Il crociato in Egitto
Encyclopedia
Il crociato in Egitto is an opera
in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer
, with a libretto
by Gaetano Rossi
. It was first performed at La Fenice
theatre, Venice
on 7 March, 1824. The part of Armando was sung by the famous castrato
, Giovanni Battista Velluti; the opera was probably the last ever written to feature a castrato. It is the last of Meyerbeer's series of operas in Italian
, and became the foundation of the composer's international success.
(His Majesty's Theatre
, 3 June 1825, also with Velluti in the cast). This encouraged Rossini
, who was then managing the Théâtre-Italien
, to arrange for its performance in Paris
, where the role of Armando was taken by the mezzo-soprano
, Giuditta Pasta
. Over the next twenty to thirty years the opera was performed in almost every major opera house in Europe, and even in Mexico City
, Havana
and Constantinople
.
The opera formed the basis for the composer's future great success. As remarked by the critic of the London magazine The Harmonicon in 1825 -
'Of all living composers, Meyerbeer is the one who most happily combines the easy, flowing and expressive melodies of Italy with the severer beauties, the grander accomplishments, of the German school.'
This formula of combining the strengths of both operatic schools, as well as of dramatic stage spectacle and flexible and imaginative use of the orchestra, whilst fully displayed in Il crociato, was to produce maximum effect with Meyerbeer's series of Grand Opera
s, commencing with Robert le diable
in 1831.
While it has not been staged complete in the 20th century there have been concert performances in both London and New York
which were recorded on LP. A staged revival was promised in Venice for the 2005-2006 season, but was postponed until the 2006-2007 season. This performance featured a natural male soprano Michael Maniaci
.
" style, which was marked by less florid singing and more emphasis on the dramatic side. One of the earliest of these operas is Meyerbeer's Il crociato in Egitto. It has much in common with Rossini, but, on closer examination, some significant innovations become apparent. One is the even greater complexity of the finale to the first act, especially the use of two contrasting stage bands, which is a precursor of the three bands in L'étoile du nord
. This was a direction opposite to that eventually taken by Bellini
and Donizetti, who concentrated more on the lyrical lines of singers than on orchestral handling and larger-scale dramatic form; it marks the experience of Meyerbeer's German training and his association with early German romantic opera, including the work of Carl Maria von Weber
. In Adriano's "Suono funereo" there is what may well be one of the earliest cases of that strain of lyrical pathos which was to be such a dominant factor in later bel canto works. Another example is Palmide's big aria in Act II: "D'una madre sventurata" in which the desperation of the young mother comes through in the music.
Before the opera begins, Armando, missing presumed dead in fighting, has become confidante to the Sultan Aladino, under an assumed name. He has fallen in love with Aladino's daughter, who has borne him a son, and has secretly converted her to Christianity.
Adriano arrives at the Sultan's palace to negotiate a truce. There he recognises Armando, as does Felicia, who has disguised herself as a knight to find her betrothed. Armando and the other Christian prisoners are thereupon sentenced to imprisonment and death. The ambitious Osmino arms the prisoners under Armando with the intention of killing the Sultan, but Armando exposes his treachery to the Sultan and instead kills Osmino. The Sultan relents, peace is agreed with the Knights and Armando and Palmide are reunited.
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 Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, with 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 Gaetano Rossi
Gaetano Rossi
Gaetano Rossi was an Italian writer who wrote opera libretti for several composers including Mayr, Rossini, Donizetti, Mercadante, Pacini, and Meyerbeer.-Biography:...
. It was first performed at 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...
theatre, 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 7 March, 1824. The part of Armando was sung by the famous castrato
Castrato
A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...
, Giovanni Battista Velluti; the opera was probably the last ever written to feature a castrato. It is the last of Meyerbeer's series of operas in Italian
Italian language
Italian 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...
, and became the foundation of the composer's international success.
Early performances and reception
After its successful Venetian premiere, Il Crociato was the first of Meyerbeer's operas to be performed in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen is the largest theatre in north-east Scotland, seating more than 1400. The theatre is sited on Rosemount Viaduct, opposite the city's Union Terrace Gardens. It was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1906...
, 3 June 1825, also with Velluti in the cast). This encouraged 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...
, who was then managing the Théâtre-Italien
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
, to arrange for its performance in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where the role of Armando was taken by the 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...
, 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:...
. Over the next twenty to thirty years the opera was performed in almost every major opera house in Europe, and even in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
The opera formed the basis for the composer's future great success. As remarked by the critic of the London magazine The Harmonicon in 1825 -
'Of all living composers, Meyerbeer is the one who most happily combines the easy, flowing and expressive melodies of Italy with the severer beauties, the grander accomplishments, of the German school.'
This formula of combining the strengths of both operatic schools, as well as of dramatic stage spectacle and flexible and imaginative use of the orchestra, whilst fully displayed in Il crociato, was to produce maximum effect with Meyerbeer's series of Grand Opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
s, commencing with Robert le diable
Robert le diable (opera)
Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
in 1831.
While it has not been staged complete in the 20th century there have been concert performances in both London and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
which were recorded on LP. A staged revival was promised in Venice for the 2005-2006 season, but was postponed until the 2006-2007 season. This performance featured a natural male soprano Michael Maniaci
Michael Maniaci
Michael Maniaci is an American opera singer who has appeared at many of the world's best opera houses. Possessing a unique male soprano voice, Maniaci is noted for his unusual ability to sing into the upper soprano register without using falsetto...
