Beatrice di Tenda
Encyclopedia
Beatrice di Tenda is a tragic opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in two acts 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
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Felice Romani
Felice Romani
Felice Romani was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito.-Biography:Born Giuseppe Felice Romani to a bourgeois family in Genoa,...

, after the play of the same name by Carlo Tedaldi-Fores. The opera is Bellini's penultimate opera, coming after Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...

(1831) and before I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...

(1835).

Composition history

The composer chose the subject in discussions with Giuditta Pasta after they had seen the ballet together in Milan, against the better judgement of Romani and despite similarities with Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...

's Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...

. Work was problematic, and the finale was not finished in time for the premiere so Beatrice's final aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 was borrowed from 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...

; Bellini's sketches of a former duet between Beatrice and Agnese were realized by Vittorio Gui
Vittorio Gui
Vittorio Gui was an Italian conductor and composer.Gui was born in Rome in 1885. In 1933 Bruno Walter invited him to be guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival....

 for a series of revivals from the late 1960s. Romani's distaste for the subject, and his exasperation with Bellini, led him to insert an apology into the printed libretto; this led to a bitter row with the composer and a breakdown of their difficult, if glorious, working relationship.

The chorus plays an even more important part here than in Bellini's earlier operas, not only commenting on the action but advising and comforting the protagonists, in the true tradition of classical Greek drama
Theatre of Ancient Greece
The theatre of Ancient Greece, or ancient Greek drama, is a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece between c. 550 and c. 220 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political and military power during this period, was its centre, where it was...

.

Bellini felt he had counteracted the horror of the story with his beautiful music and that Beatrice "was not unworthy of her sisters". It was Pasta's fine performance in the title role that overcame the public's hostility to the piece, and it was the only one of Bellini's operas to be published in full score in his lifetime.

Performance history

It received its first performance at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, on 16 March 1833 with Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta , born in Saronno, Italy, was a soprano considered among the greatest of opera singers, to whom the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas was compared.-Studies and career:...

 in the title role. The opera was revived in 1961 by the American Opera Society
American Opera Society
The American Opera Society was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas between 1951 and 1970...

 with Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....

, Enzo Sordello
Enzo Sordello
Enzo Sordello is an Italian operatic baritone.Enzo Sordello studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Turin and privately with Carlo Tagliabue. In 1952, he won the International Competition organized by the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and began appearing there in small roles...

, Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....

 and Richard Cassilly
Richard Cassilly
Richard Cassilly was an American operatic tenor who had a major international opera career between 1954 and 1990...

 under the baton of Nicola Rescigno
Nicola Rescigno
Nicola Rescigno was an Italian-American conductor, particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory. Opera News said that "Rescigno was a seminal figure in the history of opera in America, a maestro and mentor who shaped the destiny and reputation of two major U.S...

, and in the same year at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

 with Sutherland and Raina Kabaivanska
Raina Kabaivanska
Raina Kabaivanska is a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the leading lyrico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with Verdi and Puccini, although she sang a wide range of roles....

, Antonino Votto
Antonino Votto
Antonino Votto was an Italian operatic conductor. Votto developed an extensive discography with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan during the 1950s, when EMI produced the bulk of its studio recordings featuring Maria Callas...

 conducting. Since then the title role has been assumed by a number of other prominent sopranos: Leyla Gencer
Leyla Gencer
Leyla Gencer, or Ayşe Leyla Çeyrekgil was a world-renowned Turkish operatic soprano.Known as "La Diva Turca" and "La Regina" in the opera world, Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire...

, Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni, birth name Mirella Fregni, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky...

, June Anderson
June Anderson
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize...

, Edita Gruberová
Edita Gruberová
Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...

 and Mariella Devia
Mariella Devia
Mariella Devia is an Italian soprano, well known for performing many roles in the bel canto repertoire.Born in Chiusavecchia, Devia trained at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Iolanda Magnoni...

.

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere Cast, March 16, 1833
(Conductor: - )
Beatrice di Tenda, Filippo's wife 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...

Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta , born in Saronno, Italy, was a soprano considered among the greatest of opera singers, to whom the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas was compared.-Studies and career:...

Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan 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...

Orazio Cartegenova
Agnese del Maino
Agnese del Maino
Agnese del Maino was a Milanese noblewoman and the mistress of Filippo Maria Visconti, the last legitimate Duke of Milan of the Visconti dynasty. Agnese was the mother of Bianca Maria Visconti, who succeeded to the title of Duchess of Milan in 1450, despite her illegitimacy.- Family :Agnese was...

