(''The School of the Jealous'') is a ''

dramma giocoso ''Dramma giocoso'' (Italian, literally: drama with jokes; plural: ''drammi giocosi'') is a genre of opera common in the mid-18th century. The term is a contraction of ''dramma giocoso per musica'' and describes the opera's libretto (text). The ge ...

'' in two acts by

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...

, set to 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 ...

Caterino Mazzolà Caterino Tommaso Mazzolà (18 January 1745 at Longarone – 16 July 1806 in Venice) was an Italian poet and librettist. Born into a wealthy family from the islands of Murano, he and his family moved to Venice around 1767, but after a few years h ...

Performance history

It was first performed at the

Teatro San Moisè The Teatro San Moisè was a theatre and opera house in Venice, active from 1620 to 1818. It was in a prominent location near the Palazzo Giustinian and the church of San Moisè at the entrance to the Grand Canal. History Built by the San Bernaba ...

in Venice on 27 December 1778. In 1783 it was given at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

in Vienna to inaugurate the reestablishment of the Italian opera troupe. Salieri revised the score for the 1783 performances, creating new arias and expanding the role of woodwinds and brass in the scoring of the work. The cast included

Francesco Benucci Francesco Benucci (c. 1745 – 5 April 1824) was an Italian bass/baritone singer of the 18th century. He sang a number of important roles in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri and other composers. Life Historical background ...

as Blasio and

Nancy Storace Anna (or Ann) Selina Storace (; 27 October 176524 August 1817), known professionally as Nancy Storace, was an English operatic soprano. The role of Susanna in Mozart's ''Le nozze di Figaro'' was written for and first performed by her. Born in ...

as the countess, the original Figaro and Susanna in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

''. It reached London in 1786, where, as in many other European cities, it enjoyed great success.

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

composed two

insertion aria An insertion aria (' in Italian, also known as suitcase aria, interpolated aria, or trunk aria) is an aria sung in an opera for which it was not composed. It was a practice that began in the seventeenth century and continued actively through the ...

s for the work, one lost, the surviving aria, "Dice benissimo", for the bass role Lumaca and orchestra, H. 24b/5. Among the many admirers of the opera was

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

, who wrote to

Charlotte von Stein Charlotte Albertine Ernestine von Stein (also mentioned as ''Charlotta Ernestina Bernadina von Stein'' ), born von Schardt; 25 December 1742, Eisenach – 6 January 1827, Weimar, was a lady-in-waiting at the court in Weimar and a close friend to ...

in a letter dated 28 August 1784: On 28 August 1784, Goethe was in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

. A production of the opera there in 1782 has been recorded. The first modern revival was in concert in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is on ...

in 2015 (with recording).Valeria Pregliasco. Report from Turin. Opera, September 2022, Vol.73 No.9, p1122. A production opened in Legnano, Italy (Salieri's birthplace) late in 2016 and subsequently toured to Jesi and Florence. A further new production created by th
Theater an der Wien
opened at the Kammeropera, Vienna in May 2017 and transferred to Cologne in 2019.

Bampton Classical Opera Bampton Classical Opera is an opera company based in Bampton, Oxfordshire and founded in 1993. It specialises in the production of lesser known opera from the Classical period. Performances are always sung in English. ''Opera today'' called the c ...

presented the UK modern première in 2017. In 2022 a production at the Teatro Regio in Turin used an edition with four arias added for the 1783 Vienna performances. The North and South American première was given in 2017 in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

by Ópera Joven ('Youth Opera') of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, in a co-production with Sodre, the public broadcasting organisation of Uruguay. A video of the production is available on YouTube.

Roles

Synopsis

The plot of the

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 ...

involves love intrigues, attempted seductions and provocations to jealousy between members of the three different social strata: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the working class. The role of the Lieutenant is a close parallel to that of Don Alfonso in Mozart's ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...

''.

Recordings

* Salieri: ''La scuola de' gelosi'', Emiliano d'Aguanno, Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, Federico Sacchi, Roberta Mameli, Florian Gotz, Milena Storti, Patrick Vogel; L`arte del mondo, DHM 2016

Performance history

Roles

Synopsis

Recordings

Notes

References

Further reading