''I quatro rusteghi'' (''The Four Curmudgeons'', ''The Four Ruffians'', in Edward J. Dent's translation ''School for Fathers'', also translated by James Benner as ''Foolish Fathers'' ) is a

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

in three acts, music by

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays ...

to a libretto by and Giuseppe Pizzolato based on

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: * Carlo (name) * Monte Carlo * Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...

's 18th-century play ''

I rusteghi ''The Boors'', also known as ''The Cantankerous Men'' (Venetian: ''I rusteghi''), is a comedy by Carlo Goldoni. It was first performed at the San Luca theatre of Venice towards the end of the Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian fest ...

''. The opera is written in

Venetian dialect Venetian, wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ) is a Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in the Veneto region, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often ...

, hence "quatro" instead of "quattro".

Performance history

Die Vier Grobiane Titelbild Klavierauszug

The opera was first performed as ''Die vier Grobiane'' in German at the Hoftheater in Munich on 19 March 1906. Its first performance in Italian was on 2 June 1914 at the Teatro Lirico in Milan under

Ettore Panizza Ettore Panizza (born Héctor Panizza; 12 August 187527 November 1967) was an Argentine conductor and composer, one of the leading conductors of the early 20th century. Panizza possessed technical mastery and was popular and influential during ...

. The work was first performed in the United States by the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

on 19 October 1951 with Laszlo Halasz conducting. Wolf-Ferrari's most successful full-length work, it is still regularly performed.

Roles

Synopsis

The action takes place in 18th century

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. Four curmudgeonly husbands vainly attempt to keep their women in order. The women decide to teach their menfolk a lesson by allowing Lunardo's daughter Lucieta to see Filipeto, the son of Maurizio, before their pre-arranged marriage, even though the men have forbidden this.

References

Notes Sources * Anderson, James, ''The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta'' Wings Books, 1993

External links

* *
''Die vier Grobiane'' libretto

''I quatro rusteghi'' libretto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quatro Rusteghi Operas Operas by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Italian-language operas German-language operas 1906 operas Operas based on plays Operas set in Venice