''Il corsaro'' (''The
Corsair
A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially:
* Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa
* French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown
Corsair may also refer to:
Arts and ...
'') is an opera in three acts by
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
, from a
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
Francesco Maria Piave
Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 18105 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy.
Career
Piave's career spanned over twenty years working with many of th ...
, based on
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
's 1814 poem ''
The Corsair
''The Corsair'' (1814) is a long tale in verse written by Lord Byron (see 1814 in poetry) and published by John Murray in London. It was extremely popular, selling ten thousand copies on its first day of sale, and was influential throughout the ...
''. The first performance was given at the
Teatro Grande in Trieste on 25 October 1848.
Composition history
![George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron by Richard Westall (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/George_Gordon_Byron%2C_6th_Baron_Byron_by_Richard_Westall_%282%29.jpg)
The composer expressed interest in Byron's poem ''The Corsair'' (along with ''The Two Foscari'' and others) as early as 1844 when he was planning an opera for Venice, but a suitable baritone was not available.
[Budden, pp. 363 – 366] In 1845, (before it was determined that ''
I masnadieri
''I masnadieri'' (''The Bandits'' or ''The Robbers'') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on the play ''Die Räuber'' by Friedrich von Schiller.
As Verdi became more successful in Italy, he beg ...
'' was to be the opera presented in London), the composer had contracted with the Milanese publisher, Francesco Lucca, for three operas, including ''
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
'' and one for London.
Three things prevented it from being ''I masnadieri'' at that time: firstly, Verdi's illness postponed any opera for London for almost a year; secondly, he demanded that the work be ''Il corsaro'' and that it be written by Piave, who had begun work; and, thirdly, by 1846 and the planning for London continuing, Verdi became more interested in ''I masnadieri'' or ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' ("in that order" notes Budden),
but with the long-term view being that one of them would be for Florence.
However, Verdi had not lost sight of ''Corsaro'' at all, as is demonstrated in a letter he wrote to Piave. Impatient because of the delays, Piave had asked for his libretto to be returned to him in order that he might fulfill another commitment. Verdi was shocked: "Give you back ''Il corsaro'', that ''Corsaro'' which has always fascinated me and which I've thought about so much, and which you've put into verse with more than your usual care?" The composer continues to explain details of the work on the music he has already done, but notes "I still have to write the opera for Lucca." Piave relented, and he moved ahead on ''Macbeth''s libretto. But, by the end of the year, when Lucca and the British impresario,
Benjamin Lumley were raising the issue of the London contract, Verdi replied that he found ''Il corsaro'' "dull (''freddo'') and theatrically ineffective".
Thus, ''I masnadieri'' became the opera for London, and Verdi (and his long-time assistant and student,
Emanuele Muzio
Donnino Emanuele Muzio (or ''Mussio'') (24 August 1821 in Zibello – 27 November 1890 in Paris) was an Italian composer, conductor and vocal teacher. He was a lifelong friend and the only student of Giuseppe Verdi.
Biography
In April 1844, Ver ...
) traveled to that city at the end of May 1847 for the premiere performance which was held on 22 July 1847, after which the composer returned to Paris – where he remained for two years – while Muzio returned to Milan. After the ''Masnadieri'', in order to satisfy the remaining opera contracted with Lucca, Verdi proposed ''Il corsaro'', was offered a counter proposal which he rejected, and from Paris in February 1848 Verdi sent the completed score to Lucca via Muzio.
Budden comments "In no other opera of his does Verdi appear to have taken so little interest ''before'' it was staged". Where and when it was to be staged, who the singers would be, and by which stage director was left to the publisher.
Performance history
19th century
![BarbieriNini](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/BarbieriNini.jpg)
Lucca decided on the Teatro Grande (now the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi) in Trieste as the location for the Spring 1848 premiere, but political events in Lombardy postponed it until the autumn. The opera house management felt that Muzio would be capable to handling the staging, but having fled to Switzerland, he became unavailable and the task was handled by
Luigi Ricci Luigi Ricci may refer to:
* Luigi Ricci (composer) (1805–1859), Italian composer
* Luigi Ricci (vocal coach) Luigi Ricci (1893–1981) was an Italian assistant conductor, accompanist, vocal coach, and author.
Career
Ricci began studying music ...
who, along with his brother
Federico Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
People with the given name Federico
Artists
* Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ.
* Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, r ...
, were minor composers of the day.
