“The Dream of Scipio” by Johann Adolf Hasse is an opera with a plot presented through an intriguing dreamlike formula. The work will be performed by outstanding German soloists and the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, playing historical instruments under the baton of Jarosław Thiel.
The title character is an actual Roman general from the 2nd century BC. In a dream, the goddesses of fortune (Fortuna) and constancy (Constanza) appear to him—they demand that he immediately decide which of them he wishes to follow in life. The protagonist’s ancestors also appear, to teach him about the immortality of the soul and the reward awaiting good people after death, as well as the insignificance of earthly things. The work’s libretto, written by the greatest librettist in history, Pietro Metastasio, was based on a treatise by the ancient orator and philosopher Cicero, On the Republic, in which the author sought to create a portrait of the ideal ruler. In the story of Scipio’s dream, he conveyed the lesson that rulers should resist the temptation to pursue their own pleasures and act wisely, always placing the good of the state first.
The opera premiered in Warsaw. When the Saxon electors, known for their passion for the arts, including opera, ascended the Polish throne, a free-standing public theater modeled on Dresden’s Opernhaus and seating more than 500 people was erected in the Saxon Garden. Poles called it the Operalnia. It was a court theater, but it was also open to members of the public outside the king’s circle. Operatic life flourished especially during the so-called Seven Years’ War, when Augustus III had to move with his court from Dresden to Warsaw. His court composer, Johann Adolf Hasse, went to Italy at that time, but he visited Poland to supervise productions of his works. For a time, Warsaw took over the operatic splendor of the Saxon capital: performances were numerous, lasted several hours, featured ballet, and several hundred free tickets were issued for each show. The works performed were mainly those of the immensely popular Hasse, a composer, singer, and teacher, and privately a friend of Metastasio.
A secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach has content very similar to The Dream of Scipio. In the parable, based on a story by Prodicus of Ceos, the young Hercules encounters personifications of Virtue and Vice at a crossroads, and the hero must choose which value will be paramount in his life. Bach composed this cantata for the eleventh birthday of Friedrich Christian, Elector of Saxony, in 1733.
Works about the qualities of a good ruler and a righteous hero fit into this year’s festival theme of reflecting on governance and the fate of states. They address the liberation from the bonds of egotism and the pursuit of pleasure. They also evoke the cultural heyday of eighteenth-century Poland, a tradition to which the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra refers.
Performers:
- Jarosław Thiel – conductor
- Lydia Teuscher, Isabel Schicketanz – sopranos
- Franziska Gottwald, Julia Böhme – altos
- Sebastian Kohlhepp – tenor
- Martin Schicketanz – bass
- Wrocławska Orkiestra Barokowa