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...secretary Francesco Massi, the composer Antonio Sartorio, and the librettists Pietro Dolfin and Nicolo Beregan, the correspondence must be considered one of the most valuable collections of ephemera on Venetian musical life in the 1660s and 1670s. The four figures are linked to Hannover by their association with the German ruler Duke Johann Friedrich of Braunschweig-Luneburg, one of Europe's most powerful absolutist monarchs of the time, and the complex nexus of Johann Friedrich's political, social, and cultural ties to La Serenissima created both the circumstances for the existence of the letters and their unique relevance to the world of Venetian opera.
By far the largest group of letters is that written by Francesco Maria Massi (210 letters) who, as Johann Friedrich's secretary in Venice, corresponded regularly with him (weekly in certain periods of the year). The other three men were linked to the duke in different capacities. Antonio Sartorio was his Kapelimeister in Hannover for ten years (1666-75), while the librettist Pietro Dolfin was one of Johann Friedrich's chief contacts among the Venetian nobility and was responsible for delicate affairs such as the management of his opera boxes. Finally, the lawyer and librettist Nicolo Beregan was not so much an associate but rather a friend who corresponded only occasionally. What enhances the interest of these letters for us is that all four people were involved in opera making. This is true even of Massi who, although not a composer or a librettist himself, was nevertheless close to opera dealings through his friendship with the main theater owners of the city, the Vendramins and the Grimanis. Massi's key va lue for posterity, however, is that of a perceptive observer of opera and its performance.
DUKE JOHANN FRIEDRICH OF BRAUNSCHWEIG-LUNEBURG (1625-1679)
The figure of Johann Friedrich remains an acknowledged, but as yet not fully investigated, patron of seventeenth-century Venetian opera. An indication of his importance is the fact that between 1654 and 1688 no less than twenty-eight librettos were dedicated to him and members of his family in Venice alone. (1) Together with his two brothers, Ernst August and Georg Wilhelm, (2) Johann Friedrich was a frequent visitor to Venice where he owned some of the best boxes of its opera houses. His brother Ernst August, who succeeded Johann Friedrich after his death in 1679, is well known to opera historians for his visit to the residence of the Venetian nobleman Marco Contarini in Piazzola-sul-Brenta (near Venice) in 1685. The published chronicle that commemorates that visit is of great significance, as it is the main evidence to suggest that the large collection of seventeenth-century opera scores surviving at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana today was once part of the large Gontarini library at Piazzola. (3)
The magnitude of Johann Friedrich's influence as a patron is due to a personal kinship with the culture and intellectuality of his time, enhanced by a powerful position on the political map of Europe. (4) His political prestige was due to the position of his duchy in northern Europe, his alliance to France and Louis XIV, and also to a powerful army of mercenaries which he employed for his own wars and lent to his allies for their defense. (5)
Beyond Venice, Johann Friedrich's close ties with Italy in general resulted from his conversion to Catholicism in 1651 and his marriage, in 1668, to Benedicte-Henriette Philippine von der Pfalz (1652-1730), a Catholic whose mother was a Gonzaga (Anna Gonzaga had married Eduard von der Pfalz). (6) As true for most absolutist rulers of his time, Johann Friedrich's innate curiosity about intellectual matters was also accompanied by a sharp understanding of the political role of the arts. It is characteristic that upon inheriting the duchy in 1665, his immediate actions included the establishment of a world-class Hofkapelle and a Hofbibliothek (today the Niedersachsische Landesbibliothek). (7) The court chapel was largely manned by Italian singers and instrumentalists, and for the post of Hofkapellmeister he employed the composer Antonio Sartorio from Venice, who served in Hannover from 1666 to 1675.
The high quality of the Hofkapelle is evident from the letters: every carnival season the best of the duke's singers would be given leave to travel to Venice to sing in the opera houses, and theater owners often vied to secure their use from Johann Friedrich. Johann Friedrich was therefore a figure of influence over opera theaters, and even in the years in which he did not travel to Venice, his presence in the city was still powerful, as is indicated by the many librettos dedicated to him. Finally, this prominent presence was felt even further in the guise of invitations issued to social and political acquaintances to enjoy his opera boxes when he and his family were not using them. The amount of space devoted in the Dolfin correspondence to the boxes and their administration suggests that a high profile was afforded to the prestigious opera boxes and their absent owner.
