|
Domenico Gilardoni
Domenico Gilardoni (1798–1831) was an Italian opera librettist, most well known for his collaborations with the composers Vincenzo Bellini (his first work) and Gaetano Donizetti.Black 1992, p. 413. Biography Gilardoni was born in Naples, but little is known about his early life and training. He died early, and thus had a short career, but wrote more than 20 librettos in five years, all for Naples. Most of his early work was for the Teatro Nuovo, where his librettos contained much prose and often included comic roles in Neapolitan dialect. His first published libretto was '' Bianca e Gernando'' for Bellini. It was based on a play, which was probably selected by Bellini, Carlo Roti's ''Bianca e Fernando alla tomba di Carlo IV, Duca d'Agrigento'', which had been staged at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in 1820. The title ''Bianca e Fernando'' had to be changed, because Ferdinando was the name of the heir to the throne, and no form of it could be used on a royal stage. After some delays th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata, or the story line of a ballet. ''Libretto'' (; plural ''libretti'' ), from Italian, is the diminutive of the word '' libro'' ("book"). Sometimes other-language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, ''livret'' for French works, ''Textbuch'' for German and ''libreto'' for Spanish. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. Some ballet historians also use the word ''libretto'' to refer to the 15 to 40 page books which were on sale to 19th century ballet audiences in Paris and contained a very detailed description of the ballet's story, scene by s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Borgomastro Di Saardam
(The mayor of Saardam) is an 1827 melodramma giocoso (opera buffa) in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The libretto, by Domenico Gilardoni, was based on the 1818 play ' by Mélesville, Jean-Toussaint Merle and Eugène Cantiran de Boirie. Albert Lortzing's 1837 opera ''Zar und Zimmermann'' is ultimately based, via a German translation, on the same French play. The plot concerns a famous episode in the life of Peter the Great, in which he disguised himself under an assumed name as a worker in the shipyards of Saardam, and has certain similarities to Donizetti's earlier 1-act farce '' Il falegname di Livonia''. Performance history 19th century The opera premiered at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples on 19 August 1827. The lead soprano role of Marietta was composed for prima donna Caroline Unger, who received high praise. The opera itself had a slow start, but soon the Neapolitans loved it, for Donizetti was very popular in that city; it was still in the repertory the following year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fausta (opera)
''Fausta'' is a melodramma, or opera seria, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was partly written by Domenico Gilardoni, who died while doing so: the remainder was written by Donizetti. The literary source of the opera's libretto is ''Crispo'', a tragedy improvised by Tommaso Sgricci on 3 November 1827. The opera successfully debuted on 12 January 1832 at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and was written with prima donna Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis in mind. De Begnis was rumored to be the King's mistress. Although the libretto had irked the chief censor, the production went ahead, supposedly because of De Begnis' influence in high places. Donizetti wrote this opera for the birthday of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Walter Scott was present at the premiere and it has been suggested that the King introduced him to the composer; Scott thought that ''Fausta'' was “without any remarkable music.” The opera marked the beginning of an important and fruitf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Romanziera E L'uomo Nero
''La romanziera e l'uomo nero'' (also known as ''La romanzesca e l'uomo nero'') is an 1831 one-act farsa with music by Gaetano Donizetti and an Italian libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, possibly based on the 1819 play ''La donna dei romanzi'' by Augusto Bon. Other suggested sources include ''L'homme noir'' (1820) by Eugene Scribe and Jean-Henri Dupin and ''Le coiffeur et le perruquier'' (1824) by Scribe, Édouard-Joseph-Ennemond Mazères and Charles Nombret Saint-Laurent.Michele Zurletti, Rovigo. Performance history The opera was premiered on 18 June 1831 at the Teatro del Fondo, Naples, and there was only one further performance. The words and music of the arias and ensembles have survived, but the spoken dialogue has been lost. The opera's music was performed in 1982 at the Camden Festival, and in Fermo in 1988. In November 2000, staged performances took place in Rovigo with dialogue re-created by Michelangelo Zurletti from the Scribe plays on which the opera may have been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesca Di Foix
''Francesca di Foix'' is a ''melodramma giocoso'' (comic opera) in one act by Gaetano Donizetti with a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni based on one by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly and Emmanuel Mercier-Dupaty for Henri Montan Berton's 3-act opéra-comique ''Françoise de Foix'', inspired by the life of Françoise de Foix. It received its first performance on 30 May 1831 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples. Performance history The opera is chiefly known for having provided segments to other Donizetti operas, including ''Ugo, conte di Parigi'', ''L'elisir d'amore'' and ''Gabriella di Vergy'' although a complete recording exists on the ''Opera Rara'' label. It was given in London in November 2013, along with Debussy's '' L'enfant prodigue'' as a double bill, at the Guildhall School of Music staged by the Australian opera director Stephen Barlow. Roles Synopsis :Time: The Middle Ages :Place: FranceOsborne, p. 200 The Count is determined to keep his beautiful wife Francesca well away fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carlo Coccia
Carlo Coccia (14 April 1782 – 13 April 1873) was an Italian opera composer. He was known for the genre of opera semiseria. Life and career Coccia was born in Naples, and studied in his native city with Pietro Casella, Fedele Fenaroli, and Giovanni Paisiello, who introduced him to King Joseph Bonaparte for whom he became the private musician. He wrote his first opera, ''Il matrimonio per lettera di cambio'', in 1807, but it was a failure; however, the following year, with the help of Paisiello, his second opera, ''Il poeta fortunato'', was well received. He then moved to Venice, where he concentrated on opera semiseria, of which ''Clotilde'' from 1815, is perhaps the best example. Accused of imitating other composers, and of producing too many uneven operas in great haste, he was eventually eclipsed by the emerging Gioachino Rossini, Rossini, and left for Lisbon, where he remained from 1820 to 1823. He then settled in London in 1824, where he was conductor at Her Majesty's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Diluvio Universale
