In the legacy of Georg Philipp Telemann, one of the most prominent representatives of the German Baroque, there are many small operas called "intermezzo". However, today the most successful opera on the stages of theaters around the world is Pimpinone, or Unequal Marriage.
This comic intermezzo is the only work by which domestic musicians and music lovers can currently judge the operas of the once famous German, and a kind of "calling card" of the composer's entire operatic work.
Telemann was called “a happy rival of I.S. Bach ": he did not have to seek lucrative orders and invitations to positions, the princely courts vied with each other to challenge him. The composer, whose name is not known to everyone today, during his lifetime was famous not only in his homeland, but throughout Europe, from France and Spain to Russia and the Scandinavian countries. In honor of him, even poets composed poems. Here, for example, is an eloquent couplet by Johann Mattheson:
“ Corelli is praised by everyone; Lully at the glory in the temple;
Telemann alone is lifted above the praises » .
One of the secrets of the success of his music lies in the composer's own words:
“He who knows how to be useful to many does better than he who writes for a few. What is written easily suits everyone. Let's stay with it."
This does not mean that Telemann wrote "simply" and for the needs of the public. But striving in art "to reach the very depths", he was very concerned about clarity and accessibility. At the same time, the composer was a great worker and believed that in music, “this inexhaustible science cannot go far without hard work.” In each genre, he was able not only to show high professionalism, but also to say his own, sometimes innovative word.
At the opera house, he was especially successful in comedies. The libretto for the opera "Pimpinone, or Unequal Marriage" was written by P. Pariati for the Italian composer T. Albinoni. And ten years later I.F. Pretorius made a German edition for Telemann.
Intermezzo "Pimpinone" was first performed between the acts of "Tamerlane" by G.F. Handel on September 27, 1725. After the premiere, Telemann's opera was published independently and became a success.
