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On the way to Parnassus
or
A secrete conquest of the experts in Italian music


Orazio Vecchi
"L'Amfiparnaso"

Madrigal commedia dell'arte


With the fragments of works of

Respighi, Verdi, Di Capua, Vivaldi, Cutugno, Rossini,
Gladkov, Boccherini, Conte, Giordano, Cottrau,
Leoncavallo, Tosti, Bellini, Animuccia,

Orazio Vecchi (1550-1605) was a canon and archdeacon in Corrego. Nevertheless, he organized fancy-dress parties in Modern, composed comic music, led active life and could use a dagger or a knife when necessary. Vecchi was three times deprived of his rank, and survived only due to his wide-spread fame and princes' protection.

The first night of the comedy "L'Amfiparnaso" was in 1594 in Modern (six years before the advent of opera). "L'Amfiparnaso" was actually an early version of a three-act comic opera.

The madrigal comedy "L'Amfiparnaso" follows theatrical traditions of the Italian commedia dell'arte. Each protagonist is characterized by a five-voice madrigal, which is not more unnatural than representation of one persons' thoughts and feelings by means of numerous orchestral instruments.

Vecchi's innovation caused a row. He wrote to his critics, "Everything new faces accusations and insults... It is unavoidable: the highest mountains are most likely to be struck by lightning."

An inscription on Vecchi's grave boldly states that "he was such a great musician and poet that he easily left behind all geniuses of all times" and that "he was the first to combine music with comedy".

Production - M. Korobov
Later contribution - S. Knyazhanskiy, D. Sherstennikov, A. Kogan, I. Dolgikh

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