San Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist / 1675 Stradella / Ansaldi), oratorio

San Giovanni Battista <Italian> / St John the Baptist (1675) is an oratorio by Alessandro Stradella (mus.) and Filippo Acciaiuoli (libr.).

Abstract

The most celebrated of all oratorios of the composer.

John the Baptist goes to the court of Herod Antipas to try to convince him to send away the wife Herodias and to renounce worldly pleasures and his lascivious life. Naturally Herodias and her daughter Salome manage to convince Herod to send Giovanni to prison. Then the libretto follows the New Testament story of the death of John the Baptist. When Herod offers to give Salome whatever she asks, in gratitude for having danced so exotically for him at the festivities for his birthday, her mother suggests that she ask for Giovanni’s head, which she does. At the end of the libretto, Herod is in doubt as to whether he did the right thing, whereas Salome is overjoyed he killed Giovanni.

Editions, performances

Premiered in Rome, Italy: S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Quaresima 1675.