Vivaldi: Catone in Utica
a Metastasian opera’s second edition with an alternative ending
This is a very interesting opera because after the libretto’s first edition was used by Leonardo Vinci, subsequent composers did not follow: it was because the audience hated the tragic ending, and Metastasio decided to amend his libretto to give the story a happy ending.
Being switched to Italian, who is Catone, and where is Utica? A contemporary of Caesar, Cato the Younger was the son and grandson of two Catoes before him. He had always thought there was a traditional ‘Roman’ way of doing things. The militants Pompey and Julius Caesar were the opposite of his ideals, so he mobilized his kinsmen TWICE to stop them from taking power. That didn’t succeed, but in the process, he was given a status almost equivalent to a saint for being insistent of his ideals, even to his death.
In a civil war, he wasn’t planning to start, he was defeated by Caesar, and the real Cato, as in Metastasio’s first libretto, killed himself for failing to bring his old ideals of how the Roman Republic should’ve been back to life. But life was too sad already to put it onstage for people to relive the tragedy, so the audience didn’t receive it well when Leonardo Vinci scored it. So our guy who is now (only) known for writing the ‘Four Seasons’, Vivaldi, wrote his version and put it to stage, and it became a popular subject again.
Besides history, though, we always have some spice in the plot: Cato(ne)’s daughter Marzia and Caesar were smitten with each other, while Pompey’s widow (whose husband was killed by Caesar in the civil war) wanted to take revenge on the lovestruck Caesar. Cato and the widow plotted to assassinate Caesar but failed.
In the end, Cato was pardoned by Caesar (supposedly, the real Cato would hate the thought of that), and Caesar got his daughter’s hands.
While some of the most popular Baroque operas were based on Greek myths, more of the later Baroque operas that extended into Mozartian times were about Roman times, which have slightly more historical basis than the godly mythologies.
One main reason for this discussed in academia was that those were supposed to be real characters than those high gods, who are supposed to be more fictional than mortals (’their ways are higher than our ways’ vibes).
Besides the ‘source’ of the characters and the plots they carry, there is arguably a more cultural side of associating Greek tragedies with a Greco context. Because people want more light-hearted drama, they would prefer serious but not tragic opera.
The third possible reason is that the audiences were becoming increasingly political-minded and hence preferred heroes working at a political backdrop with a strong work ethic, like Cato or Caesar, than those superficial, probably-nonexistent characters.
Like other Metastasian examples, such as Artaserse and La Clemenza di Tito, many of these operas often end with clemency. Throughout the opera, we will see heroes and kings pursued by the bad guys, but of course, as mentioned above, the ice thaws and the conspiracies are thwarted. The heroes conquer the baddies and all other characters to pardon their human mistakes.
Arguably, there are a lot of ethics involved in the drama's attempt to insinuate into the audience qualities typically found in the operatic victors. The story's heroes usually have some qualities that would make them overwhelmingly likable over the others, like Arbace’s loyalty to his king in Artaserse or Cato’s stoicism even in the face of death in Catone in Utica.
However, we can see some traits of Greek drama that are still preserved in operas since they were invented and towards the present day, and it is not like the Greek construct of a dramatic plot was being eliminated all along. We are always talking about how the plot thickens with all the romantic ties popping up all over the place, and that is exactly how the drama is stirred up.
Now, for lovers of (genuine) history, it is quite easy to follow through historical dramas through the typical vein. But for the general audience — even for those upperclassmen who were supposed to be well-educated since birth — they like the plot with spice. It is understandable, considering how even Shakespeare’s supposedly more historically based plays have romantic elements that may or may not be made up embedded in them to stir tension up and keep our audiences interested. And because romance always comes with competitors, more characters can be introduced, and the staging would be more fun!
Meanwhile, the competitors themselves can have another purpose: they act as contrasts to the heroes. Sometimes, they might be a compliment, like how Artaserse believed his friend Arbace didn’t kill his dad Serse throughout the story and how Arbace stayed loyal to his king-friend Artaserse even when his life was in danger. But sometimes, it could be a not-so-positive contrast: Caesar’s willingness to maintain peace with Cato conflicted with Cato’s discontent over his character. Cato even went as far as to die not to beg pardon. While this might be honourable to some, historians that studied Cato (the real one) found him quite insufferable with his great stubbornness and projected ‘stoicism’.
