''Sancia di Castiglia'' is an Italian
opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
in two acts by
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
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 Pietro Salatino. It was first performed at the
Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 4 November 1832, conducted by Nicola Festa.
Roles
Synopsis
:Place:
Castile, Spain
:Time: The
Middle Ages
Sancia, Queen of Castile, whose husband has been killed in battle, also believes that her son, Garcia, has been killed. She plans to marry the Saracen prince, Ircano, against the advice of her minister, Rodrigo. When Garcia, having survived an assassination attempt instigated by Ircano, reappears to claim the throne, Ircano tells Sancia that he will marry her only if she poisons her son. Garcia is about to drink from the poisoned goblet when a suddenly repentant Sancia snatches it and drinks it herself. She dies pleading for her son's forgiveness.
Recordings
Notes and references
Further reading
*Allitt, John Stewart (1991), ''Donizetti: In the Light of Romanticism and the Teaching of Johann Simon Mayr'', Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, Massachusetts: Element, Inc. (USA)
*
Ashbrook, William
William Ashbrook (January 28, 1922 – March 31, 2009) was an American musicologist, writer, journalist, and academic. He was perhaps best noted as a historian, researcher and popularizer of the works of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti.
...
(1982), ''Donizetti and His Operas'', Cambridge University Press.
*Ashbrook, William (1998), "Donizetti, Gaetano" in
Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
(ed.), ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', vol. 1. London: Macmillan
*Ashbrook, William and Sarah Hibberd (2001), in
Holden, Amanda (ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam. . pp. 224–247.
*Black, John (1982), ''Donizetti’s Operas in Naples, 1822—1848''. London: The Donizetti Society.
*Loewenberg, Alfred (1970). ''Annals of Opera, 1597-1940'', 2nd edition. Rowman and Littlefield
*
Osborne, Charles, (1994), ''The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini'', Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press.
*
Sadie, Stanley
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
, (ed.);
John Tyrell (exec. ed.) (2004), ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. (hardcover). (eBook).
* Weinstock, Herbert (1963), ''Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', New York: Pantheon Books.
External links
*
Donizetti Society (London) website
{{Authority control
Italian-language operas
Operas by Gaetano Donizetti
Opera seria
1832 operas
Operas
Opera world premieres at the Teatro San Carlo
Operas set in Spain