THE FOUR AUTHORS OF THE LETTERS
Among the four authors, Francesco Maria Massi (ca. 1617-after 1676) is the figure who is perhaps the least known to music historians, as he was neither a composer nor a librettist. Massi was a native of Ancona, long established in Venice, and was around fifty-six years old in 1673, according to a letter in which he tried to solicit an annual pension from Johann Friedrich with the argument that "son vecchio Serenissimo Padrone; ho 56 anni. Durera poco il dispendio Suo per me." (8) In the summer of 1674 he moved back to Ancona after his second marriage following the death of his first wife. (9)
Massi's official status in Venice was that of "Secretario et Agente del Serenissimo Prencipe Gio. Federico Duca di Brunsvich e Luneburgh presso la Serenissima Republica." (10) His letters contain news of political value to Johann Friedrich, such as recent developments in the city, and the latest from the Turkish front where the Venetians were facing continuous conflict, something expected of him as Venice was an important European center for the circulation of news and avvisi (reports). (11) Johann Friedrich was an intensely curious individual with an eye for innovation, and Massi's letters also included descriptions of new weapons, machines, and medicines. Massi also had pastoral duties during the winter season, and was often required to play host to Johann Friedrich's brothers, Georg Wilhelm and Ernst August, and his nephew Georg, the prince of Denmark, all frequent visitors to Venice.
The second largest correspondence is that of Pietro Dolfin (1636-1709), a member of one of Venice's long-established patrician families which included among its members procuratori, cardinals, generals, and savii. (12) His position provided Johann Friedrich with a valuable contact from within the ranks of "old" Venice. The formal nature, if any, of Dolfin's association with the duke is not known or mentioned in the letters. Dolfin was probably not an employee, but rather an aristocratic friend who provided some services. The most tangible work carried out was the high-profile business of purchasing and managing Johann Friedrich's theater boxes and distributing their keys. Dolfin was a sort of Byzantine gatekeeper, handing keys--and Johann Friedrich's favor--to Venetian dignitaries, visiting rulers, and foreign ambassadors. On the other hand, Dolfin was also a man of letters and author of at least three librettos, L'Ermengarda (1669-70), L'Adelaide (1671-72), and the unperformed Alcina. He was keenly intereste d in opera and singers, and as it transpires from the letters he was, like all librettists, extremely sensitive about the successful outcome of his drammi and the circumstances in which they were performed.
Nicolo Beregan (1627-1713) was another librettist belonging to Johann Friedrich's circle in Venice. He was well-known as both a lawyer of high-profile cases and an author of literary and historical works. (13) Among his friends, he was known as "Piramide" (an allusion to his intellectual abilities and/or his height), by which nickname Massi frequently refers to him in the letters. Beregan seems to have been the "naughty" member of the party, and his mischiefs are occasionally relayed by Massi to Johann Friedrich.
The autograph letters of the composer Antonio Sartorio (1630-1680) were the primary reason that the Hannover correspondence first attracted the attention of music historians. Sartorio entered Johann Friedrich's service in 1666, and remained there until 1675 when he returned to Venice. The following year, 1676, he won the post of vice maestro di cappella at S. Mark's, a position that he retained until the end of his life. During his stay in Germany, Sartorio would often travel to Venice for the season to compose operas for the Vendramin and Grimani theaters. Sartorio's earliest surviving letters date from these sojourns in Venice when he would write back to Hannover chiefly to report on the success of the operas and the court singers engaged by the theaters. With his reestablishment in Venice he continued to serve Johann Friedrich locally, and was responsible for recruiting singers and instrumentalists for the Hofkapelle, and providing reports on Venetian happenings and opera seasons. Like most composers' corr espondence from this period, Sartorio's letters do not reveal the secrets of his work; they are, however, a valuable mirror of a voice which would otherwise be little known. In conclusion, the Hannover letters provide an often vivid chronicle of operatic life between 1667 and 1679, with more information on the years in which Sartorio was personally involved. Every December, January, and February, but also in the months preceding the season, there is reportage on the success and failure of operas and the trivia of its people. The biggest gain, though, is perhaps one the correspondence imparts as a whole: the opportunity to imbibe the language and thoughts of Venetians who made opera.
