Maria Clementina Sobieska became known in Rome, between 1719 and 1735, as a devotee of music, especially opera, but also as a patron and organiser of musical concerts at the Palazzo del Re. She lived in this Roman residence with her husband James III Stuart, pretender to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. We know from surviving information that the most outstanding artists active in the Eternal City at the time took part in the concerts she organised.

Maria Klementina was the daughter of Prince James Sobieski and Jadwiga Elisabeth von Pfalz-Neuburg, granddaughter of the Polish King John III Sobieski and Maria Kazimiera. Through her mother, she was related to many European courts; her godfather was Pope Clement XI himself. When born in 1688, James III Stuart, son of King James II Stuart and Mary of Modena, deposed during the Glorious Revolution (1688) and known as the Pretender [Pretender to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland, James III spent his childhood and youth in France, but after the death of Louis XIV and a change in French politics, he was forced to leave France. He stayed briefly in Avignon before settling in Italy, first in Urbino and then in Rome, and also lived briefly in Bologna. From Rome, Stuart the Catholic attempted unsuccessfully to return to the English throne], and his partisans decided that it was high time to find him a wife, the search for a suitable candidate began. To this end, Stuart chose a trusted courtier, Charles Wogan, and sent him on a tour of European courts. In the carnival of 1718, Wogan visited Olawa in Silesia, where the Sobieski family resided. Of the various princesses that Jacob's courtier had the opportunity to meet during his travels, Clementine captivated him the most - she impressed him with her beauty, behaviour, upbringing, colligations and potential dowry. When, after prolonged and rather complicated negotiations involving numerous spies, the wedding contract was finally signed, in the autumn of 1718 the young Sobieska, with her mother and a small court, set off for Italy, where her future spouse was residing. Jacob's wedding understandably conflicted with the political plans of King George I of Great Britain, who had forced Emperor Charles VI to imprison Clementine in a fortress in Innsbruck. Although this act aroused surprise and indignation throughout Europe, the Emperor remained deaf to the pleas sent in his direction for the royal's release [It is worth recalling that on her mother's side Clementine was related to the imperial house. Hedwig Elisabeth von Pfalz-Neuburg's sister was Empress Eleonora Magdalena von Pfalz-Neuburg, mother of two future emperors, Joseph I and Charles VI, important to Clementine's history]. Then the clever and courageous Wogan decided to free Clementine. At night, dressed as a servant, unnoticed by the guards, Sobieska left the castle. Outside, the devoted Wogan was waiting for her. In an intimate circle of trusted courtiers, often in difficult and tiring conditions, disguised as a man, she walked swiftly towards the borders of the Church State, where she could feel safe.

All of Europe was talking about Clementine's daring escape; panegyrics were written in her honour, celebrating her courage and fortitude and comparing her to her great grandfather John III; descriptions of her escape were printed, and numerous medals bearing her likeness were minted. Soon after Clementine's arrival in Bologna, the young couple's wedding per procura took place on 9 May 1719. Shortly afterwards, Maria Clementina arrived in Rome, where she was greeted like a true queen: "she [Maria Clementina] went to visit the Capitol, where she was received with the sound of trumpets and drums and with all the honours that are practised for crowned heads. The same happened when she visited, accompanied by Cardinal Gualtieri, the English College, where she was served like a queen". The actual wedding ceremony, however, took place on 2 September in Montefiascone, a small town near Rome. The newly married couple took up residence in the Eternal City at the Palazzo del Re, a residence granted to them by Pope Clement XI. Although the couple existed in the difficult circumstances of rulers without a crown, the Romans and subsequent popes treated them with the honours due to legitimate rulers, titling her Queen of England (Regina d'Inghilterra) and him King of England (Re d'Inghilterra).

From the moment she left Olawa, Maria Klementina regularly wrote letters to her father, James Sobieski. Her correspondence amounts to more than 500 letters and covers the years 1719-1726. The first letters show the mutual fascination of the spouses. He, shortly after their marriage, in a letter to his father-in-law Jakub Sobieski confessed: "I can confess without flattery that the more I know her, the happier I am to have her". She described him with undisguised delight that he was slim, cheerful, sings well and speaks several languages, adding: "As far as I'm concerned, I'm the happiest in the world, [...] and it really seems as if heaven itself destined us one for the other". Their correspondence shows that they felt comfortable in each other's company, liked each other, were curious about each other, and had common goals. Their families shared a similar experience - the loss of the crown. James lived deprived of the throne as a result of his father's overthrow, Clementine was the granddaughter of the Polish King John III, whose family lost the crown after his death and found themselves in a rather peculiar and difficult situation, with a strong sense of loss.