, in love with Orombello
mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

Anna del Serre
Orombello, lord of Ventimiglia tenor Alberico Curioni
Anichino, loyal friend of Orombello tenor Alessandro Giacchini
Rizzardo del Maino, Agnese's brother tenor

Synopsis

This is the story of Beatrice Lascaris di Tenda
Beatrice Lascaris di Tenda
Beatrice Lascaris di Tenda or Beatrice de Tende or Beatrix , was an Italian noblewoman who was the wife of Facino Cane, Count of Biandrate and a condottiero, and then wife to Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, who caused her tragic death.-Family:Beatrice was born in 1370 or 1372 or 1376...

, the woman who was the widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...

 of the condottiere Facino Cane
Facino Cane
thumb|Facino Cane.Facino Cane da Casale , born Bonifacio Cane, was an Italian condottiero.-Biography:Cane was born in Casale Monferrato to a noble family....

 and later the wife
Wife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...

 of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti
Filippo Maria Visconti was ruler of Milan from 1412 to 1447.-Biography:Filippo Maria Visconti, who had become nominal ruler of Pavia in 1402, succeeded his assassinated brother Gian Maria Visconti as Duke of Milan in 1412. They were the sons of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Gian Maria's predecessor, by...

, in 15th century Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. Filippo has grown tired of his wife Beatrice; she regrets her impetuous marriage to him after her first husband's death, a marriage that has delivered her and her people into the Duke's tyrannical power.

Act 1

Filippo attends a ball at the Castle Binasco
Binasco
Binasco is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 15 km southwest of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,236 and an area of 3.9 km²....

 in Italy, shadowed as usual by the sinister Rizzardo. He is fed up with everyone paying obeisance to his wife. His sycophantic courtiers tell him how much they sympathize, and suggest that Beatrice's servants are all plotting against him.

Beautiful harp music is heard. Agnese, the current object of Filippo's lust, sings from afar that life is empty without love. Filippo echoes her thoughts and states how much he loves her; she has no equal. His courtiers again sympathize with him and encourage him to seize the moment. Agnese disappears and all leave. Then Agnese reappears, this time singing for Orombello. Mysteriously, she wishes that her heart will guide him to her arms and, as in all good opera plots, the object of her lust makes his entrance. Orombello splutters that he does not know where he is or why he is there. Comforted by Agnese, he begins to relax and agrees that he is deeply in love and, when asked about a letter, shows her the one he is carrying. "Such misfortune!" The letter he is referring to is one of many he has written to Beatrice and not the one that Agnese had sent to him. Agnese's world falls apart, her tenderness turns to vitriol, and the two of them spit out a dramatic aria and leave.

Beatrice enters one of her secret places with her ladies. She is happy, but soon loses her poise and laments how misguided she has been to have married the evil Duke Filippo. As they all go to leave, Filippo sees them in the distance and, believing she is avoiding him, demands that she be brought back. The two of them accuse and rage at each other, with Filippo producing some secret papers stolen from Beatrice's apartment.

In another scene, slightly the worse for wear, Filippo's soldiers discuss his silence and temper. Beatrice enters carrying a portrait of her beloved, deceased husband, Facino. She is bemoaning the fact that everyone has abandoned her when Orombello enters protesting that he has not. Excitedly, he tells her his plans to rally the troops and help her free herself. She crushes him saying, in so many words, that she does not rate his expertise in security matters. Stunned, Orombello protests his love and, even when begged to do so, will not leave her presence; instead, he kneels down in front of her, at which moment Agnese and Filippo enter and accuse the two traitors of having an affair. Everyone now joins in with accusation, counter accusation, attack and defence. The upshot is that Filippo has the pair arrested — to be tried in Court for adultery.

Act 2

The courtiers learn of the terrible torture that has been applied to Orombello. Then, the Court is summoned and Filippo sets out the case for the prosecution. Beatrice is dragged in, and she protests that the Court has no jurisdiction. Next, Orombello is hauled in and, after desperately seeking forgiveness from Beatrice, proclaims her innocence. Beatrice regains her will to live and something in her speaking touches Filippo's heart. He announces that the sentence should be delayed. The Court overrules him stating that more torture should be applied until the truth is spoken. Again, Filippo changes his mind and, supporting the Court's decision, instructs that, indeed, more torture seems to be necessary to extract the truth. The Court rises.

Filippo and Agnese, full of remorse, are left alone and Agnese, realizing that things have gone much further than she had expected, begs Filippo to drop all the charges; but Filippo, not wishing to look weak, dismisses the idea.

Filippo now goes through several stages of torment and is obviously still deeply in love with Beatrice. Just as he has made up his mind to drop all the charges, with cruel timing, men still loyal to the late condottiere Facino arrive, to invade the castle. As a result, Filippo signs the death warrant now handed to him by Anichino* and tries to justify his actions to the crowd, blaming Beatrice's behaviour.

