we often imagine opera to be and Opera Seria was Metastasio‘s. His influence was so that Rousseau even said that no proper opera could be in anything else than Italian! We can‘t even begin to understand how popular Metastasio was. His 27 opera seria librettos (texts) were set to music by 300 different composers during his life!

Indeed, it would be Metastasio‘s style that would define the century. What we could define as an “aristocratic style“ would have been called the “gallant style“ at that time. Dry, somewhat moralistic and inaccessible yet always gentle and never painful. In his plays, there is no dark side and no unhappy ending. Stendhal stated it best: "It was Metastasio's intention to waft us ever further away from the realities of life, for our enjoyment."

Metastasio‘s master - Apostol Zeno of Venice - is recognized as having established the Opera Seria libretto formula, but Metastasio perfected it and proved it the proeminent art form of his time. Let's describe that formula.

First, the play probably features a classical and political setting. Then, it must be in three acts. The first sets up political and emotional conflict, the second peaks the crisis (often including betrayals) and the third brings resolution through moral reflection and reconciliation. The first two acts end in a climax escalating dramatic tension, the last would end with a united chorus (almost always in the style of “they lived happily ever after“). Every act contains about 12 scenes defined by the entry or exit of some characters. Successive scenes are linked by one or more recurring characters. Interestingly, Metastasio often cut to the chase: opening scenes almost always start in the middle of action. Each scene is mainly made of recitatives (sections of dialogue moving the plot forward at a brisk pace) leading to arias pausing the action to reflect on a specific emotion like love or despair. Metastasio uses fewer arias than his predecessors. Additionally, his arias follow a regular verse structure in ABA and the text itself is the clear center of attention in singing. Indeed, in the century before Metastasio, operas relied heavily on stage sets, props and machines to express emotions. For Metastasio, the singing and the lyrics did the work. This is why Metastasio worked so hard to produce clear, precise and emotional lyrics. He would supposedly fill pages and pages of failures before reaching the perfect dozen lines.

And that‘s pretty much it. A bit on the shorter side today, but I said what I wanted to say. 

I hope to see you next time.

References

• Dramas and other poems of the Abbe Pietro Metastasio, Pietro Metastastio, translated by John Hoole, 1800.
• Haydn, Mozart, and Metastasio, Stendhal, translated by Richard N. Coe, Grossman Publishers, NEw York, 1972.
• Music in European capitals: the galant style 1720-1780, Daniel Heartz, W.W. Norton, New York, 2003.
• The New Grove dictionary of opera, Macmillan Press Limited, London, 1992.