is a short

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in one act by Italian composer

Italo Montemezzi Italo Montemezzi (August 4, 1875 – May 15, 1952) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his opera ''L'amore dei tre re'' (''The Love of the Three Kings''), once part of the standard repertoire. It is now seldom performed. Biography M ...

. Its

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 ...

was written by playwright

Sem Benelli Sem Benelli (August 10, 1877 – December 18, 1949) was an Italian playwright, essayist and librettist. He provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's ''L'amore dei tre re'' and ''L'incantesimo'', and Umbert ...

who had previously collaborated with the composer on his most famous opera, ''

L'amore dei tre re (''The Love of the Three Kings'') is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his play of the same title. Performance history ''L'amore de tre re'' premiere ...

''. Benelli finished the text in 1933, and Montemezzi started work on the score, but the composer's unpleasant relationship with Mussolini's government made Italy inconducive to creative work. Montemezzi resumed work on ''L'incantesimo'' during the summer of 1943 in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

, his home during a 10-year sojourn in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Upon completion of the score, he offered it to the

NBC Symphony The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ar ...

, professing admiration for their orchestra.

Performance history

''L'incantesimo'' received its broadcast premiere on October 9, 1943, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The composer conducted the

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...

. The opera's stage premiere took place on 9 August 1952, in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, Italy, only a few months after Montemezzi's death. The following year, ''L'incantesimo'' was performed for Italian radio, and broadcast in 1954. On November 13, 2007

Teatro Grattacielo Teatro Grattacielo is a professional opera company based in New York City specializing in concert performances of rarely heard verismo operas. The company's past performances have included the North American premieres of Mascagni's ''Il piccolo M ...

, a New York group dedicated to reviving neglected

verismo In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an ...

scores, performed ''L'incantesimo'' in a concert performance at

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designe ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. A production (believed to be the first fully staged production of the work in America) was mounted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Hall of Sculpture at the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...

by the

Opera Theater of Pittsburgh Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

February 12, 13, and 14 of 2010, conducted by Bernard McDonald and directed by Jonathan Eaton. The cast included Daniel Teadt as Folco, Anna Singer as Giselda, Ric Furman as Rinaldo and Craig Priebe as Salomone. Despite the opera's late date of composition, its musical style is firmly rooted in the late-romantic tradition, combining Italian lyricism with the orchestral techniques of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

Roles

Synopsis

The action takes place in Folco's wintry castle during the Middle Ages. Folco, a boastful and possessive man, has sent for Rinaldo, but, noting the falling snow, worries that his old friend will not come. Rinaldo had loved Folco's wife Giselda, and had longed to marry her. Giselda questions Folco as to why he has summoned her old love, whom she has not seen since their wedding. Folco tells her that Rinaldo is bringing with him a magician, whom Folco hopes will be able to tell him the meaning of a disturbing encounter he'd experienced while hunting earlier that day. Rinaldo finally appears, accompanied by the mysterious necromancer Salomone. Folco welcomes them warmly, and in his aria "Allora ascolta!", explains how, while pursuing a wolf in the snowy forest, he'd raised his eyes to behold a white hind whose face was that of Giselda. Bewildered, he had stabbed the creature, whose sad eyes seemed to beg for mercy, and then had fled, horrified, into the forest. Salomone explains that if Folco's love for Giselda can survive, he must return to the forest, find the wounded hind, and carry it lovingly back to the castle, as if it were Giselda herself. Folco assures the magician that he can certainly accomplish this. As soon as Folco leaves, Rinaldo passionately informs Giselda that he has never forgotten his love for her, but rather has, in the loneliness of his dwelling gazed upon her, and held her as if she were all his. Giselda scolds Rinaldo, but he assures her that love can accomplish anything, and that he thus has no doubt that she will be his. But Giselda scoffs at his ardent assurances. Love can do anything? Can it change the wintry garden that they see through the window to spring? If love can do that, she tells him, then she'll believe him. But Salomone interjects, "If you love, you shall see the spring." Folco now returns. He has not found the body of the doe in the forest, and mysteriously, cannot seem to see Giselda now either, but rather sees the body of the doe lying where she stands. Suddenly, the garden blossoms, and Giselda sings ecstatically of its ravishing beauty, and yields herself to Rinaldo's love.

Recording

Private recordings of the original 1943 radio broadcast have circulated for years. This performance was released in 1999 as part of the album ''Souvenirs from Verismo Operas Volume 4'' on the International Record Collectors Club label. It features Alexander Sved as Folco,

Vivian Della Chiesa Vivian Della Chiesa (October 9, 1915 – January 6, 2009) was an American lyric soprano who achieved a high level of popularity in the United States singing on the radio during the 1940s and the early 1950s. Della Chiesa performed a wide variety ...

as Giselda, Mario Berini as Rinaldo, and

Virgilio Lazzari Virgilio Lazzari (20 April 1887 – 4 October 1953) was an Italian operatic bass (voice type), bass who had an active international performance career from 1908 to 1953. He had lengthy associations with the Chicago Civic Opera (1918–1932) and th ...

as Salomone.

Performance history

Roles

Synopsis

Recording

References

See also