Il mondo della luna
| Il mondo della luna | |
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| Opera by Joseph Haydn | |
Portrait of the composer by Thomas Hardy, in 1791
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| Description | opera buffa |
| Translation | The World on the Moon |
| Librettist | Carlo Goldoni |
| Language | Italian |
| Premiere | 3 August 1777 Eszterháza |
Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon), Hob. 28/7, is an opera buffa by Joseph Haydn with a libretto written by Carlo Goldoni in 1750, first performed at Eszterháza, Hungary, on 3 August 1777. Goldoni's libretto had previously been set by six other composers,first by the composer Baldassare Galuppi and performed in Venice in the carnival of 1750. It was then adapted for Haydn's version of the opera, which would be performed during the wedding celebrations of Count Nikolaus Esterházy, the younger son of Haydn's patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, and the Countess Maria Anna Wissenwolf. It is sometimes performed as a singspiel under its German title Die Welt auf dem Monde.
Haydn's and others' settings of Goldoni's libretto represent perhaps some of the earliest examples of science fiction in 18th-century opera.
The roles of Ecclitico and Lisetta were written for Guglielmo Jermoli and his wife Maria Jermoli, but they left Eszterháza shortly before the premiere.
The opera is scored for two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings, and continuo.
A terrace in the house of the bogus astronomer Ecclitico; an observatory tower with a telescope. A starlit night, with full moon
Ecclitico and his four students sing a hymn to the moon, and Ecclitico boasts of how he can dupe the foolish – such as Buonafede, who now appears. Buonafede does not have a clue what the moon is. Ecclitico explains to him that through his powerful telescope he will be able to see the moon's transparent surface all the way through the houses and able to spy on ladies as they undress before going to bed. Buonafede then attempts to view the moon through Ecclitico's telescope while Ecclitico's servants move caricatures in front of the telescope's lens. The trick works: Buonafede describes what he thinks he has seen: a very beautiful young girl caressing an old man, a husband ready to punish his wife for her infidelity, and a man who completely dominates his female lover. He rewards Ecclitico with some coins and leaves.
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