Griselda e Atalia: exempla femminili di vizi e di virtù nel teatro musicale di Apostolo Zeno

This dissertation studies two libretti of Apostolo Zeno: the opera «Griselda» (Venice, 1701) and the oratorio «Joaz» (Vienna, 1726) along with the music composed by Albinoni, Predieri, Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Orlandini, Alessandro Scarlatti, Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, Vivaldi, Caldara and Benedetto Marcello. A systematic examination of libretti, scores, textual revisions, contemporary chronicles and documents sheds new light on the genesis of these works, among which Vivaldi's «Griselda», based on Goldoni's revision, presents a special interest. Moreover, the thesis reconsiders Zeno's libretto reform in the light of his unpublished correspondence, so far neglected by musicological studies. These documents reveal for the first time Zeno's opinions on composers such as Albinoni, Porta, Orlandini, Carapella, Caldara, Fux, and librettists such as Noris, Silvani, Salvi, Frigimelica Roberti, Conti, Rolli, Stampiglia and Metastasio.