85. Caritea, regina di Spagna (Saverio Mercadante)

Melodramma serio in 2 acts Composer: Saverio Mercadante Libretto: Paolo Pola First performed: Teatro la Fenice, Venice, 21 February 1826 CHARACTERS CARITEA (soprano): Ester Mombelli DON ALFONSO, King of Portugal (tenor): Domenico Donzelli DON DIEGO, under the name of Don Pirro of Aragon, son of Don Fernando (contralto): Isabella Fabbrica DON FERNANDO, old Spanish captain general (bass): Domenico Cosselli DON RODRIGO, … Continue reading 85. Caritea, regina di Spagna (Saverio Mercadante) →

84. The prolific Pacini in Pompei

Giovanni Pacini may hold the record as the 19th century's most prolific opera composer. His contemporaries reckoned he'd written a hundred works; closer attention whittled this down to a more manageable 74. Nearly all of them have been forgotten. “This abandonment,” Arthur Pougin (Le Ménestrel, 28 October 1866) wrote, “is the just punishment that awaits a man … Continue reading 84. The prolific Pacini in Pompei →

83. Pelagio (Saverio Mercadante)

PELAGIO Tragedia lirica in 4 acts Composer: Saverio Mercadante Libretto: Marco D’Arienzo First performed: Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 12 February 1857 Dossier CHARACTERS PELAGIO (baritone): Filippo Coletti ABDEL-AOR, governor of Gijón (tenor): Lodovico Graziani BIANCA, Pelagio’s daughter (soprano): Fortunata Tedesco GIRALDA, Bianca’s companion (contralto): Schiavi ASAN, captain of the Moors (bass): Marco Arati ALIATAR, guard on Abdel’s rooms (bass): Nicola Monti MENDO … Continue reading 83. Pelagio (Saverio Mercadante) →

79. La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina (Francesca Caccini)

LA LIBERAZIONE DI RUGGIERO DALL’ISOLA D’ALCINA Commedia in musica: Prologue and 4 scenes Composer: Francesca Caccini Libretto: Ferdinando Saracinelli, based on Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso First performed: Villa di Poggio Imperiale, Florence, 3 February 1625 Dossier COMMENTARY This morning, we talked about the first opera written by a non-white / non-European: Carlos Gomes' Il Guarany. Here's the first opera … Continue reading 79. La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina (Francesca Caccini) →

78. Il Guarany (Antônio Carlos Gomes)

IL GUARANY Opera-ballo in 4 acts Composer: Antônio Carlos Gomes Libretto: Antonio Scalvini First performed: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 19 March 1870 Dossier CHARACTERS Don ANTONIO DE MARIZ, old Portuguese hidalgo (bass): Teodoro Coloni CECILIA, his daughter (soprano): Marie Sass PERY, chief of the Guarany tribe (tenor): Giuseppe Villani Don ALVARO, Portuguese adventurer (tenor): Giuseppe Masato GONZALES, Spanish adventurer, Don Antonio's … Continue reading 78. Il Guarany (Antônio Carlos Gomes) →

77. Vendetta in domino

We talked last time about Auber's Gustave III (1833), a dramatic retelling of the assassination of 18th century Swedish king Gustave III at a masked ball. Several Italian composers loved the story, and wanted to adapt it. Bellini called it "magnificent, spectacular, historical!"; had he lived, it would have been his next project after I puritani. One Vincenzo … Continue reading 77. Vendetta in domino →

69. Adriana Lecouvreur (Francesco Cilea)

ADRIANA LECOUVREUR Composer: Francesco Cilea Stageplay by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé reduced to 4 acts for the lyric stage by Arturo Colautti First performed: Teatro Lirico, Milan, 6 November 1902, conducted by Cleofonte Campanini Dossier Cilea slays it with flowers in this tale of love and rivalry in 18th century Paris. CHARACTERS MAURIZIO, conte di … Continue reading 69. Adriana Lecouvreur (Francesco Cilea) →