Láska proti zákonu v libretu pastorální opery. L’Amor non ha legge (Jaroměřice 1728)
Love against the Law in the Libretto of Pastoral Opera. L’Amor non ha legge (Jaroměřice 1728)

Summary/Abstract: The pastoral opera L’Amor non ha legge (premiered in Jaroměřice, 1728) was composed by the vicekapellmeister Antonio Caldara, based on libretto by Domenico Bonlini. It is the first attested dramatic musical composition written at the direct order of Count Johann Adam Questenberg (1678–1752), a connoisseur of music, skilled lute player, an occasional composer, and – above all – a passionate promoter of the Italian opera seria. The present article concerns with the generic examination of the plot of opera seria, with regard to its superior genre, favola pastorale. In L’Amor non ha legge, living in harmony with the Nature gains general appraisal, the Idyllic merry¬ -making in the countryside being sharply contrasted with life in the city and at the (imperial) court. As a result, the main character, young aristocrat, having become enamoured with a shepherdess, leaves for the country where he is allowed to repose and forget the hustle and bustle of the city, as well as its corruptness. These characteristics seem to be fitting the personality of Count Questenberg himself, who sought a refuge from the city to his castle of Jaroměřice, set in the rural region of Southern Moravia. As Bonlini states in his introductory argomento, the aim of the opera is, primarily, to celebrate simple, undemanding Love. Not coincidentally, both meanings of the word ’Amor’ are made use of in the libretto; the abstract ’Love’, as well as the personified name of the God of Love – Amor. Love verses and lovely affections are abundant in the language and the plot of the opera; what Bonlini is most concerned with, especially in the arias, is to depict as many aspects of Love, hence the affects, as possible: constant love, love suffering, requited love, noble love, miserable love, vain love, martyred love, jealous love, despising love, even paternal love. The message of the opera L’Amor non ha legge, therefore, is the imperative of symbiosis between Man and the Laws of Nature; the Law of Love, superior even to the obstacles of social inequality, should – according to Bonlini – always be in accordance with the Reason. Favorizing the pastoral environment over the court and city, in particular, can be read as a laud of the castle of Jaroměřice, which the Count was justly proud of, and which he identified with considerably.

• Details
• Contents