[Stefan Zucker]
"Federico Ricci: He and His Brother Composed an Opera Once as Popular as ''Barbiere'' or ''Elisir''"
on belcantosociety.org. Retrieved 6 July 2013 Verdi did not attend the first performance. However, Verdi's biographer
Mary Jane Phillips-Matz
Mary Jane Phillips-Matz (January 30, 1926 – January 19, 2013) was an American biographer and writer on opera. She is mainly known for her biography of Giuseppe Verdi, a result of 30 years' research and published in 1992 by Oxford University Press ...
feels that Lucca chose a good house and a cast "almost as good as anyone could have mustered in Europe at the time."
[Philips-Matz, p. 227] In addition, she quotes from a long letter which Verdi wrote to the soprano
Marianna Barbieri-Nini
Marianna Barbieri-Nini (18 February 1818 in Florence – 27 November 1887 in Florence) was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active career in Italy's major opera houses from 1840 through 1856. She also made appearances at the Liceu in Bar ...
, who had been his Lady Macbeth at the 1847 premiere of that opera. In the letter, Verdi said that he wanted "to tell you a few things about your pieces", and gives her some very explicit advice on how to sing Gulnara.
As it turned out, the opera was poorly received by both the press and the public in Trieste, an unusual occurrence for Verdi. Budden notes that it "vanished from the repertoire after three performances" and that the local feeling would have been that "Trieste deserves a better opera than this".
Relatively few performances were given in Italy after the premiere, although it was staged in Milan and Turin in 1852, and in Modena, Novara, Venice, and Vercelli in 1853.
20th century and beyond
The opera was given its first performances in Britain (London) in March 1966
[Kimbell (2001), p. 988] and in the US in December 1981.
It was presented as part of a Verdi Festival by the
San Diego Opera The San Diego Opera Association (SDO) is a professional opera company located in the city of San Diego, California. It incorporated in 1965, presenting operas under the name of the San Diego Opera.[Rosalind Plowright
Rosalind Anne Plowright (born 21 May 1949) is an English opera singer who spent much of her career as a soprano but in 1999 changed to the mezzo-soprano range.
Life and career
Rosalind Plowright was born in Worksop and studied at the Royal ...]
and
June Anderson
June Anderson (born December 30, 1952) is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. She is known for ''bel canto'' performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini.
Subsequently, she has extended her repertoire to include a wid ...
, and in 2004 by the
Sarasota Opera
Sarasota Opera is a professional opera company in Sarasota, Florida, USA, which
was founded as the Asolo Opera Guild and, until 1974, presented a visiting company's productions. Between 1974 and 1979, it set about mounting its own productions in t ...
as part of its "Verdi Cycle". The
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma, originally constructed as the Nuovo Teatro Ducale (New Ducal Theatre),Martini, "Before the Teatro Regio", pp. 56 is an opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy.
Replacing an obsolete house, the new Ducale achieved pro ...
presented it in 2008 as part of their "Festival Verdi", while another company which aims to present all of the composer's operas, the ABAO in
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
, Spain, gave it in November 2010.
In concert versions, it was given by the
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona.
Founded in 1837 at another loca ...
Barcelona and the
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Cove ...
in June 1996, Corrado having been sung by
José Cura
José Luis Victor Cura Gómez (born 5 December 1962) is an Argentine operatic tenor, conductor, director, scenographer and photographer known for intense and original interpretations of opera characters, notably ''Otello'' in Verdi’s ''Otello' ...
. The
Opera Orchestra of New York The Opera Orchestra of New York (also known as OONY) specializes in the performance of opera in concert form. It is particularly known for its work in presenting rarely performed repertory. Among the numerous American premieres it has presented are ...
presented it in March 2004.
The Washington Concert Opera in Washington, D.C. presented a concert version in March 2014 with a cast including
Michael Fabiano
Michael Fabiano (born 8 May 1984) is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Tea ...
as Corrado,
Tamara Wilson
Tamara Wilson is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international opera career since 2007. She has performed leading roles at the Canadian Opera Company, the English National Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Liceu, the Metropol ...
as Gulnara, and
Nicole Cabell
Nicole Cabell (born October 17, 1977) is an American opera singer. She is best known as the 2005 winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
Cabell was born in Panorama City, California. Her grandfather, Luther Lanier, was the fir ...
as Medora. Fabiano starred in a new production of the opera in April 2018 at the Palau de Les Arts,
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
.
Roles
Synopsis
![Portrait-Verdi Giuseppe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Portrait-Verdi_Giuseppe.jpg)
:Place: A Greek island in the Aegean and the Turkish city of
Corone
Corone ( grc, Κορώνη, Korṓnē, crow) may refer to:
* Koroni, also spelled Corone, a town in Greece
* Corone (crow)
In Greek and Roman mythology, Corone ( grc, Κορώνη, Korṓnē, crow ) is a young woman who attracted the attenti ...
