Pimpinone oder Die ungleiche Heirat

Telemann had been the director of the Hamburg Opera House since 1722 and his chamber opera Pimpione was premiered at this location in 1725. The libretto was based on a text which Albinoni had already utilised for a short opera in 1708: Vespetta is searching for a new employer – he should be rich and not be adverse to a potential marriage. Pimpione is searching for a new maid – she should be pretty and not as common as all the others. As soon as the two meet, he is consumed by love, but she pokes fun at him and believes she can easily twist him around her little finger. She repeatedly threatens to leave her position and he is forced to make successive concessions to keep her in his employ. He ultimately marries her, but she has hardly become his spouse before she begins to assert her own will, pursues frivolous activities and makes Pimpione’s life an eternal torment.