Piramo e Tisbe

About

Promised to each other since childhood, two young lovers of Babylon, Piramo (Pyramus) and Tisbe (Thisbe), learn that their marriage has been forbidden by Tisbe’s father who, having been insulted by public opinion generated by a dispute between their families, orders his daughter to marry another man. The lovers decide to flee. That night, Tisbe anxiously awaits her lover Piramo for their meeting in nearby woods. Conspicuously different from any other opera by Hasse, PIRAMO E TISBE uses more accompagnato than semplice recitative and many through-composed arias and duets. In correspondence with a Venetian friend, Hasse confessed: “I place it among the best works I have written; … while composing I always felt inspiration … and wish to close my already too-long theatrical career with this opera.” (19 November 1768)