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Livietta & Tracolloby Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

C L A R E C O L L E G E C H A P E LSunday 22nd June, 3.00pm and 6.00pm

Clare College Music Society and Defleo present

Livietta Tracollo Fulvia Faccenda

Jenny Ashworth Tristan Harkcom

Rosie Paul Dionysios Kyropoulos

Conductor & Harpsichord Director Producer Company Manager

David O’Shea Dionysios Kyropoulos

José Manuel Izquierdo Katharina Clausius

Violin Violin Cello Double-bass

Nicholas Bleisch Henry Stoll

Sophie Haynes Catherine Sutherland

!L I V I E T T A & T R A C O L L O

by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

!!!Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) had almost no chance to prove his talents, passing away only five years after leaving the Conservatory in Naples. During his years in the city, mostly working as chapel master for Prince Ferdinando Colonna Stigliano and later for the Duke of Maddaloni. In the city, he composed several pieces for liturgical use and operas for the Carnival season, both of which has lasting impact in creating a Neapolitan school and a particular Italian style that was going to dominate much of later opera and church music composition. Pergolesi had his greatest success with an intermezzo for Il prigionero superbo, an opera commissioned in 1733 for the San Bartolomeo theatre. It was called La Serva Padrona and premiered on the 5th of September 1733. Naples at that time was facing a series of disasters, with two strong earthquakes and a political conflict with both Austrians and Spaniards. In March 1734 the Bourbons approached the city with a Spanish army and Charles, the Emperor, proclaimed a series of festivities when he entered as a conqueror in May that year. In September, Pergolesi was commissioned to write an opera celebrating the birthday of the King’s mother, on October 25. The libretto chosen was Metastasio’s Adriano in Siria and Pergolesi devised a new intermezzo with a libretto by Tommaso Mariani, called La Contadina Astuta, which was going to be the last one of the three such short operas he composed. While both La Serva Padrona and La Contadina Astuta (soon started to be called by the name of its characters, Livietta e Tracollo) gained fame during the following decades, it was the Parisian response to the first one in 1752 that made it become one of the most discussed operas in history. Livietta e Tracollo, although musically superior to its famous sibling, became a rare piece, seldom performed and recorded in later centuries. Pergolesi’s buffo (comic) style, which was going to be central to later opera developments, fully manifest itself in Livietta e Tracollo, with a comic plot marked by the original dialect of the city, the use of parodic opera seria arias and some very imaginative musical sequences, some of which would later find its way into Pergolesi’s masterpiece, Stabat Mater. !

José Manuel Izquierdo

In today’s performance the two parts of Livietta e Tracollo will be separated by the sinfonia from another comic opera by Pergolesi, Lo frate 'nnamorato (1732), which he also reused as the opening sinfonia for the first performance of La Serva Padrona. The score of Livietta e Tracollo contains an impressive kaleidoscope of musical styles: lying on the cusp of the end of the Baroque period and beginning of the Classical period, the opera contains both da capo arias and more dramatically driven through-composed arias, notably Tracollo’s first aria ('To a poor and crippled woman') which is interspersed with recitative.  Each act follows a roughly similar structure, alternating arias and recitatives for both characters, and culminating in a duet. The present English translation is newly devised, and was a collaboration between Dionysios, myself, José Manuel, Alberto Prandini and Saul Boyer, with numerous improvements suggested by Tristan and Jenny. The translation is faithful to the original libretto, and only diverges in cases where contemporary idioms would be lost on a modern audience, or in cases where the humour would be lost in a literal translation.  The music of the arias has not been altered to fit the new words, as it was felt that the music should be preserved intact as far as possible. I have altered the rhythms of the recitatives in order to suit the inflexions of English speech, but I have preserved the shape of the original melodies as much as possible and have preserved Pergolesi’s original bass lines and harmonies. I am grateful to my friend and colleague Andrew Robinson who typeset the score for this new performing edition. !

