Flora Mirabilis

''Flora mirabilis'' ("The Wondrous Flower") is an opera in three acts composed by Spyros Samaras to an Italian-language libretto by Ferdinando Fontana. Described in the libretto as a ''Legenda'' ("Legend"), the opera is an allegorical fairy tale set in medieval Sweden. It premiered at the Teatro Carcano in Milan on 16 May 1886 and was performed again the following year at La Scala. ''Flora mirabilis'' was Samara's first opera to be performed outside his native Greece and proved to be his greatest success, playing in multiple opera houses in Italy and abroad.

Background

A 20th-century description of ''Flora mirabilis'' in Gelli's ''Dizionario dell'Opera'' points out that despite having a Greek composer trained in France and a story set in medieval Sweden, the opera adhered quite strictly to the characteristic elements of late 19th-century Italian opera—folkloric dances, large choruses, and lengthy orchestral passages used to set both the geographical and the psychological atmosphere.

''Flora mirabilis'' was Samaras's first collaboration with the Italian librettist Ferdinando Fontana who became a lifelong admirer of his music and went on to provide the libretti for Samaras's operas ''Medgè'' (1888) and ''Lionella'' (1891). George Leotsakos and other authors have compared the musical idiom and proto-verismo displayed in ''Flora'' to that of Puccini whose first two operas, ''Le Villi'' and '' Edgar'', also had libretti by Fontana. Like ''Flora'', ''Le Villi'' and ''Edgar'' were based on northern European medieval legends, a particular passion of Fontana's.

Performance history

The premiere of ''Flora mirabilis'' at the Teatro Carcano in May 1886 proved to be a great success with both the composer and the librettist brought to the stage for multiple curtain calls.Gutierrez, Beniamino (1916)
''Il Teatro Carcano (1803-1914) glorie artistiche e patriottiche, decadenza e resurrezione''
p. 157. Sonzogno The lead roles of Lidia and Valdo were sung by Ernestina Bendazzi-Secchi and her future husband Alfonso Garulli. ''Flora mirabilis'' was performed the following year at La Scala conducted by Franco Faccio and ran for 11 performances with Garulli reprising the role of Valdo and Emma Calvé as Lidia. The opera was subsequently performed in multiple Italian opera houses as well as in Cologne and Vienna.Gelli, Piero (2005). "Flora mirabilis". ''Dizionario dell'opera'', p. 495. Baldini Castoldi Dalai. The opera's premiere in Samaras' native Greece took place in Corfu on 5 February 1889. It was also performed in Athens later that year during the celebrations for the wedding of Crown Prince Constantine, receiving a total of 16 performances there.Merakos, Stefania
"Music and Musicians at the Olympic Games in Athens, 1896"
Music Library of Greece "Lilian Voudouri". Retrieved 20 October 2015.

The full score to ''Flora mirabilis'' was lost in 1943 when Samaras's publisher Casa Sonzogno was hit during the Allied bombing of Milan.Leotsakos, George (2001)
"Samaras, Spyridon"
Grove Music Online. Retrieved 20 October 2015 However, copies of the piano/vocal score are extant as are some orchestral fragments. Although largely forgotten in modern times, the opera was revived in 1979 in a production by the Greek National Opera at the Olympia Theatre in Athens.Greek National Opera
Virtual Museum: Samaras, ''Flora mirabilis'' (Magic Blossom)
Retrieved 20 October 2015. Its most famous melody, "Dance of the Flowers" was performed on its own at a concert conducted by Samaras himself for the 1896 Olympics in Athens and was performed again in 2011 by the Philharmonic Society of Corfu as part of the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of Samaras's birth.

Roles

References

External links

Complete libretto
published by Sonzogno for the La Scala performances in 1887 {{in lang, it

Operas by Spyros Samaras
Italian-language operas
1886 operas
Operas