Thaleia Ensemble - Maria Antonia e Teresa, o il trionfo delle donne (2023)

Maria Antonia Walpurgis Symphorosa was born on July 18, 1724 at the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, the eldest daughter of Prince Elector of Bavaria Charles Albert and Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria.
His position and the attitude of his august parents secured him an education of an exceptional level, especially in the artistic field: in poetry, painting and, above all, in music, the daily passion of the Munich court, which favored the Italian style in particular.
His birth was celebrated with a performance of the opera Amadis di Grecia by Pietro Torri. Like other princesses of her generation, she was able to count on renowned composers for her musical education. If Maria Theresa of Austria (born seven years before him) studied with Gottlieb Muffat and her near-contemporary Anna Amalia of Prussia (sister of Frederick the Great) with Johann Philipp Kirnberger, Maria Antonia had as teachers Giovanni Battista Ferrandini and Giovanni Porta.
In 1747, a double wedding afforded the Bavarian court the opportunity of performing two operas especially composed for the occasion. Johann Adolf Hasse’s La Spartana Generosa and Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Le nozze d’Ercole e d’Ebe celebrated the union of Mary Antonia and her brother Maximilian Joseph with Frederick Christian of Saxony and her sister Mary Anne, respectively. Maria Antonia moved to Dresden, taking with her a whole library of music, and continued not only composing, under the direction of Nicolò Porpora and Johann Adolf Hasse, but also acting as a singer and harpsichordist in the court theatres, performing her own pieces and others. There is no doubt that music was his true vocation.
Among his works are the operas Talestri, Regina delle Amazzoni and Il trionfo della fedeltà and numerous chamber compositions, among which are the Arie performed here.
Maria Antonia signed as ETPA, that is, Ermelinda Talea Pastorella Arcade. Like her, her husband, Frederick Christian, at the time of the wedding heir to the Electorate of Saxony, had entered the prestigious Roman Academy. The Arcadian name of the prince was Lusazio Argireo. The princess was singularly fortunate in marriage. Although theirs was obviously a concerted union, Federico Cristiano and María Antonia shared the great passions of the century and made their court a center of cultural activity.
Federico Cristiano himself represents an early connection between María Antonia and Teresa Agnesi, the other composer featured on this CD. During his grand tour through Italy in 1738/39, traveling incognito under the name of Count of Lusatia, he stopped for a few days in Milan, where he met the noble sisters Agnesi on a memorable evening.
He notably appreciated the philosophical and mathematical knowledge of Maria Gaetana, the elder, and remained "embellished and amazed" by Teresa's musical gifts, ending by declaring that "both did full justice to their famous valia," as the Gazzetta di Milano attests December of 1739 .
Recalling such enthusiasm, it is not surprising that the two sisters, ten years later, dedicated precisely to the Saxon prince the Instituzioni Matematiche (Maria Gaetana) and to the princess the Arie con Istromenti (Teresa), appealing thus to one y’s specific inclinations another.
The response from Dresden was gratifying in the extreme. Federico Cristiano praised “the merit and rare qualities” of Maria Gaetana in a letter signed in person and Maria Antonia addressed Teresa some words, also signed in person.