51-411: Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music. Married to soprano Faustina Bordoni and a friend of librettist Pietro Metastasio , whose libretti he frequently set, Hasse
102-408: A coloratura mezzo-soprano. Rarely does a singer remain a soubrette throughout her entire career. A soubrette's range extends approximately from Middle C (C 4 ) to "high D" (D 6 ). The tessitura of the soubrette tends to lie a bit lower than the lyric soprano and spinto soprano. The lyric soprano is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre, which can be heard over a big orchestra. It generally has
153-456: A full spinto or dramatic soprano. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately "low B" (B 3 ) to "high F" (F 6 ) with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a voice type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, and with no extensive coloratura. The soubrette voice
204-449: A general rule, the first composer to set them. Burney left the following note: This poet and musician are the two halves of what, like Plato 's Androgyne, once constituted a whole; for as they are equally possessed of the same characteristic marks of true genius, taste, and judgement; so propriety, consistency, clearness, and precision, are alike the inseparable companions of both... Despite Giovanni Battista Mancini 's claim that Hasse
255-400: A higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingénues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have a range from approximately middle C (C 4 ) to "high D" (D 6 ). The lyric soprano may be a light lyric soprano or a full lyric soprano. The light lyric soprano has a bigger voice than a soubrette but still possesses a youthful quality. The full lyric soprano has
306-523: A libretto by Metastasio. For the most part, he remained at Vienna until 1773. Mozart was present at a performance of his Partenope in September 1767. Most of his operas composed during this period were also successfully produced at Naples. He was the favourite of Maria Theresa , and it can be argued that he took up the job of de facto court Kapellmeister. With the premiere of Piramo e Tisbe (September 1768) Hasse had intended to retire from opera but
357-594: A low note in a song within a soprano role. Low notes can be reached with a lowered position of the larynx . The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is "soprano C" (C 6 two octaves above middle C), and many roles in the standard repertoire call for C ♯ 6 or D 6 . A couple of roles have optional E ♭ 6 s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire, several roles call for E ♭ 6 on up to F 6 . In rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G 6 or G ♯ 6 , such as Mozart's concert aria " Popoli di Tessaglia! ", or
408-436: A more mature sound than a light-lyric soprano and can be heard over a bigger orchestra. Also lirico- spinto , Italian for "pushed lyric", the spinto soprano has the brightness and height of a lyric soprano, but can be "pushed" to dramatic climaxes without strain, and may have a somewhat darker timbre. Spinto sopranos have a range from approximately B (B 3 ) to "high D" (D 6 ). A dramatic soprano (or soprano robusto ) has
459-499: A person is classified through the identification of several vocal traits, including range, vocal timbre , vocal weight , vocal tessitura , vocal resonance , and vocal transition points (lifts or " passaggio ") within the singer's voice. These different traits are used to identify different sub-types within the voice. Within opera , particular roles are written with specific kinds of soprano voices in mind, causing certain roles to be associated with certain kinds of voices . Within
510-487: A powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra. Usually (but not always) this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos, and a darker timbre. Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately A (A 3 ) to "high C" (C 6 ). Some dramatic sopranos, known as Wagnerian sopranos, have a very big voice that can assert itself over an exceptionally large orchestra (over eighty pieces). These voices are substantial and very powerful and ideally even throughout
561-476: A production for the Venice Carnival including additional music by Galuppi , starring both Farinelli and Caffarelli ! Hasse's Artaserse , in full or at least in part, was produced in: Artaserse is based on the life of king Artaxerxes I of Persia , a ruler of the fifth century B.C., son of Xerxes I . Seeing King Serse I's power in serious decline and ambitioning to mount the throne, Artabano,
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#1732775904881612-524: A text later used by Mozart . In 1756 the Seven Years' War compelled the court at Dresden to move to Warsaw , though Hasse himself lived mostly in Italy, travelling to Poland solely to supervise productions of his operas, if at all. In the autumn of 1760 he moved to Vienna, where he stayed for the next two years, returning to Dresden in 1763 to find much of his home destroyed and the musical apparatus of
663-403: Is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types . The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation ) is from approximately middle C (C 4 ) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A 5 ) = 880 Hz in choral music , or to "soprano C" (C 6 , two octaves above middle C) = 1046 Hz or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony,
