Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on the European Stage from the Siege of Vienna to the Age of Napoleon

CHAPTER THREE:  The Triumphant Sultana: Suleiman and His Operatic Harem

Joseph Martin Kraus, Soliman II (Stockholm, 1789) 
In this Swedish treatment of The Three Sultanas, a dervish solemnly invokes the Prophet, “O Mahomet” and is joined by a chorus of muftis. 





















Kraus, Soliman II (Stockholm 1789)
The choral finale celebrates Suleiman and Roxelana, “Eyuvallah, Eyuvallah!”— with Janissary percussion:













 










Johann Adolph Hasse, Solimano (Dresden 1753)

The opera was set to Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca’s Italian libretto.
Sultan Suleiman’s jealousy was aroused when he saw his son Selim making his entrance as a victorious hero, returning from the Ottoman-Persian war in a procession of camels and elephants, accompanied by a celebratory Janissary march and chorus:



















Viva il prode, viva il forte, 
Della Persia domator. 
(Long live the brave one, long live the strong one,
the tamer of Persia.)