Giulio Sabino ("Julius Sabinus") is a dramma per musica (opera seria) in three acts by Giuseppe Sarti. The libretto was by Pietro Giovannini.

Giulio Sabino
Dramma per musica by Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti
LibrettistPietro Giovannini
LanguageItalian
Premiere
3 January 1781 (1781-01-03)

The opera, staged in six or seven European countries at the end of the 18th century, was the subject of a parody in Antonio Salieri's 1786 work Prima la musica e poi le parole.

Performance history

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It was first performed at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on 3 January 1781. The opera was revived at the Teatro Comunale Alighieri in Ravenna in 1999 (see recording section below).

Roles

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Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 3 January 1781[1]
Conductor: Unknown
Annio tenor Giuseppe Desirò
Arminio alto castrato Pietro Gherardi
Epponina, Sabino's wife soprano Anna Pozzi
Sabino soprano castrato Gaspare Pacchierotti
Tito tenor Giacomo Panati
Voadice soprano Felice Zannotti

Synopsis

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The opera is about the triumph of conjugal love. It is set in 1st-century Gaul in the time of the Emperor Vespasian.

Recording

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There is a recording made in Ravenna in 1999 by the Accademia Bizantina under Ottavio Dantone with Alessandra Palomba (Arminio), Sonia Prina (Giulio Sabino), Donatella Lombardi (Voadice), Elena Monti (Epponina), Giuseppe Filianoti (Tito), Kremena Dilcheva (Annio) (Bongiovanni CD 1173251).

References

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  1. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Giulio Sabino, 3 January 1781". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).

Further reading

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  • "Giulio Sabino" by John A Rice, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
  • John A. Rice, "Sarti's Giulio Sabino, Haydn's Armida, and the Arrival of Opera Seria at Eszterháza"
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