Echi e silenzi: fortuna e sfortuna dell’Agamennonenel teatro musicale

Abstract

This essay aims to offer some considerations on the reception of Agamemnon in musical theatre. First of all, it will investigate the reasons why the presence of Aeschylus’ tragedy on the operatic stage is so scant, highlighting the reasons for the compositional and thematic choices that have left the drama in silence. Then, through some specific examples, it will analyse the presence of echoes of the Agamemnon since, as a tragedy, it had rarely been a source of a specific libretto. In contrast, the Atreus’ house protagonists have had ample fortune as characters in operas concerning, for example, the sacrifice of Iphigenia and not the Oresteia trilogy. The reflection on the reception of Aeschylus’ tragedy will then allow for advancing some general suggestions on a possible path of investigation within the study of the fortune of the ancient Greek classics in musical theatre.