Amor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura ("The Love of aShade and the Jealousy of anAura"), also known asNarciso ("Narcissus"), is an opera in three acts composed byDomenico Scarlatti to a libretto byCarlo Sigismondo Capece. It premiered in Rome in January 1714 at the private theatre ofMaria Casimira of Poland who had commissioned the work. The libretto is based on two fables from Ovid'sMetamorphoses:Echo andNarcissus (Book III) andCephalus andProcris (Book VII).[1]
Queen Maria Casimira had taken up residence in Rome in 1699 following the death of her husbandJan III Sobieski and her subsequent exile from Poland. Once in Rome she set up a court and became an active figure the city's musical life. In 1709, Domenico Scarlatti succeeded his fatherAlessandro as her court composer. His librettist, Carlo Capece, was her private secretary and court poet.Amor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura premiered at Maria Casimira's private theatre in the Palazzo Zuccari in January 1714 and proved to be the last of the several operas which Scarlatti had composed for her. Five months after the premiere, she departed for France, leaving a string of debts behind her.[2]
In addition to Scarlatti's opera, the 1714 Carnival opera season in Rome saw the premieres of Caldara'sTito e Berenice (also with a libretto by Capece) andGasparini'sLucio Papirio (with a libretto byAntonio Salvi). These two were the result of a competition set byCardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a prominent patron of the arts in Rome. Two rivalacademies, theAccademia degli Arcadi and theAccademia dei Quirini, were each to sponsor an opera to be performed in the newly renovatedTeatro Capranica. Ottoboni would give a generous gift to the academy which had produced the best one. According to a French correspondent at the time,Tito e Berenice had considerably less success with the audiences thanLucio Papirio, but the best opera presented that season was actuallyAmor d'un'ombra e gelosia d'un'aura.[3]
A revised version of the opera with the addition of two arias and two duets composed byThomas Roseingrave opened at theHaymarket Theatre in London on 30 May 1720 under the titleNarciso. Roseingrave also published the overture and arias of the opera, the only vocal music of Scarlatti that was printed in his lifetime.[4] Capece's original libretto was adapted for the London performance byPaolo Antonio Rolli who eliminated the role of Nicandro. While the cast for the Rome premiere is unknown, the principal roles in the London performance were taken byMargherita Durastanti (Narciso),Anastasia Robinson (Eco), Benedetto Baldassari (Cefalo), andAnn Turner Robinson (Procri).[5]
The Haymarket TheatreNarciso proved to be the last time one of Scarlatti's operas was performed in his lifetime. The discovery of a copy of the manuscript score in the library ofFriedrich Chrysander led to several late 20th and early 21st century revivals.[6] A version using the voices of opera singers but with the characters portrayed on stage bymarionettes was produced in 2002 at theBesançon International Music Festival.[7]
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