Antonio Caldara’s Operas for Salzburg (1717-27)

Salzburg was the first venue north of the Alps where a dramatic text fully set to music was staged: this was most probably Monteverdis Orfeo, performed in 1614 at the court of the art and music-loving Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems (r. 1612-19). However, the first documented drammi per musica that were performed and produced in Salzburg after this hypothetical Orfeo date from the last third of the 17th century, of which only one score has survived: this is Heinrich Bibers Chi la dura la vince (ca. 1690-92), based on a libretto by the mysterious Francesco Maria Raffaelini, who was to write further opera libretti for Salzburg. Later, under the regency of Prince Archbishop Franz Anton von Harrach (r. 1709-27), Antonio Caldara, deputy Kapellmeister of the imperial court in Vienna, was to deliver drammi per musica and oratori to Salzburg every year from 1717 to 1727, most of which were originally conceived for Harrachs own court. Not much is known about the performance conditions of Caldaras operas for the Salzburg court stage, and in fact, with a single exception, there is neither an edition nor a comprehensive study of them: almost all the autograph single copies of these operas are held in the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. Antonio Caldara was one of the most esteemed composers of his age, with around a thousand works attributed to him, including many operas. His music is in no way inferior to that of his nowadays celebrated contemporaries, such as Vivaldi, and the stage works represent a considerable part of his musical production. Although classical in their conception, most of his operas, and especially those for Salzburg, feature the active participation of a rich palette of instruments, which enter into an often exciting dialogue with the respective voice, sometimes even reminiscent of J.S. Bachs cantatas. Furthermore, Caldaras operas were among the very first to introduce comic intermezzi between the acts north of the Alps: these break up the dramatic action of the surrounding opera and may be regarded as the harbingers of later comic operas. This project will deal for the first time with Caldaras Salzburg operas, which form the first continuous secular music-theatrical tradition of the prince-archbishopric and whose possible influence on the later development of Salzburgs musical history remains completely unexplored. In addition to a monograph and an international conference at the end of the project, this endeavour envisages the critical digital edition of two important operas (Il germanico Marte, 1721 and Camaide, imperatore della China, 1722) with their accompanying intermezzi, which will be made freely available to all interested parties, be they professional performers or amateurs.