David O’Shea !!The plot of Livietta e Tracollo derives from the long tradition of commedia dell’arte and it is based on the interaction of archetypal comic characters. The pairing of soprano and bass was a common practice which allowed for simplistic gender stereotypes to be fully exploited, providing relief from the complex world of opera seria. Performing in everyday costumes in front of the curtain, the buffi (comic actors) were able to make a mundane mockery of artistic and social conventions, and the use of mime roles served to ridicule the pretentiousness of opera even more. Our production attempts to remain faithful to the period and original character of the work, focusing on stylised comic interpretation, while attempting to break the audience/stage divide. Livietta and Tracollo are a pair of young lovers who live a tumultuous life as Tracollo pursues a life of crime, as a con-artist and thief. Refusing to marrying her, he has disappeared under his latest guise as an ageing prostitute. Livietta furious, conceives a plan to get revenge by handing him over to the authorities. With the help of her friend Fulvia, she dresses up as a French man and sets up a cunning trap. Tracollo,

together with his friend Faccenda, fall for Livietta’s scheme, which leads to their imprisonment. The second half takes place after Tracollo’s escape from jail, and his new disguise is that of an astrologer. When discovered by Livietta he attempts to scare her to death by pretending to be his own ghost seeking revenge. Livietta plays his game and makes him believe that she has died. This stirs Tracollo’s emotions and makes him realise how much he really loves her, and for the first time he utters a sincere apology which brings Livietta back from the “dead”. They forgive each other, get married and live happily (?) ever after. !

Dionysios Kyropoulos !!! !!!!!!!!!

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Biographies !!Jenny Ashworth (Livietta)  is a graduate student at Clare College, University of Cambridge, studying medical materials science. Having held a choral scholarship as an undergraduate, she now enjoys both choral and solo singing in between her PhD studies. As well as singing in Clare Choir for four years, she has also sung as part of Cambridge University Chamber Choir and Cambridge University Opera Society. She also enjoys conducting, having spent two years leading Clare Voices. As a soloist, Jenny has performed in venues such as London’s Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square, but most recently has turned to performance in an opera setting. Her opera roles so far include Night (The Fairy Queen, Cambridge Festival of Ideas), Isabel (Pirates of Penzance, Cambridge University G&S Society), Frantik (The Cunning Little Vixen, Cambridge University Opera Society), and Savitri (Savitri, Clare College Music Society). !Tristan Harkcom (Tracollo) is a third year undergraduate student at Girton College, University of Cambridge, where he studies music. His primary interest at Cambridge has been nineteenth-century opera and above all Wagner. His final-year dissertation on Wagner’s portrayal of race in Der Ring des Nibelungen was supervised by Professor John Deathridge. He sings with Girton College Chapel Choir, where he is a choral exhibitioner. Recently he has been delighted to take on a number of singing and acting roles including Major General Stanley (Pirates of Penzance, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge) and creating the role of the Narrator (Bad Advice,  Corpus Playroom, Cambridge). Upcoming engagements include Firmin (The Phantom of the Opera, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge), King Gama (Princess Ida, International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, Harrogate) and Captain Corcoran (H.M.S. Pinafore, Minack Theatre, Cornwall). !Rosie Paul (Fulvia) is an A2 student of Long Road Sixth Form College currently taking a gap year to further pursue her long time interests in theatre, music and languages. She has GCSE drama and has previously performed in several school performances including Joseph and his Technicolor dream coat. She is also an accomplished trumpet player having played at West Road with St Mary’s School in multiple ensembles in different styles including jazz, classical, big band and chamber music among others. Other past experiences have included creating and performing group routines in Dance and Gymnastics displays and making short films in her spare time. Her future plans are to study Environmental Sciences at University with a year in Spain. She also enjoys practicing untidy calligraphy. !!

