COV 92504 – Argenore – Magdalena Hinz – Marysol Schalit – Pia Davila – Gerald Thompson – Lena Spohn – Janno Scheller – Göttinger Barockorchester – Antonius Adamske – Claudia Michelsen

Complete spoken text by Marlene Streeruwitz (translation Phil Marston)

Wilhelmine von Bayreuth:
Argenore – Dramma per musica

with a speaking game by Marlene Streeruwitz

Magdalena Hinz, Marysol Schalit, Pia Davila,
Gerald Thompson, Lea Spohn, Janno Scheller
Claudia Michelsen ⋅ spokeswoman
Göttinger Barockorchester
Antonius Adamske ⋅ conductor

Edition: Authentic Performance
Booklet: de / en
Media: 4x CD / Download

COV 92504

On 10 May 1740, Wilhelmine of Bayreuth’s (1709–1758) birthday opera Argenore was to have its premiere at the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth—yet the celebration never took place. This dark dramma per musica, in which only a single exiled character survives while King Argenore reigns with unprecedented cruelty, unmistakably reflects the composer’s own life. The unwanted princess at the Prussian court, subjected to the arbitrary rule of her father, Frederick William I, and marked by her troubled relationship with her brother Frederick II, found expression in the tyrannical King Argenore and the lost son Eumenes/Ormondo. Musically, the opera is distinguished by its highly expressive use of key relationships for the sympathetic characters and by the exceptional prominence of Ormondo, whose role includes six arias.

In 2022, amid a world shaken by pandemic and war, the Göttingen Baroque Orchestra presented Argenore for the first time, revealing how the king’s authoritarian rule—fuelled by fake news—leads inexorably to catastrophe. While the production attracted considerable acclaim, it also inspired the desire for a more concise adaptation. Tailored to contemporary listening habits, the original Italian recitatives have been replaced by a fictional German-language monologue by Marlene Streeruwitz, while all of Wilhelmine’s arias remain intact in their original form, allowing the dramatic power of her music to unfold with undiminished intensity.

WILHELMINE VON BAYREUTH (1709-1758)
ARGENORE – DRAMMA PER MUSICA

CD 1

ATTO PRIMO
1.	CORO: Ceda pur superba Roma	2:33
2.	Die Geschichte erzählen?	5:39
3.	ARIA (ARGENORE): Quel tuo valor primiero	7:13
4.	Die schützende Gottheit dieses Reichs	2:00
5.	ARIA (ORMONDO): Son qual per erma arena	7:54
6.	Und weiterhin.	2:52
7.	ARIA (PALMIDE): Amor non intendo	7:39
8.	Wer aber ist Martesia?	2:12
9.	ARIA (MARTESIA): Dirò che più fedele	8:00
10.	Aus Liebe lügen	3:54
11.	ARIA (LEONIDA): Ah’ per pietade almeno	8:35
12.	Aus Liebe lügen	3:23
13.	ARIA (ORMONDO): Non ti lagnar o Dio	8:52
	Total time CD 1:	1:10:54

CD 2

1.	Und das ist der Augenblick des Höflings	4:57
2.	ARIA (ALCASTO): Dalla cuna intorno al core	8:11
3.	Das sagt er so.	2:40
4.	ARIA (ARGENORE): Da cento moti, e cento	8:52
5.	Und er versucht es	1:59
6.	ARIA (ORMONDO): S’avvien, ch’il destin rio	10:33
7.	In der Geschichte?	3:13
8.	ARIA (PALMIDE): Non dura una sventura	6:56
9.	Wir beten um solchen Trost	3:59
ATTO SECONDO
10.	ARIA (MARTESIA): Un certo freddo orrore	7:30
11.	Die natürliche Liebe	1:48
12.	ARIA (ALCASTO): Offeso il Regnante	4:39
13.	Das ist das Problem	2:01
14.	ARIA (ARGENORE): Voglio placarmi, si, gli perdono	5:51
	Total time CD 2:	1:13:18

CD 3

1.	Liebe. Zu ihm und durch ihn	1:54
2.	ARIA (LEONIDA): Troppo oh’ Dio!	8:24
3.	Alcasto hat alles erreicht	0:41
4.	ARIA (ORMONDO): Cadrò, ma tu crudel tiranno	6:39
5.	Die Prinzessin ist Gegenstand	1:05
6.	ARIA (LEONIDA): Se vuoi, ch’io lieto moro	8:45
7.	Die Prinzessin. Die Tochter des Königs	0:56
8.	ARIA (PALMIDE): Quell’orror, quel fosco velo	9:39
9.	Der König liebt nicht so wie wir	3:09
10.	ARIA (ORMONDO): Vado a morir per te, Idolo del mio cor	4:05
11.	ARIA (MARTESIA): Senza aita, senza speme	5:23
12.	Und es hilft niemand aus diesem Elend heraus	1:18
	Total time CD 3:	52:05

CD 4

ATTO TERZO
1.	ARIA (ORMONDO): Destrier, ch’all’armi usato	5:55
2.	Es ist die Stunde des Höflings	2:19
3.	ARIA (LEONIDA): Scorre per l’onde irate	6:52
4.	Der König ist die eine Kriegspartei.	0:47
5.	ARIA (PALMIDE): Come, oh’ Dio, fra tante pene	12:26
6.	Und da. Schaut Euch es an.	1:59
7.	ARIA (ALCASTO): Quel torrente, che orgoglioso	5:45
8.	Da hat er Ormondo schon getötet.	0:34
9.	ARIA (ARGENORE): Lasciami in pace	7:20
10.	Aber eine Schwester	2:56
11.	ARIA (MARTESIA): O Dio! mancar mi sento	11:39
12.	Argenore findet seinen, so früh entführten Sohn	5:53
13.	REZITATIV (ARGENORE): Furie, che m’agitate	2:21
	Total time CD 4:	1:06:55
	Gesamtspielzeit alle CDs:	4:23:12

You might also like these titles from the Edition Authentic Performance:

Wilhelmine von Bayreuth: Argenore – Dramma per musica

with a speaking game by Marlene Streeruwitz Magdalena Hinz, Marysol Schalit, Pia Davila, Gerald Thompson, Lea Spohn, Janno Scheller Claudia Michelsen ⋅ spokeswoman Göttinger Barockorchester Antonius Adamske ⋅ conductor

Wilhelmine von Bayreuth:
Argenore – Dramma per musica

with a speaking game by Marlene Streeruwitz

Magdalena Hinz, Marysol Schalit, Pia Davila,
Gerald Thompson, Lea Spohn, Janno Scheller
Claudia Michelsen ⋅ spokeswoman
Göttinger Barockorchester
Antonius Adamske ⋅ conductor