714-532: Is buried in San Marcuola , and authored a biography of Hasse in 1820. Hasse's friendship with Metastasio, and his appreciation of the art form the librettist had created, increased over the years. The early Metastasio texts he set were all greatly altered for the purpose, but Frederick the Great and Francesco Algarotti both exerted influence in order to make Hasse pay greater respect to Metastasio's works. In
765-424: Is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre. Many young singers start out as soubrettes, but, as they grow older and the voice matures more physically, they may be reclassified as another voice type, usually either a light lyric soprano, a lyric coloratura soprano, or
816-422: Is roughly A 3 or B ♭ 3 (just below middle C). Within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F 3 (from Richard Strauss 's Die Frau ohne Schatten ). Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, and tend to "count less" in roles (although some Verdi, Strauss and Wagner roles call for stronger singing below the staff ). However, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing
867-480: Is the term for a male countertenor able to sing in the soprano vocal range, while a castrato is the term for a castrated male singer, typical of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and a treble is a boy soprano , whether they finished puberty or are still a child, as long as they are still able to sing in that range. The term "soprano" is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, referred to
918-468: Is to all other lyric poets. Careful choice of key was also a crucial factor in Hasse's style, with certain emotions usually marked out by certain key choices. Amorous feelings were expressed by A, for instance, while for expressions of aristocratic nobility Hasse used C and B flat; on the other hand, his supernatural and fear-inducing music usually went into the keys of C and F minor. Most of his arias begin in
969-422: Is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume , and most comfort. In SATB four-part mixed chorus, the soprano is the highest vocal range, above the alto , tenor , and bass . Sopranos commonly sing in the tessitura G4-A5. When the composer calls for divisi, sopranos can be separated into Soprano I (highest part) and Soprano II (lower soprano part). In contrast to choral singing, in classical solo singing
1020-735: The Teatro di San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice on 11 February 1730, just 6 days after the libretto's first setting by Leonardo Vinci premiered in Rome. Hasse wrote three settings of this libretto. The original one dates from 1730, just before he became Kapellmeister in Dresden . A second setting was made for the Court Theatre in Dresden in 1740. Finally, he composed a third one in 1760, when he
1071-540: The Venetian Carnival of 1730, where his opera Artaserse was performed at S Giovanni Grisostomo . Metastasio's libretto was heavily reworked for the occasion, and Farinelli took a leading role. Two of his arias from this opera he later performed every night for a decade for Philip V of Spain . In 1730 Hasse married Faustina Bordoni, and was also appointed Kapellmeister at the Dresden court, though he did not arrive at Dresden until July 1731; earlier in
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#17327759048811122-400: The 20th century approached its end: Gluck's reforms took opera away from Hasse's style and Metastasio's Arcadian ideals to a new direction from which it would not return. In his day, Hasse's style was noted primarily for his lyricism and sense of melody. Burney put it this way: [Hasse] may without injury to his brethren, be allowed to be as superior to all other lyric composers, as Metastasio
1173-687: The Doll Aria, "Les oiseaux dans la charmille", from The Tales of Hoffmann , e.g. by Rachele Gilmore in a 2009 performance, and a written A ♮ 6 by Audrey Luna in 2017 in The Exterminating Angel , both at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The dramatic coloratura soprano is a coloratura soprano with great flexibility in high-lying velocity passages, yet with great sustaining power comparable to that of
1224-505: The Strong , Hasse's early royal patron at Dresden, died. As the court went into a year of mourning, Hasse was permitted to remain abroad. Many of his sacred works, composed for Venice's churches, date to this time. For much of 1734 Hasse was at Dresden, but from 1735 until 1737 he was in Italy, largely at Naples. Faustina performed in the September 1735 premiere of Tito Vespasiano (another adapted Metastasio libretto) at Pesaro . Returning to
1275-613: The Strong of Poland and Saxony granted him the title of the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Kapellmeister. In October Hasse left Dresden to direct premieres of his next operas at Turin and Rome , and he also wrote music for the Venetian theatres at this time. By late 1732, Hasse was in Naples again, though he spent the winter at Venice where his Siroe was first performed in particularly lavish style. In February 1733 Augustus II
1326-492: The ancient form of the musical drama, in which the poet and musician claim equal attention from an audience; the bard in the recitatives and narrative parts; and the composer in the airs, duos and choruses. The second party depend more on theatrical effects, propriety of character, simplicity of diction, and of musical execution, than on, what they style flowery description, superfluous similes, sententious and cold morality, on one side, with tiresome symphonies, and long divisions, on