During this initial period, however, Clementine's happiness was seriously disturbed by two issues. The first concerned the situation of her sisters who remained in Silesia. She was very attached to them, felt responsible for them, wished them marital happiness and, as she was the youngest among them, felt a powerful remorse for being the first to experience the marital state. "Happiest in the world, I wish with all my heart that my dear sisters will be as happy as I am, in their marriages." When further matrimonial plans failed, already later, in a letter dated 8 May 1723, Clementine wrote to her father: "it is a mortal grief to me not to see them married, I ask your forgiveness for allowing myself such freedom in tormenting you so often with this subject". The second issue concerned the father himself. After Maria Clementina fled Innsbruck and married James Stuart, James Sobieski was forced by Emperor Charles VI to leave Olawa. The abuse he suffered, the wandering life he led for the next two and a half years, illnesses and various minor indispositions worried Clementine greatly. That is why she did not let her father know for so long that something was going wrong in her marriage.

At the end of 1720, Clementine gave birth to her first son. This joyful news was celebrated lavishly in Rome. James also praised Clementine to her father for getting better and better at English, adding that soon she would not have to surround herself with German servants. "The Queen is improving in English, and I hope she will make even more progress, so that she will no longer need German servants by her side, as one has married, another does not want to stay and the third cannot serve herself, as she knows no other language but German." From 1722 onwards, however, a new - sad - tone emerged in Clementine's letters. Unexpectedly, she wrote that messages from her father were the only consolation in her life ('lunique consolation que jay dan ce monde'), that she hoped she would still have the opportunity to throw herself at his feet before his death, began to write of herself 'pouvre Clementine' (poor Clementine), and several times refers to herself as 'vielle mere' (old mother). And although she delights in her son, in every letter assuring his father that the child is well, one gets the impression that maternal love has not filled the need for closeness that marriage did not give her, has not removed the longing for family, has not succeeded in making her happy. This is why it was with such great enthusiasm that Clementina received the news in the same year of the planned arrival in Rome of her eldest sister Maria Kazimiera [After her return to Poland, the royal had difficulty adjusting to life at the small court, she had never settled here for good, so she looked with hope at the possibility of going to Rome, even to a convent, although she did not feel a vocation to the religious life]. She wrote: "it would be too great a consolation for me, so I redouble my petitions to this end, hoping that the Lord will give me this satisfaction one day". She hoped for a soulmate next door, but James, as we learn from one of his letters written to James Sobieski, was against such a solution, arguing that the Stuarts could not be sure of their position in Rome, their residence being temporary, and therefore unable to give Maria Kazimiera proper care.

It is only in an undated letter, the contents of which suggest that it may have been written in 1724 or early 1725, that Mary Clementine's true cry of despair appears: "I think, my very dear father, that you will be surprised to learn that I am about to throw myself at your feet and implore you in the name of God not to abandon me and to come as soon as possible to visit me if you wish me to live, since your presence is a contingency for me". Clementine begged her father to come to Rome in secret if he still wanted to see her among the living. The pretext for his journey was to be provided by the Jubilee year (1725), which always drew crowds of pilgrims to Rome. She also asked her father to burn her letters. It seems that she felt not only lonely and unhappy, but also controlled and perhaps even persecuted. Jakub Sobieski, however, did not come to Rome. Perhaps if he had done so, Clementine would not have chosen to abandon her husband and children?

Events unfolded as follows: In March 1725, Clementine gave birth to her longed-for second son, Prince Henri. As late as September, she and her husband attended festivities in Rome on the occasion of the marriage of King Louis XV of France to Maria Leszczyńska, who came from Poland. For example, she described to her father with approval the performance of a cantata at the home of Cardinal Polignac, the French ambassador. A month and a half later, on 17 November, she sent her father the first letter written from the convent of St Cecilia - S. Cecilia in Trastevere. She began it with the following words:

. I do not doubt at all, my very dear Father, that you will not be very surprised and truly touched to learn of the terrible decision I have taken in moving away to a convent [...] you know me well [...] that I would never have taken such a step if I had not been forced to do so.