PUBLICATION HISTORY OF THE LETTERS
Scholarly interest in the letters dates from at least the early 1930s when Theodor Abbetmeyer drew attention to the Sartorio autographs in his thesis on music in the Hannoverian court. (14) A few years later, in 1937, Hellmuth Christian Wolff devoted a short section to them in his monograph on Venetian opera under the heading "Die Briefe Antonio Sartorios an den Herzog Johann Friedrich von Hannover." (15)
More recently, the Hannover Sartoriana were brought to musicological attention by Heinz Becker, who included four of the letters collected by Wolff in his 1981 anthology of sources on seventeenth-century opera. (16) The first use, however, not only of the Sartorio letters but also those of Massi, Dolfin, and Beregan as part of a broader historical narrative was made by Ellen Rosand in her seminal 1991 monograph Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice. (17) Rosand established the letters as an essential corpus of documentary sources for seventeenth-century opera historiography.
Since Rosand, a few of the letters have provided Reinmar Emans with information on specific operas, (18) and Norbert Dubowy with facts about Venetian musical life in general. (19) Finally, the correspondence has recently been the subject of a detailed examination in the present author's doctoral dissertation where the letters of all four authors are cited in extensio. (20) The use of individual letters in the secondary literature mentioned above is referenced individually by letter in the inventory of letters that follows.
THE SOURCES
The letters are filed with Johann Friedrich's foreign correspondence which is housed in the Niedersachsische Hauptstaatsarchiv, Hannover, in the Galenberger Briefschaftsarchiv, classmark Gal. Br. 22: Korrespondenz im furstlichen Hause und Privatkorrespondenz der Herzoge: Korrespondenzen italienischer Kardinale und anderer Personen, besonders Italiener, an Herzog Johann Friedrich [Correspondence to the sovereign court, and private correspondence to the duke: correspondence of Italian cardinals and other persons, particularly Italians, to Duke Johann Friedrich].
Francesco Maria Massi, 210 letters (1669-76), Gal. Br. 22, no. 627, fols. 150-677.
Pietro Dolfin, 58 letters (1669-78), Gal. Br. 22, no. 625, fols. 343-458.
Nicolo Beregan, 27 letters (1669-78), Gal. Br. 22, no. 624, fols. 144-86.
Antonio Sartorio, 16 (+2) = 18 letters (1672-79), Gal. Br. 22, no. 629, fols. 105-32a (+Gal. Br. 22, no. 627, fols. 294 and 526). (21)
The extensive holdings of the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Hannover gather together the documents of centuries of local government and administration. Previously known as the Staatsarchiv, its only printed catalog is the five-volume Ubersicht uber die Bestande des Niedersachsischen Staatsarchivs in Hannover. (22) Because of the library's immense holdings, however, this catalog is of a very summary nature and does not describe the contents of individual folders in any detail; such information can only be obtained on-site.
The foliation of the letters is by numbers stamped in ink, apart from the Sartorio letters which have been foliated by hand. The Dolfin letters
have been foliated twice (and at places three times), and the earlier foliation(s) are crossed out by a stamped line. (23)
INVENTORY OF LETTERS
The letters of all four authors--Massi, Dolfin, Sartorio, and Beregan--are listed here in chronological order. (24) Rather than dividing them by author, this ordering offers a view of events as they happened and were independently and contemporaneously reported. The existence of different accounts of the same events during the carnival season provides also the opportunity to resolve ambiguities concerning the more veneto style of dating of the letters (that is, the Venetian custom of commencing the numbering of the new year on 1 March). (25) The entry for each letter includes a brief general description of its main content, and of any particular artistic/musical content. Letters that are quoted elsewhere in secondary literature are noted in parenthetical annotations. Two abbreviations are used throughout: JF for Johann Friedrich, and m.v. for more veneto.