Dionysios Kyropoulos (Faccenda and stage director) read music at City University London and studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Robert Dean. He is currently studying for the MPhil in Music Studies at Clare College, University of Cambridge, funded by a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation and grants from the Leventis Foundation and the South Square Trust. His performance studies are funded by the Hellenic College Trust. He recently directed Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Handel’s Rodelinda, and some of his operatic roles include Uberto in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona, Plutone in Peri’s Euridice and Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea. Dionysios has worked with Cambridge Handel Opera, Barefoot Opera, Lucid Arts, MidAmerica Productions, Riverside Opera and Longborough Festival Opera. He participated in the British Youth Opera 2011 Easter Workshops and their 2012 production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. !Nick Bleisch (violin) has studied violin since his school days, but only began Baroque violin a year ago, while finishing his undergraduate degree at Yale University. Since then, he has attended workshops with Tafelmusik, the Parley of Instruments and with members of the Academy of Ancient Music with the Cambridge Collegium Musicum. Nick is currently the studying for an MPhil in musicology as the Yale Henry fellow. He specializes in Medieval manuscript production and will continue on for a PhD next year. Nick’s hobbies and guilty pleasures include mountain climbing in New England and performing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. !Henry Stoll (violin) is an American violinist and musicologist, currently pursuing an MPhil in Music as a member of Clare Hall. As a violinist, he has performed extensively in venues such as Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall, and can be seen with rapper Jay-Z in an Emmy award-winning music video for Super Bowl XLIV. Henry also performs in Europe, appearing in venues throughout France, Italy, and Spain. At Cambridge, he is a member of the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra, Baroque Ensemble, Collegium Musicum, and Emmanuel College Music Society. !Sophie Haynes (cello) is a London based cellist studying at the Guildhall School of music and Drama. Dividing her time between solo, chamber and orchestral playing, she has had opportunities to perform in the UK and across Europe. Now studying under Tim Lowe and Joe Crouch (baroque cello), Sophie has recently been involved in several concerts and projects, including side by side work with the Academy of Ancient Music and numerous operas, most recently the Guildhall Baroque Opera Double Bill. !Catherine Sutherland (double-bass) after graduating in Music with Education studies from Homerton College in 2004, she has continued to play regularly in a wide variety of ensembles in Cambridge alongside her career in special collections librarianship. Her opera experience includes performances of Handel’s Xerxes and Gluck’s Orfeo ed

Euridice through to Jonathan Dove’s Siren Song, via Mozart, Puccini, Vaughan Williams, Milhaud, Hindemith and Britten.   Although the clarinet is her first instrument, she is in demand as a double bassist, and notable highlights have included performing at the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Royal Festival Hall under the baton of Marin Alsop as part of the annual Women of the World Festival, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius.  Catherine also plays the viola da gamba and performs with the Cambridge University Viol Consort. !David O’Shea (conductor and harpsichord) studied at the DIT Conservatory of Music in Dublin, graduating with a first-class honours BMus in Musicology. A versatile keyboard player, he is in demand as a pianist, organist and harpsichordist. He is continuo player with the Dublin-based Baroque ensemble Respicio, and also works regularly with groups such as the Orchestra of St Cecilia and Dublin Baroque Players. As a conductor he was musical director of the early opera ensemble Opera Antiqua and also directed the Beechwood Schola Cantorum and the Dublin Gay Men’s Chorus. David is currently a student on the MMus in Choral Studies programme at the University of Cambridge, and maintains a busy and varied performance schedule at home and abroad. !José Manuel Izquierdo  (producer)  studied musicology at the Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile in his native country, and also studied organ and organ-building in Chile, Germany and the UK. He has worked in the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, developing different projects there whilst teaching Music History and Latin American music in different universities in Santiago. José Manuel has published three books and been in charge of many projects related to musicology and historical performance. A Cambridge Gates Scholar, he is currently studying for his PhD in Music in the University of Cambridge. !Katharina Clausius (company manager)  studied musicology at Western University and Columbia University, and piano performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada before beginning as a PhD student in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. Her research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Cambridge Trusts, and St John’s College. Her recent publications focus on Enlightenment music, theories of influence in the music of Igor Stravinsky and John Cage, and the intersections between music and critical theory. She currently sings with St John’s Voices, the college’s new mixed-voice choir. This is her first season as a company manager with Defleo. !!!!

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