.
:Time: The early 1800s
Act 1
''The Greek Island''
''Scene 1: Corrado's ship''
The island is controlled by the corsairs, or pirates. A chorus introduces Corrado, the chief corsair, who is in exile. He laments his present condition: ''Tutto parea sorridere'' / "The world seemed to smile upon my early life". But he receives a letter containing military intelligence about the Turkish Pasha, Seid. It convinces him to set sail with his comrades, and he immediately starts rallying the troops: ''Sì, di Corsari il fulmine'' / "Yes, the lightning blow of the Corsairs shall I myself strike".
''Scene 2: Medora's home''
Medora is alone, and anxious for Corrado's return. She picks up her harp and sings a beautiful, but vaguely sinister aria; some sixth sense seems to be telling her that things are bound to turn out badly: ''Non so le tetre immagini'' / "Dark forebodings I cannot banish from my thoughts". When Corrado finally arrives, the two sing a duet that captures both the serenity of their love and the uncertainty of their future. Medora pleads with Corrado not to leave, but finally he departs to confront the Pasha.
Act 2
''Corone''
''Scene 1: The harem''
The slave girls in Pasha Seid's harem are looking after Gulnara, the Pasha's favorite. However, Gulnara is unhappy about the Pasha's attentions. She chafes at life in the harem, and longs for freedom and true love: ''Vola talor dal carcere'' / "At times my thought flies free from its prison". A eunuch brings Gulnara an invitation to a celebratory banquet anticipating the Pasha's victory in the impending sea battle with the corsairs. She expresses a hope of something better awaiting her in life: ''Ah conforto è sol la speme'' / "Ah, comfort lies only in hope for this lost soul" and the ladies of the harem tell her that "you are everyone's hope".
''Scene 2: The banquet''
Seid and his men express their feelings that Allah will protect them: ''Salve, Allah! tutta quanta'' / "Hail Allah! All the earth resounds with his mighty name". A slave asks the Pasha if a Dervish who has apparently escaped from the corsairs might be admitted. Seid grants an audience and questions him. Suddenly everyone notices flames at sea: the Pasha's fleet is burning. As the Dervish whips off his disguise and reveals himself to be Corrado, his corsairs invade the banquet, and a battle takes place. At first, it seems that Corrado and his men will win, but he makes a fatal mistake. Seeing that the harem is burning, Corrado decides to rescue Gulnara and the other women. This gives the Pasha and his men time to regroup. They take Corrado prisoner and Seid confronts him – ''Audace cotanto, mostrarti pur sai?'' / "Yet so bold do you stand before me" – as he condemns Corrado to a grisly death, in spite of pleas from Gulnara and the harem to spare him for saving their lives.
Act 3
''Scene 1: Seid's quarters''
Seid is enjoying his victory, but he is not entirely satisfied: ''Cento leggiadre vergini'' / "A hundred lissom virgins asked love of me" he says, but "my heart beats only for Gulnara". He is afraid she has fallen for the dashing Corrado. Sending for her, he proclaims his basic credo of revenge: ''S'avvicina il tuo momento'' / "Your moment approaches, dread thirst for vengeance". When she enters, he challenges her and she tells him that he is right; he threatens Gulnara, but she defies him and the Pasha storms out of the room.
''Scene 2: The prison''
Corrado is in prison and assumes that he is doomed: ''Eccomi prigionero!'' / "Here am I a prisoner". Having bribed a guard to let her into his cell, Gulnara vows to help him, handing him a knife to kill Seid. Corrado rejects her offer, citing his honor as a combatant. He also senses her deep feelings for him, and tells her that he is in love with Medora. Gulnara leaves, saying that she will kill Seid. In a brief interlude, the stormy music, which opened the Prelude, is heard again; this time, it accompanies a murder. On her return Gulnara reports that she takes all the blame for killing the Pasha: ''Sul capo mio discenda, fiero Iddio'' / "Upon my head, grim God, let your dread lightning fall". With their enemy gone, she and Corrado resolve to escape together to the corsairs' island.
''Scene 3: The Greek island''
Near death after taking poison, Medora is convinced that she will never see Corrado again. The ship carrying Gulnara and Corrado appears in the distance and, when they arrive, Corrado and Medora throw themselves into each other's arms. In a trio with each character expressing his/her feelings, Corrado begins by explaining how he and Gulnara became free: ''Per me infelice vedi costei'' / "Unhappy for my sake you see this woman; she risked her life to save mine". However, their joy does not last for long, for Medora dies. With his men trying to stop him, Corrado leaps from a cliff to his death as the opera ends.