The classmark "Cal. Br. 22" applies to all of the letters, and therefore is omitted from the individual entries that follow.
1. Beregan, 13 December 1669, no. 624, fols. 144-45. About the recent death of Pope Glemente IX and the candidates who could be his successor.
2. Massi, 13 December 1669, no. 627, fols. 150-51. About a misunderstanding between Massi and Hannover concerning some (unfounded) rumors that Massi has fallen out of favor with the court. In his defense, Massi alludes to his loyalty as expressed in his many letters to JF, a comment which suggests that the Massi correspondence must have started well before the end of 1669. That part, which is now lost or unidentified, may well have begun as early as 1662, as implied in letter no. 169 of 1673 in which Massi mentions that he has been in JF's service for eleven years. It is possible that Massi had already been secretary to the Hannover dukes during the last years of the reign of JF's father, while his acquaintance with JF must date from one of his first trips to Venice before he inherited the duchy.
3. Massi, [13 December 1669], no. 627, fol. 152 (Rosand I, 203, 440). This is a short, undated note appended to the previous letter concerning the death of Pope Glemente IX and the financial difficulties of an employee, "Aurelio nostro" (our Aurelia) . (26)
4. Dolfin, 26 December 1669, no. 625, fols. 347-48 (Rosand I, 237, 440; Vavoulis, 19, 33-34). Dolfin reports on the success of the premiere of his opera Ermengarda regina de' Longobardi set to music by Sartorio. Interestingly, he mentions that, as JF did not accept the dedication of the libretto, he decided to leave it without one (as indeed can be seen today in the surviving libretto).
5. Dolfin, 3 January 1669 [i.e., 16703, (27) no. 625, fols. 349. Dolfin discusses the circulation of the keys of JF's box at the SS. Giovanni e Paolo theater and the people who have occupied it for the four representations so far of the new opera (Ermengarda).
6. Massi, 3 January 1669 [i.e., 16701, (28) no. 627, fol. 153. About colonello Pallante's imminent return back to Hannover and the recent arrival in Venice of JF's brother, Ernst August.
7. Massi, 10 January 1669 [i.e., 16701, (29) no. 627, fols. 154-55. About how the Venetian authorities were keen to give Ernst August an official welcome, and his refusal due to the incognito character of his visit.
8. Massi, 24 January 1669 [i.e., 1670], (30) no. 627, fols. 156-57. Various political news and a brief report on Ernst August's sojourn in Venice.
9. Massi, 30 January 1669 [i.e., 1670], (31) no. 627, fol. 158. The prince of Denmark (nephew of JF's) has arrived in Venice for the season which is progressing well: "qui son aperti tutti li teatri, belle opere, e belle come-die" (all the theaters are open here, great operas and great comedies).
10. Dolfin, 5 February 1669 [i.e., 1670], (32) no. 625, fols. 343-46. A long discussion about JF's palchi (opera boxes) in the various theaters of the city. It seems that there was fierce competition as to who would be given access to them from among JF's Venetian friends and his brother and nephew who were also in Venice.
11. Massi, 7 February 1670, no. 627, fols. 159-60. Mostly about the prince of Denmark's sojourn in Venice and his enjoying the various passatempi (pastimes) of the city in the company of Massi and Dolfin.
12. Massi, 14 February 1670, no. 627, fols. 161-62. About JF's political and military dealings with Venice. Massi also accompanied Ernst August to hear the new opera at the S. Luca theater.