.
Significant Innovations
After Rossini left for Paris, composers then active in Italy began to take important steps away from Rossini's style in a series of operas which bridged the gap between Rossini and the later "bel cantoBel canto
Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
" style, which was marked by less florid singing and more emphasis on the dramatic side. One of the earliest of these operas is Meyerbeer's Il crociato in Egitto. It has much in common with Rossini, but, on closer examination, some significant innovations become apparent. One is the even greater complexity of the finale to the first act, especially the use of two contrasting stage bands, which is a precursor of the three bands in L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe....
. This was a direction opposite to that eventually taken by 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...
and Donizetti, who concentrated more on the lyrical lines of singers than on orchestral handling and larger-scale dramatic form; it marks the experience of Meyerbeer's German training and his association with early German romantic opera, including the work of Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
. In Adriano's "Suono funereo" there is what may well be one of the earliest cases of that strain of lyrical pathos which was to be such a dominant factor in later bel canto works. Another example is Palmide's big aria in Act II: "D'una madre sventurata" in which the desperation of the young mother comes through in the music.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, March 7, 1824 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Aladino, Sultan Sultan Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who... of Damietta Damietta Damietta , also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about north of Cairo.-History:... |
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... |
Luciano Bianchi |
| Palmide, his daughter, secretly married to | 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... |
Henriette Méric-Lalande Henriette Méric-Lalande Henriette Méric-Lalande , was a French operatic soprano, one of the leading sopranos of the early 19th century.She was born at Dunkerque, the daughter and pupil of the conductor Jean-Baptiste Lalande. She made her stage debut in Nantes in 1814. In Paris, Castil-Blaze was impressed by her, and ... |
| Armando, a Knight of Rhodes Knights Hospitaller The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's... , in the guise of Elmireno |
soprano castrato Castrato A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's... or 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... |
Giovanni Battista Velluti |
| Felicia, his betrothed, in disguise as a Knight of Rhodes | mezzo-soprano | Brigida Lorenzani |
| Adriano, Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes | 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... |
Gaetano Crivelli Gaetano Crivelli Gaetano Crivelli was a famous Italian tenor.Although he was born not actually in Bergamo but in neighbouring Brescia, Crivelli can be regarded as one of the founders of that remarkable Bergamo tenor school which, beginning with Giacomo David and proceeding through such singers as Giovanni David,... |
| Alma, Palmide’s confidante | soprano | Marietta Bramati |
| Osmino, Grand Vizier of Damietta | tenor | Giovanni Boccaccio |
| Chorus: Slaves, Knights, etc | ||
Synopsis
- Place:
- Time: During the Sixth CrusadeSixth CrusadeThe Sixth Crusade started in 1228 as an attempt to regain Jerusalem. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade. It involved very little actual fighting...
, (commenced 1228).
Before the opera begins, Armando, missing presumed dead in fighting, has become confidante to the Sultan Aladino, under an assumed name. He has fallen in love with Aladino's daughter, who has borne him a son, and has secretly converted her to Christianity.
Adriano arrives at the Sultan's palace to negotiate a truce. There he recognises Armando, as does Felicia, who has disguised herself as a knight to find her betrothed. Armando and the other Christian prisoners are thereupon sentenced to imprisonment and death. The ambitious Osmino arms the prisoners under Armando with the intention of killing the Sultan, but Armando exposes his treachery to the Sultan and instead kills Osmino. The Sultan relents, peace is agreed with the Knights and Armando and Palmide are reunited.
Recordings
- Il crociato in Egitto: Royal Philharmonic OrchestraRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
, cond. David ParryDavid Parry (conductor)David Parry is an English conductor who is particularly known for his work within the field of opera. Described as "a man of the theatre with whom directors love to work; he is good with singers; he knows the British opera world like the back of his hand...
. 4 CDs. Opera RaraOpera RaraOpera Rara is a British record label, founded in the early 1970s by Americans Patric Schmid and Don White to promote concerts of rare and/or forgotten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Donizetti and such other "bel canto" composers as Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, and Federico Ricci.The...
ORC 10 (1992). Soloists include Yvonne KennyYvonne KennyYvonne Kenny AM is an Australian soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles.Born in Sydney, she first studied at the University of Sydney in science, hoping to become a biochemist, but decided to pursue a career in music instead...
(Palmide), Bruce Ford (Adriano).
- Il crociato in Egitto (Michael ManiaciMichael ManiaciMichael Maniaci is an American opera singer who has appeared at many of the world's best opera houses. Possessing a unique male soprano voice, Maniaci is noted for his unusual ability to sing into the upper soprano register without using falsetto...
, Patrizia CiofiPatrizia CiofiPatrizia Ciofi, born in Casole d'Elsa, Siena, on June 7, 1967, is an Italian operatic soprano. She is married to the conductor Luciano Acocella....
, Marco Vinco, Laura Polverelli, Fernando Portari, Iorio Zennaro, Silvia Pasini, Luca Favaron, Emanuele Pedrini; Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice; Conductor: Emmanuel VillaumeEmmanuel VillaumeEmmanuel Villaume is an internationally recognized orchestra conductor. He is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava....
) Live performance DVD from Teatro La Fenice, January 2007. Dynamic DV 33549 DVD