View source for Giove in Argo

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox opera
| name              = {{lang|it|Giove in Argo}}
| composer          = [[George Frideric Handel]]
| image             = George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner.jpg
| image_upright     = 
| caption           = George Frideric Handel, portrayed by [[Balthasar Denner]], 1729
| translated_name   = ''Jupiter in Argos''
| librettist        = [[Antonio Maria Lucchini]]
| language          = Italian
| based_on          = 
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1739|05|01|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Her Majesty's Theatre|King's Theatre]], Haymarket, London
}}
'''{{lang|it|Giove in Argo}}''' (''Jupiter in [[Ancient Argos|Argos]]'', [[Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis|HWV]] A14) is an Italian [[opera]] by [[George Frideric Handel]]. It is one of Handel's three [[pasticcio]] works made up of music and arias from his previous operas. The [[libretto]] was written by [[Antonio Maria Lucchini]]. The opera was first performed at the [[Her Majesty's Theatre|King's Theatre]], Haymarket, London, on 1 May 1739.

== History ==
The libretto by the Venetian poet Lucchini had been written for a setting by [[Antonio Lotti]] in Dresden in 1717. Handel might have heard Lotti's opera on his visit to Dresden in 1719, where the famous [[Senesino]] sang the part of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]. Probably Handel took a copy of the text to England and remembered it in 1739 when he was looking for a libretto for a short ''[[pasticcio]]'' opera with three female characters in it.

Handel brought several ''pasticci'' to the London stage. In most cases he adapted successful works of Italian composers for London, but he wrote three ''pasticci'' in which he re-used music from his own earlier works. They are the well known ''[[Oreste]]'', the little-known ''[[Alessandro Severo]]'' and the completely unknown ''Giove in Argo''. In the last-named opera he used, apart from music from his earlier works, some original compositions as well as two arias (sung by ''Iside'') written by the Italian composer [[Francesco Araja]].

The opera failed in London and was abandoned after only two performances.

== Performance history ==
For many years most of ''Giove in Argo'' was thought to have been lost until some old manuscripts were discovered containing a considerable number of the missing arias. However, most of the recitatives from the original work remain missing. This discovery enabled musicologist and composer John H. Roberts to assemble a performable opera out of the material that was supplemented partly with his own music composed in the style of Handel. A published edition of this score is due soon by the ''Complete Works Edition,''.

The first modern performance of ''Giove in Argo'' occurred on 15 September 2006 in Bayreuth in the 18th century [[Margravial Opera House]] in a complete and staged production by Concert Royal, Cologne and Collegium Cantorum Cologne, directed by Igor Folwill and conducted by Thomas Gebhardt. The United States premiere of the work took place on April 29, 2008, in a concert format presented at [[Carnegie Hall]] with conductor [[Robert Bass (conductor)|Robert Bass]], the [[Orchestra of St. Luke's]], and the [[Collegiate Chorale]]. Rufus Müller sang Giove and [[Elizabeth Futral]] portrayed Calisto. The first UK performance since 1739 took place at the [[Royal College of Music]], London, as part of the Handel Festival, on 23 March 2015, conducted by [[Laurence Cummings]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ashley |first1=Tim |title=''Giove in Argo'' review – seductive rare revival of Handel's recycled opera |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/25/giove-in-argo-review-britten-theatre-london |access-date=16 June 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]]|date=25 March 2015 |language=en}}</ref>

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ {{sronly|Roles, voice types, and premiere cast}}
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, 1 May 1739<ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=01-05-1739|match=Giove in Argo}}</ref>
|-
| Aretes, ''a shepherd, later discovered as Jupiter''
| [[tenor]]
|
|-
| Isis, ''daughter of Inachus, betrothed to the King of Egypt, Osiris''
| [[mezzo-soprano]]
| Costanza Posterla
|-
| Erastus, ''a shepherd, later discovered as Osiris, King of Egypt''
| [[Bass (voice type)|bass]]
| [[Gustavus Waltz]]
|-
| Diana
| [[soprano]]
| Chiara Posterla
|-
| Calisto, ''daughter of Lycaon''
| soprano
|
|-
| Lycaon, ''disguised as a shepherd, tyrant of Arcadia''
| bass
|
|-
| colspan="3"|''Chorus of huntsmen, shepherds and nymphs''
|}

==Recordings==
*''Giove in Argo'' (Tanya Aspelmeier, Theresa Nelles, Lisa Tjalve, Markus Auerbach, Benoit Haller; Concert Royal Köln, Kammerchor Würzburg; conductor Thomas Gebhardt) CD 2007. Label: Musicaphon
*''Giove in Argo'' (Ann Hallenberg, Karina Gauvin, Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani, Vito Priante, Theodora Baka, Johannes Weisser; {{ill|Il Complesso Barocco|de||fr|Il Complesso Barocco}}; conductor [[Alan Curtis (harpsichordist)|Alan Curtis]]) CD 2013. Label: Virgin Classics.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{citation|last=Dean|first=Winton|author-link=Winton Dean|title=Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1959|ref=none}}
*George Loomis, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f06aaf08-0fdc-11dc-a66f-000b5df10621.html?nclick_check=1 "''Giove in Argo''"] – [[Göttingen International Handel Festival]], ''[[Financial Times]]'' (London), 1 June 2007. Accessed 7 July 2008.

{{George Frideric Handel|state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:Operas by George Frideric Handel]]
[[Category:Italian-language operas]]
[[Category:1739 operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas based on classical mythology]]