13. Massi, 4 April 1670, no. 627, fols. 163-64. Mostly about the war between Venice and the Turks.
14. Massi, 25 April 1670, no. 627, fol. 165. A brief note with no musical content.
15. Beregan, 3 May 1670, no. 624, fol. 146. About the election of the new pope, Clemente X.
16. Beregan, May 1670, (33) no. 624, fols. 148-49. About the education of Beregan's son, Giovanni Battista Beregan.
17. Massi, 9 May 1670, no. 627, fols. 166-67. Mostly about the newly-elected pope and his choice of government. It is the start of the Ascension season in Venice and we have the first mention by Massi of the cattar musica (literally "capture music"), the open-air concerts given by singers in late spring and summer which the Venetians attended in their gondolas.
18. Massi, 23 May 1670, no. 627, fol. 168. About the imminent peace with the Turks. The Ascension season continues but without mascare (mask-wearing), prohibited due to the political situation. First of many serious, semiserious, or even hilarious, pieces of advice given to JF through the years by Dolfin, Massi, and Beregan about how to conceive a male heir (in the end JF and his wife had four daughters).
19. Massi, 30 May 1670, no. 627, fols. 170-71 (Vavoulis, 22). More on the peace with the Turks. Also mention that Dolfin and Beregan are vying with each other to write the best libretto.
20. Massi, 6 June 1670, no. 627, fols. 172-73. Political news and more baby advice. First substantial mention of L'Iride (contessa Gambara-Morosini), a Venetian noblewoman who appears frequently in the letters. She seems to have been a special person and a close friend of both Massi and JF. There is also mention in the letter of Dolfin's protege, the young soprano Lucrezia, who was resident in his family house. (34) Also. first mention of Massi's son, Antonio Felice Massi ("Tonino"), another frequent name in the correspondence.
21. Massi, 12 June 1670, no. 627, fols. 174-75. News about Rome, the Turks, and some local affairs.
22. Massi, 21 June 1670, no. 627, fol. 176. Brief letter about the illness of Massi's wife, Madalena Massi, and some political news.
23. Massi, 28 June 1670, no. 627, fols. 177-78. Illness of Madalena Massi; Venetian and foreign political news.
24. Beregan, July 1670, (35) no. 624, fol. 150. About his son, Giovanni Battista Beregan.
25. Massi, 4 July 1670, no. 627, fols. 179-80. About JF's affairs in Venice plus a minor incident involving an unnamed theorbo player who was in service in Hannover. Also, an interesting description of an evening serenata (serenade).
26. Massi, 11 July 1670, no. 627, fols. 181-82. Various foreign and local news not related to music.
27. Massi, 18 July 1670, no. 627, fols. 183-84. About the Turkish occupation of Candia in Crete, and the financial consequences of the conflict between Venice and the Ottoman Empire.
28. Massi, 24 July 1670, no. 627, fols. 185-86. News about the Turks. Venice is generally quiet as most of the nobility are away at their villas on the mainland.
29. Beregan, 24 July 1670, no. 624, fol. 151. About the education of Beregan's son, Giovanni Battista.
30. Massi, 1 August 1670, no. 627, fols. 187-88. Turks, financial news, and some news from Rome.
31. Massi, 8 August 1670, no. 627, fols. 189-90. About the death of monsignor di Sciale who lived in Venice in exile from the French court; a duel between cavaliere Grimaldi and marchese Porroni without any casualties; a suicide of two society lovers; and a report on the Turkish front.
32. Massi, 15 August 1670, no. 627, fols. 191-92. Various local and political news.
33. Massi, 20 August 1670, no. 627, fols. 197-98 (Vavoulis, 22). Writing in mid-August, Massi complains that the "world is lazy" and that there is no news to report. In an attempt to entice JF to visit Venice in winter, he writes that some of the best singers in Europe have been booked for the coming season including the sopranos Vicenza Giulia Masotti ("Giulia Romana"), Lucrezia Dolfin, Vicenzino da Firenze, Giuseppino di Baviera, Alessandro da Livorno, the tenor Biancucci, and the bass Fusari. He also announces that there will probably be a new opera by Beregan.
34. Massi, 21 August 1670, no. 627, fols. 195-96, 194 (36) (Rosand I, 236- 37, 440). Due to a paucity of news to report, Massi entertains JF with idle thoughts and witty comments revealing considerable felicity in his...
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