''Il diluvio universale'' (''The great flood'') is an azione tragico-sacra, or opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Domenico Gilardoni after Lord Byron's '' Heaven and Earth'' and Francesco Ringhieri's tragedy ''Il diluvio'' (1788). Performance history 19th century The opera premiered at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples on 6 MarchBlack 1982, p. 25: Black notes that 28 February was the intended date, but due to illness, the premiere had to be postponed. It failed to become an instant success. It is known that for the premiere production to be accepted, it had to be given to the church censors in the form of an oratorio, since its planned production date was within the period of fasting. It was only allowed due to its being a biblical story. Donizetti revised the opera and a new production opened on 17 January 1834 at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice. But after another staging in 1837 in Paris, it disappeared for 147 years. 20th century and beyond The op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Pazzi Per Progetto
(''Madmen by Design'') is a farsa in one act by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni. The first performance took place at the Teatro di San Carlo on 6 February 1830 and was followed by its second presentation on 7 February at the Teatro del Fondo.Black 1982, pp. 24—25: Black deals specifically with the error and details performances at both houses in 1830 and 1831. At the 1830 performance in Naples, some great singers of the time such as Boccabadati and Luigi Lablache performed it in a charity event, but despite the exceptional cast, the audience was really very meager. The work, carried by two women surrounded by five heavy voices, was divided into seven numbers linked by dry ("secco") or accompanied recitatives. It revealed the purest farcical style of the composer, containing the characters and forms typical of that style. It was performed a few more times in Naples and Palermo up until 1845, and then forgotten until 1977. Performance history In 1977 a ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovanni Pacini
Giovanni Pacini (11 February 17966 December 1867) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas. The family was of Tuscan origin, living in Catania when the composer was born. His first 25 or so operas were written when Gioachino Rossini dominated the Italian operatic stage. But Pacini's operas were "rather superficial", a fact which, later, he candidly admitted in his ''Memoirs''.Rose 2001, in Holden, p. 650 For some years he held the post of "director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples." Later, retiring to Viareggio to found a school of music, Pacini took time to assess the state of opera in Italy and, during a five-year period during which he stopped composing, laid out his ideas in his Memoirs. Like Saverio Mercadante, who also reassessed the strength and weaknesses of this period in opera, Pacini's style did change, but he quickly becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Aspa
Mario Aspa (17 October 1797 – 14 December 1868) was an Italian composer. He composed over 40 operas, the most successful of which were ''Paolo e Virginia'' (premiered in Rome, 1843) and ''II Muratore di Napoli'' (premiered in Naples, 1850). He also composed two ballets and a Requiem Mass which was performed on the death of Vittorio Emmanuele II in 1878.Ambìveri, Corrado (1998)''Operisti minori dell'ottocento italiano'' pp. 11–12. Gremese Editore. Operas Aspa's operas included: *''Giovanni Bannier'' (''melodramma'' in 2 acts); libretto by Domenico Gilardoni; premiered Teatro del Fondo, Naples, 1829 *''Il carcere d'Ildegonda'' (melodramma in 2 acts); libretto by Domenico Gilardoni; premiered Aspa, Teatro Nuovo (Naples), Teatro Nuovo, Naples, 1830 *''Il proscritto'' (''melodramma'' in 3 acts); libretto by Marco D'Arienzo; premiered Teatro Nuovo, Naples, 1841 *''Paolo e Virginia'' (''opera semiseria'' in 2 acts); libretto by Jacopo Ferretti; premiered Teatro Metastasio, Rome, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Giovedì Grasso
''Il giovedì grasso'' is a ''farsa'' in one act by Gaetano Donizetti, from a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni. The literal translation of the title is "Fat Thursday", a reference to Carnival celebration. The libretto was adapted from the French comedies ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'' by Molière and ''Le nouveau Pourceaugnac'' by Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson and Eugène Scribe. The opera uses spoken dialogue rather than recitatives, and the buffo role is given in the Neapolitan language. The work premiered at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples on 26 February 1829. Roles Synopsis :Time: 17th century :Place: "A house in the country, outside Paris"Osborne 1994, p. 181 The lovers Nina and Teodoro are in despair since Nina is promised to another man, Ernesto. Their friend Sigismondo (who is mistakenly jealous of his wife Camilla) concocts a scheme to help the lovers. Inspired by Molière's ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'', Sigismondo proposes that he and his wife will dress up as on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Ricci (composer)
Luigi Ricci (8 July 1805 – 31 December 1859), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. He was the elder brother of Federico Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works. He was also a conductor. Life Ricci was born and educated in Naples, where he wrote his first opera at the conservatory in 1823. His triumphs in 1831 at La Scala with ''Chiara di Rosembergh'' and in 1834 with ''Un'avventura di Scaramuccia'' made him famous throughout Europe, and in 1835 he and his younger brother Federico collaborated in the first of the four operas they wrote together. In 1837 Ricci ran into financial problems, brought about mainly by his extravagant life-style. He was forced to accept a job at Trieste, and he composed no operas for seven years. Then, however, he fell in love, at the same time, with both Francesca and Ludmila, the 17-year-old identical twin sisters of the singer Teresa Stolz, also singers, and this inspired him to create (in 1845) an opera for them both to si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
