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''Regina Diaz'' is an opera in two acts composed by
Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.
He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...
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 ...
by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (17 March 186330 May 1934) was an Italian librettist.
Biography
He was best known for his friendship and collaboration with the composer Pietro Mascagni. Most of his libretti were written in collaboration with Guido ...
and Guido Menasci
Guido Menasci (24 March 1867 – 27 December 1925) was an Italian opera librettist.
His best-known work is ''Cavalleria rusticana'' written with Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti. He also provided the libretti for Mascagni's'' I Rantzau'', ''Zanetto' ...
. It premiered on 5 March 1894 at the Teatro Mercadante in Naples. The libretto is based on Lockroy
Joseph-Philippe Simon, called Lockroy (February 17, 1803 – January 19, 1891)Death notice
in ''
''The Autumn of Italian Opera: From Verismo to Modernism, 1890-1915''
pp. 89–90; 227. University Press of New England. He wrote to Menasci in 1892:
"Umberto Giordano"
''Japigia, rivista pugliese di archeologia storia e arte'', Anno 2, No. 2, pp. 201–211 With the loss of Sonzogno's support, Giordano seriously considered giving up on a career as an opera composer and was supporting himself by working as a bandmaster and fencing instructor. However, Mascagni and
''Regina Diaz''
Sonzogno
Act 1
Mario Sanseverino, a Neapolitan nobleman and leader of a rebellion against Spanish rule, approaches the friar Benedetto in the courtyard of a monastery. He tells Benedetto of the impending rebellion and hands him a sheaf of papers for safekeeping, asking him to destroy them if he is killed. The papers are letters from Sanseverino's lover, Regina, the wife of the Spanish governor Ferrante Diaz. Sanseverino and Regina meet in a church where she has gone to pray. They once again declare their love for each other. Later, the plot is discovered and its leaders, including Sanseverino, are brought to the governor's palace. Ferrante recognizes Sanseverino as the son of an old friend. He tells Sanseverino that he remembers him as a boy and will arrange for him to escape into exile instead of being executed. Regina is distraught at the idea that she will never see her lover again.
Act 2
Left alone together in the governors' palace, Sanseverino and Regina make plans to flee together at midnight. Meanwhile, Gonzalo, one of Ferrante's soldiers, arrives to inform Ferrante that in investigating the plot, he has discovered that it also involves Fra Benedetto who appears to be in possession of secret papers. Ferrante summons Benedetto and demands to see the papers whereupon he discovers that Regina has betrayed him with Sanseverino. In a fury, he attempts to kill Regina, but is stopped by Benedetto. Sanseverino arrives. Ferrante immediately challenges him to a duel and kills him. Regina is sent off to a convent where she will spend the rest of her days.
in ''
Maria di Rohan
''Maria di Rohan'' is a ''melodramma tragico'', or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's ''Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu'', which had pl ...
'', although the setting for Giordano's version was moved from 17th-century Paris to 18th-century Naples. The opera was a failure at its premiere and withdrawn after the second performance. Giordano's patron and publisher, Edoardo Sonzogno
Edoardo Sonzogno (21 April 1836 – 14 March 1920) was an Italian publisher.
A native of Milan, Sonzogno was the son of a businessman who owned a printing plant and bookstore. When he inherited the business upon his father's death he set ab ...
, blamed the failure on the poor libretto. Giordano blamed it on Sonzogno's interference in the production.
Background and performance history
''Regina Diaz'' was Giordano's second full-length opera and like its predecessor, ''Mala vita
''Mala vita'' (Wretched Life) is an opera in three acts composed by Umberto Giordano to a libretto by Nicola Daspuro adapted from Salvatore Di Giacomo and Goffredo Cognetti's verismo play of the same name. Giordano's first full-length opera, ' ...
'', was commissioned by the Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno. ''Mala vita'' had had considerable success apart from its performances in Naples where the gritty 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 ...
story and depiction of Neapolitan slum-dwellers had caused a furor amongst the critics and audience alike. For his second opera, Sonzogno commissioned Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci (the librettists of Mascagni's hugely successful ''Cavalleria rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play b ...
