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Venus and Adonis is an opera in three acts and a prologue by the English Baroque composer John Blow, composed c.1683. It was written for the court of King Charles II at either London or Windsor. It is considered by some to be either a semi-opera or a masque, but The New Grove names it as the earliest surviving English opera. The author of the libretto is unknown, but is surmised to have been by Aphra Behn due to the feminist nature of the text, and that she later worked with Blow on the play The Lucky Chance. The story is based on the Classical myth of Venus and Adonis, which was also the basis for Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis, as well as Ovid's poem of the same name in his Metamorphoses.

Cast

Cupid-Soprano
Venus-Soprano
Adonis-Baritone
Shepherd-Alto or Countertenor
Shepherdess-Soprano
Huntsman-Alto or Countertenor
Chorus, acting variously as Cupids, shepherds and shepherdesses, huntsmen, and courtiers.

Music

In overall form the opera owes much to French operas of the period, especially those of Jean-Baptiste Lully, whom Charles II would have encountered while in exile in the court of Louis XIV. The French elements in the opera are the French overture, the Prologue which refers in scarcely veiled terms to the court for which it was written, and also includes many dances popular at the time. The piece is a clear example for Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas, both in structure and the use of the chorus. The piece is remarkable for the period because of its through-composed nature; there are no clear arias or set pieces, but the music continues throughout the piece, using recitative to further the plot.

Libretto

The author of the libretto is not known. The traditional story is as follows: Venus is with her son Cupid, and he accidentally pierces her with one of his arrows. The next person Venus sees is the handsome youth Adonis, with whom she immediately falls in love. He is a hunter, and she decides that in order to be with him, she will take on the form of the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. Eventually she warns Adonis of the danger of hunting the wild boar, but he does not heed the warning, and is gored to death by the boar. In Blow's version, Venus encourages Adonis to go hunting, despite his protestations:

Adonis:Adonis will not hunt today:
I have already caught the noblest prey.
Venus:No, my shepherd haste away:
Absence kindles new desire,
I would not have my lover tire.

This is reminiscent of the scene in Dido and Aeneas when Dido rebuffs Aeneas' offer to stay with her. In addition to this major difference in Adonis' motivation, Blow's version also includes the addition of a number of comic scenes with Cupid, including the spelling lesson he gives to the young cupids, and his opinion that almost no one in the court is faithful, an especially pungent critique given that it is believed that Cupid was played by Lady Mary Tudor, then around 10 yrs. old and Charles II's illegitimate daughter, and Venus by Mary (Moll) Davies, the king's former mistress.

Recordings

"John Blow:Venus and Adonis" (recorded 1987), directed by Charles Medlam, on Harmonia Mundi (1901276), with Nancy Argenta (Venus), Lynne Dawson (cupid), Stephen Varcoe (Adonis), and London Baroque.

"Venus and Adonis" (recorded 1999), directed by René Jacobs, on Harmonia Mundi (901684), with Maria Cristina Kiehr (Venus), Robin Blaze (Cupid), John Bowen, Jonathan Brown, Gerald Finley, Christopher Josey, Rosemary Joshua, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Reference