Background Information

The Festa Teatrale L'Huomo was performed on 19 June 1754 on the occasion of a visit by Frederick II to the Bayreuth court. The French original for the libretto, L'Homme, was written by the Margravine of Bayreuth herself and translated into Italian for the opera by the Bayreuth court poet Luigi Stampiglia. The setting was done by the Munich Vice-Kapellmeister Andrea Bernasconi.
Margravine Wilhelmine, the sister of the Prussian king, had a decisive influence on Bayreuth's culture through her inclination and fondness for music. Six years after her marriage to Margrave Friedrich of Bayreuth, the latter left Wilhelmine in charge of the Bayreuth court music. With the aim of establishing a Bayreuth court opera, Wilhelmine initially had operas staged in the Redoutenhaus; after the Margravial Opera House opened in 1748, it became the venue for musical theatre. In addition to the opera house, Margrave Friedrich also had the Hermitage, a park with a castle on the outskirts of Bayreuth, built for Wilhelmine, which could well have been the inspiration for Wilhelmine's natural settings in L'Homme and L'Huomo.
In terms of content, however, it is not only the natural settings that catch the eye in L'Huomo, but also the visualised dualism of good and evil according to the teachings of Zoroastre - as Wilhelmine herself notes in the preface to the libretto. She contrasts the good spirit, reason and virtues with an evil spirit, lust, inconstancy and the vices of man. It is not possible to be part of both, the souls Animia and Anemone have to decide. Alongside this are the signs and procedures of the Enlightenment movement. The souls go through a moralising education in which they themselves come to the realisation that they should choose the good side. But symbolically, the libretto also notes scene details such as a rising sun and disappearing clouds - very clear signs of the Enlightenment.
In addition to the allegorical representation of reason and good and evil, there is also speculation that Wilhelmine was also using the Festa Teatrale to show off her husband's goings-on, which was probably an open secret at court, thus allowing herself an ironic and sarcastic commentary.