Clementine explained the reasons for her decision, this 'terrible resolution' or 'terrible catastrophe' as she called it, pointing out that she had suffered much in her marriage. In order to please the king and live in harmony with him, she pretended, wishing to communicate with the people around him. In vain, however, as "these people" have - in her opinion - neither honour, nor religion, nor conscience. This would still have been bearable, but they dared to take her son away from the woman who had cared for him up to that point, in order to place him in the hands of a Protestant tutor. With this decision came another, even more difficult for Clementine to bear. She was deprived of the opportunity to be with her child in private. They were always to be accompanied by a tutor chosen by James, namely James Murray. Sobieska felt that she had been deprived of her fundamental right as a mother, i.e. the ability to see her own child freely, which, she wrote, was the only consolation in her life. The king remained deaf to her pleas, arguing that he himself wanted to be the master of his children and family ('quil voulait étre le maitre des ses enfants et de sa famille'). Clementine wrote with conviction that such behaviour by James was the result of the enormous influence his favourites had over the king. However, she lost patience completely when the king left her bedroom for the first time, after she refused Madame Hay entry to her chamber.

Until their famous separation, which lasted more than a year, despite the many differences that became apparent during their life together, one element united the couple regardless of the atmosphere between them - a passion for music and opera in particular. Together with his wife, James III patronised one of the most elegant, largest opera houses in Rome - the Teatro d'Alibert, also known as the Teatro delle Dame. The King was the only one to rent as many as three boxes here, symbolising the three kingdoms he was to rule: England, Ireland and Scotland. To both him and Maria Clementina, the theatre managers dedicated several operas. In the case of Sobieska, these were:

"Faramondo", lib. A. Zeno, mus. F. Gasparini, 1720
"Eumene", lib. A. Zeno, music by N. Porpora, 1721
"Flavio Anicio Olibrio", lib. A. Zeno, P. Pariati, music by N. Porpora, 1722
"Adelaide", lib. A. Salvi, mus. N. Porpora, 1723
"Scipione", lib. A. Zeno, mus. L. A. Predieri, 1724
"Il Valdemaro", lib. A. Zeno, music by D. Sarro, 1726
"Siroe Re di Persia", lib. P. Metastasio, music by N. Porpora, 1727
"Artaserse", lib. P. Metastasio, mus. L. Vinci, 1730 (Teatro delle Dame) [ The issue of music, including operas dedicated to Maria Clementina Sobieska in Rome and the political context of these works will be the subject of a more extensive work prepared by the author of this book]

Using the example of the operas dedicated to Maria Clementina, it can be said that they are characterised by certain common features. They all belong to the group of historical librettos and present the motif of a dethroned king, the usurpation of the throne and the restoration of the throne to the rightful ruler or ruler. Let us look at one of them in more detail - 'Adelaide'.

'Adelaide' premiered on 23 January 1723. The work was highly acclaimed by the public. One Englishman, making his grand tour of Italy, Richard Rawlinson, praised the libretto and the performance of the opera: "that night I went to the Aliberti Theatre where the tragedy 'Adelaide' was presented and it was well performed: good words and no less sense". A very enthusiastic reaction under 2 February was published by the 'Gazzetta di Napoli':

"In the evening [Saturday], a new opera entitled 'Ercole sul Termodonte' was presented at the Teatro Capranica and a drama entitled 'Adelaide' at the Teatro d'Alibert, which brought great and widespread acclaim [....] for the music of the famous maestro di cappella Mr Nicola Porpora, a Neapolitan, giving on all occasions in this Alma Città a display of his talent accompanied by a brilliant spirit. What has delighted professional musicians is that in all three operas written by the aforementioned Mr Porpora at the indicated Teatro d'Alibert at different periods, his compositions are most perfect and different one from the other. Almost every evening the Chevalier S. Giorgio and his wife come to hear the said drama not without great pleasure."

The aforementioned Chevalier S. Giorgio is actually James III, and his wife is Maria Clementina. The other two operas praised by the writer are two works dedicated to Sobieski in previous carnivals.

The content of the work is as follows: the Duke Berengario murders Lotaria, Duke of Peacock and also Adelaide's husband. In the aftermath of this act, Berengario usurps the title of King of Italia and Pavia and, to maintain his power, wishes to marry Adelaide to his son Idelbert. Adelaide's consistent resistance, her strength, her dignity in enduring persecution, and the help of Emperor Otto, who offers her freedom and restores her throne, are the main themes of the story.

The Adelaide of the title does not appear for the first time until scene six of Act I. What does she say in her first words?

