''Charlotte Corday '' is an opera in three acts by

Lorenzo Ferrero Lorenzo Ferrero (; born 1951) is an Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral ...

to an Italian-language

libretto 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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Giuseppe Di Leva, written on commission from the

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

for the 200th anniversary of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

which was commemorated in 1989. The fundamental theme of the opera is the individual terrorist action committed by anyone who believes that he or she is eliminating an evil by eliminating a person, in most cases the wrong person. The work describes three encounters of the

Girondin The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...

sympathizer

Charlotte Corday Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known as Charlotte Corday (), was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed by guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who w ...

with

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (; born Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes'', a radical ...

, leading figure of the radical

Jacobin , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

faction, two attempts and finally the assassination itself.

Performance history

The premiere directed by

Mario Martone Mario Martone (born 20 November 1959) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed more than 30 films since 1985. His film '' L'amore molesto'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. His 2010 film ''Noi credevamo'' c ...

and conducted by

Roberto Abbado Roberto Abbado (born 30 December 1954, Milan) is an Italian opera and symphonic music conducting, conductor. Currently he is Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts R ...

took place at the

on 21 February 1989. The opera had two subsequent new productions in Germany, one conducted by Istvan Dènes which was performed at the

Theater Bremen Theater Bremen (Bremen Theatre) is a state theatre in Bremen, Germany, with four divisions for opera, straight theater, dance, and student programs. Its venues are located in a city block, connected in architecture and seating up to 1,426 spectato ...

on 28 April 1990, and the second conducted by Jan Michael Horstmann which ran for ten performances between 27 April and 7 June 2013 at the .

Roles

Synopsis

:Place:

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

:Time: 13 July 1793 Act 1 Charlotte Corday arrives in Paris at dawn. In a square she meets Camille, her childhood friend, now a deputy to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

. He is disappointed, defeated, and fears for his life. Amongst the crowd is Gaston, who tells Charlotte that he is the bodyguard and faithful friend of Marat. Their conversation is interrupted by a commotion which arises around a bakery. In play, a group of children act out the events of the Revolution. The square slowly empties out, except for a child who is left behind by his playmates, tied up as a victim. Charlotte releases and comforts him, thereby building up courage herself, then she buys a long-bladed knife and a shawl from a pedlar. Marat arrives surrounded by an adulating crowd which, at the same time, notices his fatigue and ill-health. Charlotte attracts his attention for a moment, then he continues on to the hall of the Convention. She does not know how to take advantage of the situation to kill him. Marat, received by the deputies with a mixture of hostility and respect, addresses the assembly. Act 2 On the

Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the ...

parade ground the decorations for the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...

celebration are destroyed by a storm. An aggressive, raving drunk wanders around. Charlotte meets Camille again and finds him more dispirited than ever. He admits to her his total, profound political disillusionment; she, on the contrary, believes that a heroic deed is more necessary than ever. They are pestered by the drunk who accuses Camille of being a traitor, whereupon a patrol appears and arrests him. Charlotte delivers an attack against the Revolution's abuses of power. Gaston arrives and justifies the arrest but Marat frees Camille, after Charlotte vouches for him. Gaston is amazed as much as Marat himself by this unexpected clemency, while Charlotte asks herself why did she miss this new opportunity to murder Marat. He feels ill again and wants to be taken home. Act 3 Marat is in the bathtub to which his debilitating

skin condition A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this s ...

confines him. He who wanted to cure the world is beaten by his own illness. Charlotte knocks at the door. Marat's housekeeper asks her to come back another time but he demands that she be let in. They remain alone together. Charlotte has brought a list of "enemies of the Revolution" for him to examine. He reads his own name at the top and asks for an explanation. They start an argument about power, loneliness, truth, and death, which ends up with her stabbing him to death. At the instant in which the blade descends upon him Marat understands the meaning of the look in Charlotte's eyes and dies without knowing her name.

Notable arias and excerpts

The orchestral Intermezzo was arranged as excerpt for concert performance.

References

Notes Sources * Bagnoli, Giorgio, ed. (1993). ''The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera''. New York: Simon & Schuster. * Bolin, Norbert, ed. (2001). ''Aspetti musicali: Lorenzo Ferrero und die Neotonalität'' (by Theo Hirsbrunner). Köln: Verlag Dohr. . * Darbon, Nicolas (2001). ''Pour une approche systémique de l'opéra contemporain''. Paris: Université de Paris-Sorbonne. . * Gelli, Piero, ed. (2007). ''Dizionario dell'Opera 2008'' entries: "Lorenzo Ferrero." Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore. . * ''Larousse Dictionnaire de la musique'' (2005) entries: "Lorenzo Ferrero". Paris: Larousse. . * Moliterno, Gino, ed. (2000). ''Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Italian Culture''. London and New York: Routledge. . * Napoli, Ettore (2010). ''Guida alla musica sinfonica''. Varese: Zecchini Editore. * Rossi, Nick (1995). ''Opera in Italy Today''. Portland: Amadeus Press. . * Salvetti, Guido, ed. (2003). ''La cultura dei musicisti italiani nel novecento''. Milano: Guerini Studio. . * Schreiber, Ulrich (2005). ''Opernführer für Fortgeschrittene''. Bärenreiter-Verlag. . *

Sadie, Stanley Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, ed. (1992-2002). ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

''. London: Macmillan Publishers. .

External links

Casa Ricordi Catalogue

Title page of sheet music at Casa Ricordi Digital Collection

''Charlotte Corday'' at the Mittelsächsisches Theater Freiberg and Döbeln, 2013
{{Portal bar, Opera Operas Operas by Lorenzo Ferrero 1989 operas Italian-language operas Operas set in France Operas set in the French Revolution Operas based on real people Operas set in the 18th century Cultural depictions of Charlotte Corday Cultural depictions of Jean-Paul Marat