Adelson e Salvini
Encyclopedia
Adelson e Salvini is a three act opera semiseria
composed by Vincenzo Bellini
from a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola
. The opera was based on the 1772 novel Épreuves du Sentiment by François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud
, and it draws on a previously performed play by Prospère Delamare.
in Naples
on 12 February 1825. Various revisions were undertaking "with a view to professional staging", but it was never performed.
It was successful enough to generate a commission from the royal court, and it captured the interest of the impresario Domenico Barbaja of the San Carlo Opera, who launched Bellini's career, commissioning him to write his next work, Bianca e Gernando (1826), which was revised two years later as Bianca e Fernando
. Although much influenced by the music of Gioacchino Rossini
, this early piece exhibits some of the characteristic tuneful style and delicate vocal line that Bellini achieved in his mature works and the composer used some of the music from the opera in later works.
Bellini greatly revised the opera for another production in 1829, and later revised it further. However, the first professional production was not given for over one hundred years at the Teatro Metropolitan in Belliini's home town of Catania
on 6 November 1985. Domenico De Meo further revised and edited the score of Adelson to prepare it for a 1992 production at the Teatro Massimo Bellini
in Catania, Sicily
. The following year, the Italian label Nuova Era issued Adelson e Salvini on two compact discs.
The story concerns the friendship of the Anglo-Irish Lord Adelson with a young Italian painter, Salvini, who falls in love with Nelly, the beautiful fiancé of the wealthy and powerful Adelson. The plot proceeds to a curiously murderous twist.
Opera semiseria
Opera semiseria is an Italian genre of opera, popular in the early and middle 19th century.Related to the opera buffa, opera semiseria contains elements of comedy but also of pathos, sometimes with a pastoral setting. It can usually be distinguished from tragic operas or melodramas by the presence...
composed by Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
from a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola
Andrea Leone Tottola
Andrea Leone Tottola was a prolific Italian librettist, best known for his work with Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini.It is not known when or where he was born...
. The opera was based on the 1772 novel Épreuves du Sentiment by François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud
François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud
François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud was a French writer and dramatist.-Life:A practitioner of the roman noir...
, and it draws on a previously performed play by Prospère Delamare.
Composition history
Bellini's first opera was written as his final project at the Naples San Sebastiano Conservatory, when the composer was 23 years old. It was the custom at the Conservatory to introduce promising students to the public with a dramatic work. Bellini styled his project an opera semiseria and it was first performed at the Teatro del Conservatorio di San SebastianoMusic Conservatories of Naples
The Music Conservatory of Naples is a music institution in Naples, southern Italy. It is currently located in the complex of San Pietro a Majella.-San Pietro a Majella:...
in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
on 12 February 1825. Various revisions were undertaking "with a view to professional staging", but it was never performed.
Performance history
Bellini's score does not bring out much of the humor of the piece. Nevertheless, the work was so popular among the Conservatory's student audience that it was performed every Sunday for a year.It was successful enough to generate a commission from the royal court, and it captured the interest of the impresario Domenico Barbaja of the San Carlo Opera, who launched Bellini's career, commissioning him to write his next work, Bianca e Gernando (1826), which was revised two years later as Bianca e Fernando
Bianca e Fernando
Bianca e Fernando is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.There are two versions of this opera: the first, entitled Bianca e Gernando has a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, after Bianca e Fernando alla tomba di Carlo IV, duca di Agrigento by Carlo...
. Although much influenced by the music of Gioacchino Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
, this early piece exhibits some of the characteristic tuneful style and delicate vocal line that Bellini achieved in his mature works and the composer used some of the music from the opera in later works.
Bellini greatly revised the opera for another production in 1829, and later revised it further. However, the first professional production was not given for over one hundred years at the Teatro Metropolitan in Belliini's home town of Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
on 6 November 1985. Domenico De Meo further revised and edited the score of Adelson to prepare it for a 1992 production at the Teatro Massimo Bellini
Teatro Massimo Bellini
The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma...
in Catania, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. The following year, the Italian label Nuova Era issued Adelson e Salvini on two compact discs.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 12 February 1825 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Nelly | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Giacinto Marras Giacinto Marras Giacinto Marras was a singer and musical composer.He studied music in Naples; came to England, 1835; sang at, and gave, concerts with Giulia Grisi, Luigi Lablache, Michael William Balfe, and others; visited Russia, 1842, and Vienna and Naples later; was in Paris, 1844; settled in England, 1846;... |
| Fanny | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
|
| Madame Rivers | contralto | Luigi Rotellini |
| Salvini, friend of Adelson | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Leonardo Perugini |
| Lord Adelson | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Antonio Manzi |
| Struley | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Talamo |
| Bonifacio, servant of Salvini | bass | Giuseppe Ruggiero |
| Geronio | bass | Ciotola |
Synopsis
- Place: IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
- Time: 17th century
The story concerns the friendship of the Anglo-Irish Lord Adelson with a young Italian painter, Salvini, who falls in love with Nelly, the beautiful fiancé of the wealthy and powerful Adelson. The plot proceeds to a curiously murderous twist.
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Salvini, Nelly, Adelosn, Fanny) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Bengt Gustavson, Carina Morling, Thomas Lander, Mario Macchi, Ingrid Tobiasson |
Anders-Per Jonnson, Stockholm Opera Orchestra and the Stockholm Chamber Chorus Live recording |
3 LP records: Bongiovanni Cat: GB 2034-2036 |
| 1992 | Bradley Williams, Alicia Nafé, Fabio Previati, Lucia Rizzi |
Andrea Licata, EAR Teatro Massimo Bellini Teatro Massimo Bellini The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma... Orchestra and Chorus, Catania (Audio and video recordings of a performance (or of performances) at Catania, November) |
Audio CD: Nuova Era Cat: 7154-55 DVD: House of Opera, Cat: DVDCC 109 |
External links
- Adelson e Salvini Text of Acts 1 and 2 of the opera, in the original ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. Subscription service. Retrieved 13 June 2010 - Information about the background of the opera on website of WWUH-fm, Hartford, CT, 1998 Retrieved 13 June 2010