"Throne of my ancestors,
Legacy famous, on which happy time
With Lotarius I sat;
How much of thy fame
Stolen from thee in my husband the traitor
Ah avenge thee I would."

The composer developed these words as an accompanied recitative, a measure reserved for exceptionally important moments in the plot, a particular emotional tension that needed to be emphasised in a special way. In the understanding of his contemporaries, this was just such a moment. Adelaide recalls her murdered husband, the happy time she spent with him, the kingdom at risk. Her first instinctive desire is revenge. However, she does not linger too long in this feeling, because King Otto of Germany comes to her in secret. He wants her to continue to rule, wishes to ensure her power, and dreams of Adelaide as his wife. In this way, Adelaide gains a protector.

There are many examples in the libretto of firmness, fidelity to self, and lawfulness in Adelaide's attitude. This is most fully expressed by the queen of Pavia in her conversation with Clodomir, Berengaria's messenger (I, 9).

"So proud
Is Berengaria's heart?
The wicked usurper
Wants to accept a generous expression?
Perfidious, gives me
What is not yet taken from me,
Traitor, what is already mine, he sells to me
with my marriage to his son
tries to secure the throne.
It is believed that I poor
I am so wicked and unintelligent
To betray his glory and fame
To summon to his kingdom
The murderer of her husband?
To give my faith
A patricide to a daring offspring?
Go away, return and answer
That Adelaide thinks not
Of a second marriage bed,
Unless desiring to avenge the first:
To have in her husband
The rightful king [...]"

This steadfast attitude will not even be changed by the information that one of Adelaide's subjects, the Duke of Osmond, has given Pavia to Berengaria, thus taking revenge on her for rejecting his love. Adelaide will then explicitly say that 'Heaven is just and I know that it hates tyrants'.

The situation around Adelaide becomes increasingly difficult. Berengario triumphantly enters Pavia to the sound of trumpets, horns, oboes, accompanied by soldiers and the people watching the official welcome of the new king from the windows of the houses. "Long live and rule the happy / Italy's brave king," sings the welcoming chorus. In the following scenes, Adelaide again clashes with her oppressors. Berengario and Matilda constantly threaten her in a bid to force her into submission. She, however, consistently and proudly responds: "Another rock stronger / you must yet overcome before the vanquished / will be Adelaide" or "with misfortunes oppressed / she does not lose her courage queen". Even Idelbert persuades Adelaide to deceive everyone by simulating that she loves him. Such a trick would help her save her life. However, according to Adelaide, a similar attitude is not befitting a queen. The atmosphere of mounting pressure is expressed in the closing scene of Act I of the opera. In the recitative, Adelaide claims that the more cruel her imprisonment is, the better the stage will be for her constancy, and in the aria "Nobil" onda sings:

"Noble wave
Bright daughter of high mountains
The more she is compressed and imprisoned
The more cheerful
She plays in the stream,
And lighter she flies to the air.
So am I, the more
My soul is enslaved by its fate
And will be rewarded
After overcoming all suffering."

The aria with comparison ("aria di paragone"), typical of the period, offered the opportunity to compare one's experiences to the natural world. To the wave that rejoices in the spring, despite the limits imposed by it. Similarly, Adelaide, despite being surrounded by enemies, under constant oppression, believes that she will be rewarded for her bravery, steadfastness and consistency. The aria was composed in the key of D major in a fast tempo intended to reflect the joyful playfulness of the waves, while also emphasising the strong character of the title character, her pride. The singer was accompanied by oboes, horns, 1st and 2nd violins in unison, violas, cello, double bass and harpsichord. In the rather long introductory ritornello, which has an eminently illustrative character, the repetitions of single notes, the ascending gamut march and the use of grand intervals are expressive. These measures were intended to convey with sound the playfulness of the waves. The first words performed by Adelaide, 'nobil onda', stopped this fast tempo for a moment by means of longer rhythmic values and a strongly articulated descent after the notes of the D major chord. In the A section of this aria, the singer stays in the high register, performing minor figures, small intervals and trills, emphasising freedom and uninhibited playfulness. In the B section, which begins with the words 'tal quest'alma' and is in the key of B minor representing a description of the heroine's situation and feelings, more words are given in quarter notes. The expression that attracts the most attention with its colouratura is acquisterà. Adelaide will overcome adversity.

