Niobe, regina di Tebe is an opera in three acts by Agostino Steffani, premiered at Salvatortheater, the Munich court theatre on 5 January 1688, during the carnival season . It is a tragedy focusing on the Ancient Greek character of Niobe. The libretto is by Luigi Orlandi, after Ovid's Metamorphoses. The score is in the National Library in Vienna. Excerpts have been published in Riemann Ausgewählte Werke iii. Long neglected, the opera was revived at Alice Tully Hall in New York City by the Clarion Music Society in 1977. More recently the work was mounted in Schwetzingen in 2008, in London in 2010, and in Boston in 2011.
Roles RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 5 January 1688 Conductor:-Niobe, Queen of Thebes, brave but arrogant; punished by the gods for her prideSopranoUnknownAnfione, King of Thebes; abdicates in favor of his wife Niobe; returns to protect Thebes from attackSoprano Castrato UnknownManto, Theban girl, priestess to the goddess Latona; falls in love with TiberinoSopranoUnknownTiresia, blind Theban seer and priest of Latona, Manto’s father; warns Niobe that her pride will anger the godsBassUnknownClearte, prince and advisor to Anfione; secretly in love with NiobeTenorUnknownCreonte, Thessalonian prince bewitched into helping Poliferno attack ThebesAlto Castrato UnknownPoliferno, magician; harbors a grudge against Anfione and sets out to overthrow himBassUnknownTiberino, Prince of Alba; dreams of conquering Thebes; falls in love with MantoTenorUnknownNerea, nurse to Niobe; advises the main charactersContraltoUnknown
Recordings YearCast:Niobe,Anfione,Manto,Tiresia,Clearte,Creonte,Poliferno,Tiberino,NereaConductor,Opera House and OrchestraLabel2013Karina Gauvin,Philippe Jaroussky,Amanda Forsythe,Christian Immler,Aaron Sheehan,Terry Wey,Jesse Blumberg,Colin Balzer,José LemosPaul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs,Boston Early Music Festival OrchestraCD: EratoCat: 0825646343546 2010Veronique Gens,Jacek Laszczkowski,Amanda Forsythe,Bruno Taddia,Tim Mead,Iestyn Davies,Alastair Miles,Lothar Odinius,Delphine GalouThomas Hengelbrock,Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble,recorded at the Royal Opera HouseCD: Opus Arte
References
External links Site of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble's performance of Niobe at the Schwetzingen Festival 2008 Site of the 2010 Covent Garden production (archived page) Review of the 2010 Covent Garden production from The Independent Site of the Boston Early Music Festival production