L'anima del filosofo
ossia Orfeo ed Euridice
Hob. XXVIII:13

Dramma per musica
Libretto: Carlo Francesco Badini
German translation by E. Schmidt
Vocal Score by E. R. Barthel

Preface

Sir John (Giovanni Andrea) Gallini commissioned a new version of the Orpheus legend from Carlo Francesco Badini, a highly regarded librettist who had been working in London for twenty years, and asked Joseph Haydn to provide the music. Haydn's services had already been retained in June 1787, almost four years before he set off for London in the company of the impresario Johann Peter Salomon. At that time however the subject-matter had been left open; not until after he had arrived in England was he presented, probably bit by bit, with the libretto to L'anima del filosofo ossia Orfeo ed Euridice.
But the Lord Chamberlain turned down the theatrical entrepreneur's William Taylor and Gallini's attempt to regain the royal privilege to operate the King's Theatre on the Haymarket. The premiere of Haydn's opera, scheduled for 31 May 1791, never took place although rehearsals had already begun. Nor was the libretto seen into print.
Even today these circumstances still cause several problems. Four acts, or at least large parts of them, have come down to us in complete form. However, Haydn's letter of 4 March 1791 to Luigia Polzelli in Vienna expressly mentions 'cinque atti' of which, however, the final two are said to be fairly short.
In its present form the opera comes to a logical and convincing conclusion. As in the myth, and unlike other musical settings of this material, Orpheus is killed by Bacchantes. As punishment for their misdeed, so to speak, a storm suddenly arises at sea to threaten them with a watery grave.
Problems attend the order of the numbers. Haydn's (largely) autograph score, preserved today in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, places them in a sequence that conflicts with the plot. It is evident however that the gatherings in the manuscript, each containing one or more numbers, were originally combined in a different and more logical way. In contrast, a much more recent copy in the Paris Conservatoire places the numbers in an order that can, by and large, be derived from the physical structure of the gatherings in the Berlin MS. It is this sequence that we have adopted in our vocal score.
The vocal score is based on volume XXV/13 of the complete edition, Joseph Haydn Werke. This volume, edited by Helmut Wirth, was published with a critical report by G. Henle Verlag in 1974. Wirth took the Berlin (partial) autograph as his principal source and consulted the Budapest and Paris MSS as secondary sources, although not, in the case of the latter, for the Italian words. The Budapest MS served as the principal source for nos. 3b, 5, 18, 19 and 41, none of which is found in the autograph, and the Paris MS for no. 17, which is missing in both of the other sources. Wirth also consulted separate manuscript copies of several of the numbers, some of them written in the hand of Haydn's copyist Johann Elssler.
Joseph Haydn Institute, Cologne
(Translation: J. Bradford Robinson)

Contents

Indice delle scene
1. Ouverture

ATTO PRIMO
Scena I
2a. Recitativo accompagnato Sventurata, che fo? (Euridice)
2b. Coro con Solo Ferma il piede, o principessa! (Euridice, Tenori, Bassi)
3a. Recitativo accompagnato Che chiedete da me? (Euridice)
3b. Aria Filomena abbandonata (Euridice)

Scena II
4. Recitativo Cieli! Soccorso! Aita! (Coristi I, II, III, Orfeo, Euridice)
5a. Recitativo accompagnato Rendete a questo seno (Orfeo)
5b. Aria Cara speme! Alme di scoglio! (Orfeo)
6. Recitativo O prodigio, o stupor (Un corista [I], Euridice, Orfeo)
7. Coro O poter dell'armonia! (Tenori, Bassi)

Scena III
8. Recitativo Ah! chi sa dirmi (Creonte, Coristi I, II, III)
9. Aria Il pensier sta negli oggetti (Creonte)

Scena IV
10. Recitativo Grazie agli dei (Orfeo, Euridice, Creonte)
11. Duetto Come il foco allo splendore (Euridice, Orfeo)

ATTO SECONDO

Scena I
12. Coro Finché circola il vigore (Amorini: Soprano I, II)
13. Recitativo Adorata consorte, or io conosco (Orfeo, Euridice)
14a. Coro con Duetto Finché circola il vigore (Euridice, Orfeo, Amorini: Soprano I, II)
14b. Recitativo accompagnato Numi, che ascolto! (Euridice, Orfeo)

Scena II
15. Recitativo Ecco, signor, la principessa (Un corista [IV], Euridice)
16a. Recitativo accompagnato Dov'è l'amato bene? (Euridice)
16b. Cavatina Del mio core il voto estremo (Euridice)
17. Recitativo Con Euridice estinte (Corista IV)

Scena III
18a. Recitativo accompagnato Dov'è quell'alma audace (Orfeo)
18b. Aria In un mar d'acerbe pene (Orfeo)

Scena IV
19. Recitativo Euridice, signor (Corista V, Creonte)
20. Aria Mai non sia inulto (Creonte)
ATTO TERZO

Scena I
21. Coro Ah, sposo infelice! (Vergini: Soprano I, II; Uomini: Basso I, II)
22. Recitativo Al cielo te ne voli (Orfeo, Creonte)
23. Coro Ah, sposo infelice! (Vergini: Soprano I, II)

Scena II
24. Recitativo Che sarà mai d'Orfeo? (Creonte, Corista V)
25. Aria Chi spira e non spera (Creonte)

Scena III
26. Recitativo Venerata Sibilla (Orfeo, Genio)
27. Aria Al tuo seno fortunato (Genio)

Scena IV
28. Recitativo Costanza a me si chiede? (Orfeo)
29. Coro La giustizia in cor regina (Soprano, Alto, Tenore, Basso)
30. Recitativo Dove mi guidi? (Orfeo, Genio)

ATTO QUARTO

Scena I
31. Coro Infelici ombre dolenti (Soprano, Alto, Tenore, Basso)
32. Recitativo Che ascolto, oh numi! (Orfeo, Genio)
33. Coro di furie Urli orrendi, disperati (Tenori, Bassi)

Scena II
34. Recitativo O signor, che all'ombre imperi (Orfeo)
35. Coro Trionfi oggi pietà (Tenori, Bassi)
36. Recitativo O della reggia mia (Pluto, Orfeo, Genio)

Scena III
37. Intermezzo 172
38. Recitativo Quai dolci e care note (Orfeo, Genio)
39. Coro Son finite le tue pene (Soprano, Alto, Tenore, Basso)
40. Recitativo Sovvengati la legge (Genio, Euridice, Orfeo)

Scena IV
41a. Recitativo accompagnato Perduto un'altra volta (Orfeo)
41b. Aria Mi sento languire (Orfeo)

Scena V [ATTO QUINTO]
42. Recitativo Barbaro infido amore (Orfeo)
43. Coro di Baccanti Vieni, vieni, amato Orfeo (Soprano, Alto)
44. Recitativo Perfide, non turbate di più (Orfeo, Baccante)
45a. Coro con Recitativo accompagnato Bevi, bevi in questa tazza
(Orfeo, Baccanti: Soprano, Alto)
45b. Coro Andiamo, amiche, andiamo (Baccanti: Soprano, Alto)
45c. Coro Oh, che orrore! (Baccanti: Soprano, Alto)