edited by Christian Speck, Bologna, Ut Orpheus Edizioni, 2005 [Opera Omnia – Vol. I], ISMN: 979-0-2153-1004-9, ISBN: 978-88-8109-454-7.
Contents: Recitativo e Aria accademica con violini, viola e basso G 544 “Sì, veramente io deggio” – “Ah non lasciarmi, no”/ Aria accademica con violini, viola e basso G 545 “Se non ti moro allato”/ Aria accademica con violini, viola e basso G 546 “Deh, respirar lasciatemi”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, viola e basso G 547 “Caro, son tua così”/ Recitativo e Aria accademica con violini, oboi, viola, corni e basso G 548 “Misera, dove son!” – “Ah! non son io che parlo”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, corni, viola e basso G 549 “Care luci, che regnate”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, corni, viola e basso G 550 “Infelice invan mi lagno”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, fagotti e basso G 551 “Numi, se giusti siete”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, corni, viola e basso G 552 “Caro padre, a me non dei”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, corni, viola e basso G 553 “Ah! che nel dirti addio”/ Recitativo e Aria accademica con violini, oboi a solo, viola e basso G 554 “Di giudice severo” – “Per quel paterno amplesso”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, corni, viola e basso G 555 “Tu di saper procura”/ Aria accademica con violini, flauti, viola e basso G 556 “Mi dona, mi rende”/ Aria accademica con violini, oboi, corni, violetta, violoncello obbligato e basso G 557 “Se d’un amor tiranno”/ Aria accademica con violini, flauti, viola e basso G 558 “Tornate sereni”/ Duetto accademico con violini, oboi, corni, viola e basso G 559 “La destra ti chiedo”.
The volume contains 16 compositions by Boccherini for solo voice and orchestra in different scorings, consisting of 15 concert arias and a duet. Almost all works have in common that they are based on texts from opera libretti by Pietro Metastasio. The entire number and history of the genesis of Boccherini’s concert arias are in the dark, and no evidence of their performances has yet come to light. Boccherini combined twelve of his compositions for solo voice and orchestra under the name “12 Arie accademiche” into one unit, which he sold to the Parisian music publisher Ignaz Pleyel on 18 August 1797 through an intermediary in Madrid.
The twelve concert arias Boccherini intended to print, however, remained unpublished until the 20th century, as did his other concert arias. Most of the works edited in this volume are preserved in only one source. Nevertheless, the source basis is to be considered reliable, as it contains not only one autograph score, but also twelve copies of the scores of the compositions G 545-555 and G 559, which – as we know today – were made by a copyist from Boccherini’s immediate circle. Three copies in score of the arias G 549, 550 and 552 in Santiago de Compostela in Spain also belong to the sources.
The Critical Report proves that these three sources can be identified as plagiarisms by the Spanish composer Melchor López Jiménez (1759-1822) from the years 1793 and 1794, respectively. The introduction to the volume offers a classification of the edited works in the context of Boccherini’s compositional oeuvre and an analytical view with regard to a typology of formal structures.
