View source for Medea in Corinto

{{short description|Opera by Simon Mayr}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = Medea in Corinto
| composer = [[Simon Mayr]]
| image = Giuditta Pasta as Medea in Corinth (Mayr).jpg
| image_upright = 1.3
| caption = [[Giuditta Pasta]] in the title role
| librettist = [[Felice Romani]]
| language = Italian
| based_on = [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]] of [[Medea]] 
| premiere_date = {{start date|1813|11|28|df=y}}
| premiere_location =  [[Teatro San Carlo]], Naples
}}

'''''Medea in Corinto''''' (''Medea in Corinth'') is an 1813 [[opera]] in Italian by the composer [[Simon Mayr]]. It takes the form of a ''melodramma tragico'' in two acts. The [[libretto]], by [[Felice Romani]], is based on the [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]] of [[Medea]] and the plays on the theme by [[Euripides]] and [[Pierre Corneille]]. The same subject had formed the basis for [[Luigi Cherubini]]'s famous opera ''[[Médée (Cherubini)|Médée]]'' (1797) which may have had an influence on Mayr's work. ''Medea in Corinto'' was first performed at the [[Teatro San Carlo]] in Naples on 28 November 1813 and was Mayr's greatest theatrical success.

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice type, premiere cast}}
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, 28 November 1813<br />Conductor: Nicola Festa
|-
|Medea
|[[soprano]]
|[[Isabella Colbran]]
|-
|Giasone
|[[tenor]]
|[[Andrea Nozzari]]
|-
|Creonte
|[[bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Michele Benedetti (bass)|Michele Benedetti]]
|-
|Creusa
|soprano
|Teresa Luigia Pontiggia
|-
|Ismene
|soprano
|[[Joaquina Sitches|Joaquína García]]
|-
|Egeo
|tenor
|[[Manuel García (tenor)|Manuel García]]
|-
|Evandro
|tenor
|Raffaele Ferrari
|-
|Tideo
|tenor
|Gaetano Chizzola 
|-
|Medea's son
|mime
|[[Maria Malibran]] (?)
|-
|}

==Synopsis==
===Act 1===
[[Jason]] (Giasone) has rejected his former wife, Medea, in favour of [[Creusa (daughter of Creon)|Creusa]], daughter of King Creon (Creonte) of [[Corinth]]. Creon banishes Medea from the city and she swears revenge. Meanwhile, [[Aegeus|King Aegeus]] (Egeo) of Athens arrives in Corinth. He had been promised Creusa as his bride. Finding he has been rejected, he makes a pact with Medea. As Jason and Creusa are being married in the temple, Medea bursts in with Aegeus's soldiers and a fight breaks out as they attempt to carry off the bride and bridegroom.

===Act 2===
Creon's men have defeated and captured Medea and Aegeus. In prison, Medea uses her magic powers to summon up demons from the underworld. She kills Creusa with a poisoned robe then stabs her own – and Jason's – children to death, before making her escape in a chariot pulled by flying dragons. In despair, Jason attempts suicide in vain.

==Recordings==
* [[Marisa Galvany]], Joan Patenaude, Molly Stark, Allen Cathcart, [[Robert White (tenor)|Robert White]], Thomas Palmer, Clarion Concerts, conducted by Newell Jenkins (Vanguard, 1969)
*[[Leyla Gencer]], [[William Johns]], Gianfranco Casarini, Gianfranco Pastine, [[Cecilia Fusco]], Luigi Paolillo, Ivana Cavallini, Ermanno Lorenzi, [[Teatro San Carlo]] Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by [[Maurizio Arena]] (Myto Records, 1977)
* [[Jane Eaglen]], [[Yvonne Kenny]], [[Bruce Ford (tenor)|Bruce Ford]], [[Raúl Giménez]], [[Alastair Miles|Alistair Miles]], [[Philharmonia Orchestra]], conducted by [[David Parry (conductor)|David Parry]] ([[Opera Rara]], 1997)
* [[Elżbieta Szmytka]], Evelyn Pollock, [[Mark Milhofer]], [[Lawrence Brownlee]], Wojtek Gierlach, Sinfonieorchester & Chorus [[Theater St. Gallen]], conducted by [[David Stern]] (oehms classics, 2010)
* [[Nadja Michael]], [[Ramón Vargas]], [[Alastair Miles]], Alek Shrader, [[Elena Tsallagova]], [[Bavarian State Opera]], conducted by [[Ivor Bolton]], stage directed by [[Hans Neuenfels]] (Arthaus DVD, 2010)

==Sources==
* ''The Viking Opera Guide'' ed. [[Amanda Holden (writer)|Amanda Holden]] (Viking, 1993)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080922011646/http://delteatro.it/dizionario_dell_opera/m/medea_in_corinto.php Del Teatro (in Italian)]
* {{Almanacco|dmy=28-11-1813|match=Medea in Corinto}}

==External links==
* {{IMSLP|work=Medea in Corinto (Mayr, Giovanni Simone)|cname=''Medea in Corinto'' (Mayr)}}

{{Simon Mayr}}
{{Medea}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Opera}}

[[Category:1813 operas]]
[[Category:Italian-language operas]]
[[Category:Libretti by Felice Romani]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Teatro San Carlo]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas based on Medea (Euripides play)]]
[[Category:Operas based on plays]]
[[Category:Operas based on works by Pierre Corneille]]
[[Category:Operas by Simon Mayr]]
[[Category:Operas set in ancient Greece]]