There is a scene in which we see Beatrice's ladies outside Orombello's cell, while Beatrice prays. The action reaches its finale.

Recordings

Year Cast
(Beatrice,
Orombello,
Agnese,
Fillipo)
Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra
Label
1966 Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....

,
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...

,
Josephine Veasey
Josephine Veasey
Josephine Veasey is a British mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with Wagner and Berliozroles.-Life and career:Born in Peckham, she studied with Audrey Langford, and became a member of the Royal Opera House chorus in 1949, she made her debut as a soloist in 1955, as the Shepherd Boy in...

,
Cornelius Opthof
Richard Bonynge
Richard Bonynge
Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...

,
London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

, Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Audio CD: Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....


Cat: 433 706-2
1986 Mariana Nicolesco
Mariana Nicolesco
Mariana Nicolesco is a Romanian operatic soprano, particularly associated with Mozart, Verdi and the Belcanto repertory.-Career:Mariana Nicolesco studied violin at the Brasov School of Music getting her diploma with the Bruch Concerto, and voice, for a short period, at the Cluj-Napoca Academy of...

,
Vincenzo La Scola
Vincenzo La Scola
Vincenzo La Scola was an Italian tenor who had a successful international opera career and theatrical career for more than 25 years. He was particularly admired for his portrayals in operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini...

,
Stefania Toczyska
Stefania Toczyska
Stefania Toczyska , born in Grudziądz, Poland, on February 19, 1943, is a Polish mezzo-soprano of international repute.She lived in Toruń, where she attended the Music School Stefania Toczyska (née Krzywinska), born in Grudziądz, Poland, on February 19, 1943, is a Polish mezzo-soprano of...

,
Piero Cappuccilli
Piero Cappuccilli
Piero Cappuccilli was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi roles, especiallyMacbeth and Simon Boccanegra; he was renowned for his extraordinary breath control and smooth legato, and is widely regarded as one of the finest Italian baritones of the second half of the 20th...

Alberto Zedda
Alberto Zedda
Alberto Zedda is an Italian conductor and musicologist, a specialist of the 19th century Italian repertoire.Zedda studied in his native Milan with Antonino Votto and Carlo Maria Giulini, and made his debut there as conductor in 1956, with Il barbiere di Siviglia...

,
Monte Carlo Orchestra and the Prague Philarmonic Choir
Audio CD: Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....


Cat: SM3K 64539
1987 June Anderson
June Anderson
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize...

,
Armando Ariostini,
Elana Zilio,
Armando Ariostini
Gianfranco Masini,
La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...

 orchestra and chorus
(Live recording; source and conductor in doubt)
Audio CD: Opera d'Oro
Cat: OPD-1174
1992 Lucia Aliberti
Lucia Aliberti
Lucia Aliberti is a prominent Sicilian soprano opera singer. She is much appreciated for her performances of the bel canto roles of , Bellini, Gioacchino Rossini, Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Vivaldi, Mercadante, etc.A dramatic soprano of vocal agility, Lucia Aliberti was awarded...

,
Martin Thompson,
Camille Capasso,
Paolo Gavenelli
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi
Fabio Luisi is an Italian conductor. On September 6, 2011, he was named Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera....

,
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...

 chorus and orchestra
Audio CD: Berlin Classics
Cat: 0010422BC
1992 Edita Gruberova
Edita Gruberová
Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...

,
Don Bernardini,
Vesselina Kasarova
Vesselina Kasarova
Vesselina Kasarova is a Bulgarian mezzo-soprano opera singer.- Early life and education :Vesselina Kasarova was born in the central Bulgarian town of Stara Zagora. Under the communist regime she studied Russian as a second language and had an early start in music education...

,
Igor Mozorov
Pinchas Steinberg
Pinchas Steinberg
Pinchas Steinberg is an Israeli conductor.He was a violin student in the USA and a composition student in Berlin. His conducting debut was in 1974 with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Berlin. He was a regular guest conductor with the Vienna State Opera from 1986-1993...

 
ORF Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Children's Choir
Audio CD: Nightingale Classics
Cat: NC 070560-2
2002 Edita Gruberova
Edita Gruberová
Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years...

,
Raúl Hernández,
Stefania Kaluza,
Michael Volle
Marcello Viotti
Marcello Viotti
Marcello Viotti was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera.Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at the Conservatory of Lausanne. Wolfgang Sawallisch was a mentor to Viotti and encouraged...


Opernhaus Zürich Orchestra and Chorus
DVD: TDK
Cat: DVOPBDT

External links

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