Orchestration
''Il corsaro'' is scored for piccolo, flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, cimbasso, triangle, cymbals, timpani, bass drum and cymbals, cannon, harp, strings.
Music
When discussing the qualities of Byron's poetry in comparison with how Verdi treated it musically, Julian Budden points to one obvious problem: the opera "hardly makes for music-drama
ecauseit is a ''narrative''. Not being conceived of in dramatic terms it offers no opportunity for the generation of musical power through conflict and
clash of personalities A personality clash occurs when two (or more) people find themselves in conflict not over a particular issue or incident, but due to a fundamental incompatibility in their personalities, their approaches to things, or their style of life.
A persona ...
." He compares it unfavourably with "the steady crescendo of dramatic interest" in ''
Ernani
''Ernani'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play ''Hernani (drama), Hernani'' by Victor Hugo.
Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in V ...
'', or the "cut and thrust of character dialectic that informs ''
I due Foscari'' and "without the sense of grand theatre that transfigures the great moments in ''
Giovanna d'Arco
''Giovanna d'Arco'' (''Joan of Arc'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, who had prepared the libretti for ''Nabucco'' and ''I Lombardi''. It is Verdi ...
'' and ''
Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
''. David Kimball (in Holden) also describes it in comparable terms, emphasizing that "after the weightiness of the three previous three operas
.. itseems a light, sketchy piece." But he does note that Verdi was "designing arias more imaginatively".
Of interest is the caution given by
Roger Parker
Roger Parker (born London United Kingdom, 2 August 1951) is an English musicologist and, since January 2007, has been Thurston Dart Professor of Music at King's College London.
His work has centred on opera. Between 2006 and 2010, while Profess ...
for us to be aware that the dramatic structure of the opera was finalized in 1846, before ''Macbeth'', and therefore this might be a reason for regarding the opera as old-fashioned.
[Parker, p. 961]
Recordings
See also
*''
Le Corsaire'', a ballet loosely based on Lord Byron's poem.
References
Notes
Sources
*Baldini, Gabriele (1970), (trans. Roger Parker, 1980), ''The Story of Giuseppe Verdi: Oberto to Un Ballo in Maschera''. Cambridge, ''et al'': Cambridge University Press.
*
Budden, Julian
Julian Medforth Budden (9 April 1924 in Hoylake, Wirral – 28 February 2007 in Florence, Italy) was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the operas of Giuseppe Verdi (publish ...
(1984), ''The Operas of Verdi, Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto''. London: Cassell. .
*De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts) (1998), ''Verdi’s Theater: Creating Drama Through Music''. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press. (hardback),
*
Gossett, Philip (2006), ''Divas and Scholar: Performing Italian Opera'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*Hudson, Elizabeth (Ed.)(1998), ''Il corsaro'', full score critical edition, ed. Elizabeth Hudson, Chicago & Milan: University of Chicago Press & Casa Ricordi. (University of Chicago Press), (Casa Ricordi).
*Kimbell, David (2001), in
Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001.
*Martin, George, '' Verdi: His Music, Life and Times'' (1983), New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
*
Osborne, Charles (1969), ''The Complete Opera of Verdi'', New York: Da Capo Press, Inc.
*
Parker, Roger (1998), "'Il corsaro''" in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Vol. One, pp. 960 – 961. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc.
*
Parker, Roger (2007), ''The New Grove Guide to Verdi and His Operas'', Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
*
Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane (1993), ''Verdi: A Biography'', London & New York: Oxford University Press.
*
Pistone, Danièle (1995), ''Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera: From Rossini to Puccini'', Portland, OR: Amadeus Press.
*
Toye, Francis (1931), ''Giuseppe Verdi: His Life and Works'', New York: Knopf
*Walker, Frank, ''The Man Verdi'' (1982), New York: Knopf, 1962, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*Warrack, John and West, Ewan, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' New York: OUP: 1992
*
Werfel, Franz
Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...
and
Stefan, Paul (1973), ''Verdi: The Man and His Letters'', New York, Vienna House.
External links
Verdi: "The story" and "History"on giuseppeverdi.it (in English)
Greatest Verdi singers, Verdi's friends and collaborators, genealogy projecton geni.com
Aria database*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsaro, Il
Operas by Giuseppe Verdi
Italian-language operas
1848 operas
Operas
Operas set in Greece
Operas set in Turkey
Music based on poems
Adaptations of works by Lord Byron