Opera Costanza e Fortezza : the victory of Constancy, strength, virtue and love over pride and tyranny

Irena Veselá

doi:10.5817/MB2025-1-5

Opera Costanza e Fortezza : the victory of Constancy, strength, virtue and love over pride and tyranny

Roč.60,č.1(2025)

Irena Veselá

https://doi.org/10.5817/MB2025-1-5

Trvalý odkaz (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.82318

PDF (angličtina)

Abstrakt

The opera Costanza e Fortezza, by P. Pariati and J. J. Fux, performed in Prague at the behest of Emperor Charles VI (1685–1740), exemplifies the symbolic self-representation of a Baroque Habsburg monarch. In the absence of a male heir, Charles VI used the opera to counter the hereditary claims of the Saxon and Bavarian Prince-electors and to advocate for the Pragmatic Sanction. Based on a Classical story by Livy, it is set in Rome republic besieged by the Etruscan king Porsenna, supporting a heir of the royal Gens Tarqunii. The study examines the opera's central conflict between virtue (virtù) and pride, and the fight for freedom through Constancy and Strength, exploring the role of love in this conflict. Particular attention is paid to the symbolical source of the opera's themes – the tale of Lucretia, a virtuous Roman woman defiled by a member of the Tarquin family.

Klíčová slova:
Costanza e Fortezza; Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740); Empress Elisabeth Christine (1691-1750); Pietro Pariati; Baroque opera; Habsburg court

Stránky:
83–102

Reference

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