Il Demetrio (1779) by Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781): a critical edition

Although in recent years scholarly interest and research has increased into the life and works of eighteenth-century Bohemian composer Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781), editions of his compositions, particularly his works for the stage, remain few. This dissertation aims to contribute to this field of research through the preparation of a full-score critical edition of Mysliveček’s opera Il Demetrio, which was commissioned as part of the birthday celebrations for Maria Carolina (1752-1814), Queen of Naples and Sicily, and first performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on August 13, 1779. Il Demetrio is a setting of a libretto by Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782), considered to be one of the most celebrated and venerated poets of his day. Metastasio wrote twenty-seven works of the genre known as dramma per musica, which were set repeatedly by composers throughout the eighteenth century. Il Demetrio was Metastasio’s first libretto to be written in his position of Poeta Cesareo at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI (1685-1740) in Vienna, and was performed as part of festivities to celebrate the Emperor’s name day on November 4, 1731. The musical setting was by Antonio Caldara (1670-1736). The text of this dramma per musica was subsequently set some fifty times between 1731 and 1840 (Neville, ‘Demetrio’, Grove Music Online). The score presented in this thesis is Mysliveček’s second setting of Il Demetrio. His first setting was composed in 1773 and staged at the Teatro Nuovo in Pavia on May 24 of that year. This second setting of Il Demetrio was one of Mysliveček’s last works for the stage, and was his last commission for the Real Teatro di San Carlo. This edition of Il Demetrio aims to add a relatively unknown work to the eighteenth-century operatic repertoire of today, as well as bring to the fore the compositions of a musician who was greatly admired during his lifetime and acclaimed as ‘il Boemo’ by patrons and his contemporaries (notably Mozart) alike.