1377-516: The commander of the royal guards and a powerful official in the Persian court, has murdered the sovereign and is now hoping to sacrifice the rest of the royal family to his design. And so, he accuses Dario, Serses I's eldest son and older brother of Artaserse, of the regicide and persuades the latter to avenge the crime. After Dario's demise, the only thing left wanting is now the death of Artaserse, which Artabano has plotted, but his plans are delayed by
1428-432: The court opera wrecked. Hasse's main patron at Dresden, king Augustus III of Poland and Saxony died soon after and his successor, who also died quickly, deemed elaborate musical events at the court superfluous. Hasse and Faustina were paid two years' salary but given no pension. In 1764 Hasse travelled to Vienna, where the coronation of Joseph II was marked by a performance of his festa teatrale Egeria , again set to
1479-400: The early 1740s he began setting new Metastasian libretti unadapted, and his personal relations with the librettist also improved significantly at around this time. In one of his letters, dated to March 1744, Metastasio made the following comments: ...never until now had I happened to see him [Hasse] in all his glory, but always detached from his many personal relationships in such a way that he
1530-497: The ghost of her father, King Xerxes, has been removed. Although this differs from the previous versions, this change actually makes the drama closer to the original by Metastasio. To those three versions solely by Hasse, one must also add a myriad of pasticcios which use Hasse's setting as a basis, including for instance the notable Autumn 1734 London production put together by Nicola Porpora , starring Farinelli in arias written by Riccardo Broschi , but also, earlier that same year,
1581-423: The highest pitch vocal range of all human voice types. The word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types , with the highest tessitura . A soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos
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1632-483: The major, switching only to minor for the B section before returning to major for the da capo . As his career developed his arias grew much longer but a lyrical sense was still his overriding target. In Hamburg, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to his life and work. Notes References Sources Soprano A soprano ( Italian pronunciation: [soˈpraːno] )
1683-502: The other. Finding his music under siege from an avant-garde surge in a new direction, Hasse left Vienna in 1773 and spent the final ten years of his life in Venice, teaching and composing sacred works. Faustina died in November 1781, and Hasse himself, after a long period of suffering from arthritis, just over two years later. He was almost completely ignored after his death, until F. S. Kandler paid for his gravestone in Venice, where he
1734-633: The registers. Two other types of soprano are the Dugazon and the Falcon , which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo-soprano: a Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico. Artaserse (Hasse) Artaserse is an opera ( dramma per musica ) in three acts composed by Johann Adolph Hasse to an Italian libretto adapted from that by Metastasio by Giovanni Boldini first shown in Venice on 11 February 1730. Artaserse premiered at
1785-517: The royal court in Dresden during 1737 Hasse composed five new operas, but when the court moved to Poland in the autumn of 1738 he and Faustina came back to Venice, where both of them were extremely popular. His next stay in Dresden was also his longest, between the first months of 1740 and January 1744. In this time he revised Artaserse , composing new arias for Faustina, and also wrote a couple of original intermezzi . His general avoidance of comic opera seems to have been due to Faustina, who feared that
1836-523: The soprano takes the highest part, which often encompasses the melody . The soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura , soubrette , lyric , spinto , and dramatic soprano. The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word sopra (above, over, on top of), as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. "Soprano" refers mainly to women, but it can also be applied to men; " sopranist "
1887-584: The soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories: coloratura soprano , soubrette , lyric soprano , spinto soprano , and dramatic soprano . The coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura. Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C (C 4 ) to "high F" ( in alt ) (F 6 ) with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat lower or higher, e.g. an interpolated A ♭ 6 in
1938-455: The style of singing demanded by opera buffa would damage her voice. Between the winter of 1744 and late summer 1745, Hasse was in Italy, but then returned to Dresden for a year. Frederick the Great , a keen flute player, visited the court in December 1745, and it is likely that many of Hasse's flute sonatas and concertos that date to this time were written for Frederick. The King of Prussia
1989-503: The summer of 1750, where his Didone abbandonata was performed. On 28 March 1750 Hasse presented his last oratorio La conversione di Sant' Agostino in the chapel of the royal palace in Dresden. The libretto, penned by the Dresden Electress Maria Antonia Walpurgis (1724–1780), concerns the conversion of a sinner to sainthood and was modeled after and edited by Metastasio . The Dresden premiere