It is worth emphasising at this point that the part of the title heroine was sung by Carlo Broschi himself, better known as Farinelli, one of the most outstanding singers in the history of opera, a castrato endowed with an extraordinary voice and technique, at the time at the beginning of his career but already in excellent form, as illustrated by the part of Adelaide. It was of him that the exasperated London audience would later say: "One God, one Farinelli".

The climax of the opera's second act takes place in the tower where Adelaide has been imprisoned (II, scenes 7-11). Again, in the form of a 'recitativo accompagnato', Adelaide recalls her dead husband. She is unhappy and sees hope for herself in a quick death. As if on cue, she receives a gift from Matilda - two bowls. One contains a dagger and a vessel with poison, the other a crown and a sceptre. Adelaide chooses the dagger. When she wants to pierce her breast, Idelbert threatens his mother that she will kill herself too. She, in turn, furious, halts Adelaide's execution, but at the same time, filled with contempt and disgust for her son, she once again gives vent to the anger aroused by Adelaide's pride and stubbornness.

At the end of the second act, Otto makes a deal with Berengar to return to his wife and persuade her to release Adelaide. However, Matilda and Berengario once again attempt a deception to force Adelaide to obey them. They want to persuade her to write to Otto and force him to sign the peace on their terms (III, 2). They fail, however, because Adelaide is convinced that her position as an unfortunate slave does not allow her to write to the monarch and make demands:

"Unhappy slave
Still in your chains
Cannot, should not
Write to the monarch.
Return to me the queen's
Insignia and rank; and I will write from the throne,
And I will say: this is what I demand, this is what I want."

In the end, too, in this opera, in keeping with the prevailing convention of lieto fine, or happy ending, in opera of the period, the rule of law and justice wins out, and fidelity to one another, loyalty, courage and steadfastness in the face of adversity are recognised. When Otto's soldiers storm the walls of Pavia, Matilda makes Adelaide a living shield. Otto is thus forced to halt the attack to avoid killing his beloved. In this situation, Idelbert offers his life for Adelaide's life, wishing at least in this way to arouse her pity. Thanks to his help, Otto is victorious, for in Matilda, maternal feelings prevail. Asked by Idelbert to be kind to her oppressors, Adelaide shows great generosity ("magnanima clemenza") and generous pity ("generosa pietà"). Adelaide and Otto can finally enjoy love. To everyone's eyes appears 'Italia in machina' ('Italia Trionfante') celebrating the victorious Otto, the only one of its kind in librettos evoking the figure of Adelaide.

The dedication of the work provides the key to the interpretation of the Roman Adelaide. In full, it reads as follows:

"Mrs
She takes refuge under the wings of your Majesty's most excellent care Adelaide; and we are very glad to see her there, with the feeling of confidence that she will be able to find in the noble soul of your Majesty that graciousness, and sympathy, which she has already found in the heart of that great king, who has defended her and set her on the throne. Presenting her, however, as we do, to your Majesty, we beg with all respect that she may continue to honour this theatre with her presence, and we wish her the same fate which has befallen Adelaide after so many misfortunes, and which the whole world awaits with longing [emphasis - A.M.], we bow deeply."

It is clear from this dedication that the theatre's impresarios saw parallels between Adelaide and Clementine's fate. Like Adelaide, Clementine came from a royal family (her grandfather, John III Sobieski, was king of the Republic, and her father, Jakub Sobieski, had long harboured hopes for the Sobieski family's return to the throne); she was a wealthy person; she was imprisoned for political reasons; and she risked her life to escape from prison. In life-threatening situations, both women showed extraordinary fortitude. Eventually, Adelaide was united by the marriage knot to Emperor Otto I, and Clementine married a Stuart pretender to the English throne. Both were admired for their beauty, wisdom and ability to win people over.

In the aforementioned dedication, the theatre owners wished Clementine a reversal of her fate, like that of Adelaide. Undoubtedly, both the audience of the Teatro d'Alibert and the readers of printed librettos understood the allusion - it was about Clementine's return to the throne, not that of the Commonwealth (although Jakub Sobieski proposed to James III that he compete for the Polish crown, but he resolutely refused), but that of Great Britain. It is not without reason that she is invariably titled Queen of Great Britain or Queen of England in the operas dedicated to her and the chronicles of the time: "Regina di Gran Bretagna" or "Regina d'Inghilterra". As we know, the Stuarts never returned to the throne, but they left behind some excellent music.

The text comes from PASSAGE OF KNOWLEDGE , where you can find more reliable texts about Old Polish history and culture

Courtesy of the King John III Wilanów Palace Museum