'') to write a libretto for Giordano. Sonzogno was candid with the librettists concerning the problems they might face with the composer.Mallach, Alan (2007)''The Autumn of Italian Opera: From Verismo to Modernism, 1890-1915''
pp. 89–90; 227. University Press of New England. He wrote to Menasci in 1892:
His lack of culture prevents him from framing a clear idea of what he feels, what he wants, and what is more or less readily adaptable to a libretto. Patience is needed since he has other gifts and qualities as a musician.Giordano decided to turn away from verismo but was determined to keep a connection with Naples. The result was an old-fashioned romantic melodrama based on the same story used in Donizetti's ''Maria di Rohan'' but with the setting changed from 17th-century Paris to Naples in the early 18th century when it was under Spanish rule. ''Regina Diaz'' premiered on 5 March 1894 at the Teatro Mercadante in Naples with the Spanish-born soprano Concepció "Concetta" Bordalba in the title role. The premiere was a failure with both the audience and the critics, of whom only
Roberto Bracco
Roberto Bracco (1861–1943) was an Italian playwright, screenwriter and journalist. A number of his plays were turned into films, and he worked on the scripts of several of them including the 1914 silent '' Lost in the Dark''. He was nominated ...
mounted a robust defense of the work. Rocco Pagliara, the critic for ''Il Mattino
''Il Mattino'' (meaning ''The Morning'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Naples, Italy.
History and profile
''Il Mattino'' was first published on 16 March 1892 by the journalists Edoardo Scarfoglio and Matilde Serao. The pa ...
'' wrote:
He has composed a romantic melodrama...but by plunging himself into utter conventionality...he has been unable to achieve anything that would even polish or illuminate the stale and the conventional.After the second performance, Sonzogno withdrew the opera and cancelled the stipend he had been paying to Giordano for future work.Raeli, Vito (1931)
"Umberto Giordano"
''Japigia, rivista pugliese di archeologia storia e arte'', Anno 2, No. 2, pp. 201–211 With the loss of Sonzogno's support, Giordano seriously considered giving up on a career as an opera composer and was supporting himself by working as a bandmaster and fencing instructor. However, Mascagni and
Alberto Franchetti
Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer, best known for the 1902 opera ''Germania''.
Biography
Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied first in Venice, the ...
persuaded Sonzogno to give Giordano a final chance. Franchetti offered Giordano Illica's libretto for ''Andrea Chénier
''Andrea Chénier'' () is a verismo opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed on 28 March 1896 at La Scala, Milan. The story is based loosely on the life of the French poet Andr ...
'', which Franchetti had originally commissioned. Giordano incorporated some of the best parts of the score for ''Regina Diaz'' into ''Andrea Chénier'' which had a triumphant premiere at La Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
in 1896. It proved to be Giordano's most enduring success and secured his future as an opera composer.
Roles
Synopsis
Setting: Naples c. 1700The synopsis is based on Targioni-Tozzetti, G. and Menasci, G. (1894)''Regina Diaz''
Sonzogno
Act 1
Mario Sanseverino, a Neapolitan nobleman and leader of a rebellion against Spanish rule, approaches the friar Benedetto in the courtyard of a monastery. He tells Benedetto of the impending rebellion and hands him a sheaf of papers for safekeeping, asking him to destroy them if he is killed. The papers are letters from Sanseverino's lover, Regina, the wife of the Spanish governor Ferrante Diaz. Sanseverino and Regina meet in a church where she has gone to pray. They once again declare their love for each other. Later, the plot is discovered and its leaders, including Sanseverino, are brought to the governor's palace. Ferrante recognizes Sanseverino as the son of an old friend. He tells Sanseverino that he remembers him as a boy and will arrange for him to escape into exile instead of being executed. Regina is distraught at the idea that she will never see her lover again.
Act 2
Left alone together in the governors' palace, Sanseverino and Regina make plans to flee together at midnight. Meanwhile, Gonzalo, one of Ferrante's soldiers, arrives to inform Ferrante that in investigating the plot, he has discovered that it also involves Fra Benedetto who appears to be in possession of secret papers. Ferrante summons Benedetto and demands to see the papers whereupon he discovers that Regina has betrayed him with Sanseverino. In a fury, he attempts to kill Regina, but is stopped by Benedetto. Sanseverino arrives. Ferrante immediately challenges him to a duel and kills him. Regina is sent off to a convent where she will spend the rest of her days.
References
{{Authority control Operas by Umberto Giordano Italian-language operas 1894 operas Operas set in Italy Operas Operas based on plays