2040-501: The threat of the reforms of Christoph Willibald Gluck and Ranieri de' Calzabigi , as laid down in the music and libretto for Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice . Charles Burney , visiting Vienna in 1773, reported on the debate. Party runs as high among poets, musicians and their adherents, at Vienna as elsewhere. Metastasio and Hasse, may be said, to be at the head of one of the principal sects; and Calsabigi and Gluck of another. The first, regarding all innovations as quackery, adhere to
2091-468: The title role of Jules Massenet 's opera Esclarmonde . While not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura , vocal weight , and timbre of voices, and the roles they sing, are commonly categorized into voice types, often called Fächer ( sg. Fach , from German Fach or Stimmfach , "vocal category"). A singer's tessitura
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2142-549: The year he had been active at Vienna , supervising a performance of his oratorio Daniello at the court of the Habsburgs . Soon after the couple's arrival in Dresden, Faustina performed before the court. In September Hasse's Cleofide (set to a highly adapted Metastasio text) was given its premiere; it seems possible that J. S. Bach attended the performance; certainly C. P. E. Bach claimed that Hasse and his father had become good friends around this time. King Augustus II
2193-516: Was a pivotal figure in the development of opera seria and 18th-century music. Hasse was baptised in Bergedorf near Hamburg where his family had been church organists for three generations. His career began in singing when he joined the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt in 1718 as a tenor. In 1719 he obtained a singing post at the court of Brunswick , where in 1721 his first opera, Antioco ,
2244-490: Was also present at a performance of one of Hasse's Te Deum s, and himself ordered a performance of the composer's opera Arminio . Soon after Hasse visited Venice and Munich, returning to Dresden in June 1747 to stage his opera La spartana generosa , performed to celebrate multiple royal weddings at this time. Also at this time the hierarchy at Dresden was restructured; Nicola Porpora was named Kapellmeister, while Hasse himself
2295-492: Was compelled by Maria Theresa to compose a further work, Ruggiero (1771), again set to a Metastasian libretto. In 1771, when hearing 15-year-old Mozart's opera Ascanio in Alba , Hasse is reported to have made the prophetic remark: "This boy will cause us all to be forgotten." At this time operatic style was undergoing significant change, and the model of opera seria that Hasse and Metastasio had settled found itself assailed by
2346-477: Was followed by numerous performances of the work in Leipzig , Hamburg, Mannheim, Padua , Rome, Riga , Prague , Potsdam and Berlin which is a testament to the work's popularity in the latter half of the 18th century. The 1751 Carnival in Dresden saw the retirement of Faustina from operatic performance. Hasse continued to produce new operas throughout the decade, including a setting of Metastasio's Il re pastore ,
2397-453: Was like an aria without instruments; but now I see him as a father, husband and friend, qualities which make an admirable union in him with those solid bases of ability and good behaviour, for which I will cherish him so many years... In the following years Hasse reset his earlier works based on Metastasio's texts, this time paying great attention to the poet's original intention, and during the 1760s, as Metastasio wrote new texts, Hasse was, as
2448-422: Was nearing the end of his career as Kapellmeister in Dresden. His style, as well as musical taste, underwent considerable change during those 30 odd years, so much so that not a lot of the 1760 version ( Teatro di San Carlo , Naples) sounds like the music of the 1730 and the 1740 versions. For instance, at the end of the first act of the 1760 version, Mandane's accompanied recitative and aria in which she calls upon
2499-973: Was performed; Hasse himself sang in the production. He is thought to have left Germany during 1722. During the 1720s he lived mostly in Naples , dwelling there for six or seven years. In 1725 his serenata Antonio e Cleopatra , was performed at Naples; the principal roles were sung by Carlo Broschi, better known as Farinelli , and Vittoria Tesi . The success of this work not only earned Hasse many commissions from Naples's opera houses, but also, according to Johann Joachim Quantz , brought him into contact with Alessandro Scarlatti , who became his teacher and friend; Hasse also altered his style in several respects to reflect that of Scarlatti. Hasse's popularity in Naples increased dramatically and for several years his workload kept him extremely busy. In this period he composed his only full opera buffa , La sorella amante , in addition to several intermezzi and serenatas. He visited
2550-535: Was promoted to Oberkapellmeister. In 1748 Hasse performed two of his operas, Ezio and Artaserse , in Bayreuth in the half finished Markgräfliches Opernhaus , because of the marriage of Elisabeth Fredericka Sophie of Brandenburg-Bayreuth , the daughter of Wilhelmine of Bayreuth . The marriage of princess Maria Josepha of Saxony to the French Dauphin gave Hasse the opportunity to journey to Paris in
2601-457: Was the padre della musica , and despite the composer's massive popularity as a figure at the very forefront of 18th-century serious Italian opera, after his death Hasse's reputation vastly declined and his music lay mostly unperformed (with the exception of some of his sacred works, which were revived now and again in Germany). In particular, his operas sank without trace and revival only began as
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