Perelà, uomo di fumo is an 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 ten chapters composed by Pascal Dusapin

Pascal Dusapin

Pascal Dusapin , is a French composer born in Nancy. He is one of France's best-known living composers; his works have been performed worldwide....

. Dusapin himself wrote the Italian 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...

, based on the novel, Il codice Perelà by the Italian Futurist

Futurism

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...

 writer, Aldo Palazzeschi

Aldo Palazzeschi

Aldo Palazzeschi was the pen name of Aldo Giurlani, an Italian novelist, poet, journalist and essayist.-Biography:...

. The opera had its world premiere on 24 February 2003 at the Opéra Bastille

Opéra Bastille

L'Opéra Bastille ' is a modern opera house in Paris, France. It is the home base of the Opéra national de Paris and was designed to replace the Palais Garnier, which is nowadays mainly used for ballet performances....

, conducted by James Conlon

James Conlon

James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast 24 February 2003 (Conductor: James Conlon James Conlon James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New... )
Perelà	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...	John Graham-Hall
Old woman	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...	Martine Mahé
Marchesa Olivia di Bellonda	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...	Nora Gubisch
Alloro, a valet	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... )	Scott Wilde
Alloro's daughter	coloratura soprano Coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...	Chantal Perraud
Pilone, a philospoher	(bass)	Gregory Reinhart Gregory Reinhart Gregory Reinhart is an American bass opera singer. He is noted for an extremely wide repertory which ranges from early music to the world premieres of several contemporary operas including Lowell Liebermann's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Philippe Manoury's K..., and Pascal Dusapin's Perelà, uomo di...
The Queen	soprano	Youngok Shin Youngok Shin Shin Youngok is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano known for her interpretations of the bel canto repertoire.- Early life and education :...
The Archbishop	countertenor Countertenor A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...	Dominique Visse Dominique Visse Dominique Visse is a French countertenor and founder of the Ensemble Clément Janequin. Visse devotes himself to performing of secular and religious music of the Renaissance. He is principally known for his interpretations of the Parisian chansons.He was a chorister in the Cathedral of Notre Dame...
Rodella, a banker	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...	Nicolas Courjal
President of the Tribunal	bass	Scott Wilde
The king's first guard	bass	Gregory Reinhart
The king's second guard	bass-baritone	Nicolas Courjal
The minister	bass	Jaco Huijpen
The chamberlain	bass	Jaco Huijpen
A parrot	countertenor	Daniel Gundlach

Synopsis

The enigmatic protagonist, Perelà, is literally a man made of smoke, formed over thirty-three years in the chimney of a fireplace tended by three old women, Pena, Rete, and Lama. One day he finds the fireplace abandoned. He gives himself a name made up of the first syllable of the names of his "mothers" (Pe-Re-La), puts on a pair of boots that will anchor him to the ground, and sets off for a city that he sees on the horizon. On the way, he is met by an old woman and then by one of King Torlindao's guards who brings him to the royal court. Once there, everyone is fascinated by the strange story of his origin and by his "lightness", which they consider a unique gift. He is admired and feted by all. So much so, that the Queen and the king's minister ask him to devise a new legal code for their society, and a noblewoman who had previously sworn off men, Marchesa Oliva di Bellonda, falls in love with him. But one day, his fortunes change. The old valet, Alloro, sets himself on fire hoping to emulate the lightness of Perelà. The accusations by Alloro's daughter turn the people against Perelà whom they now revile as a murderer. The Marchesa tries to defend him, but he is condemned to prison. After singing a final oration, Perelà escapes by removing his boots and floating out through the chimney of his cell to become a moving form in the sky.

Sources

• Cadenhead, Frank, "Perelà, uomo di fumo" (review of the Paris premiere), Andante, February 2003. Accessed 3 June 2009.
• De Angelis, Giovanna and Giovanardi, Stefano,Storia della narrativa italiana del Novecento, Feltrinelli, 2004. ISBN 8807817993
• Serrou, Bruno, "Entretien - Pascal Dusapin - Perelà, l'homme de fumée", ResMusica, 11 February 2003.
• Stevens, David, "World opera premiere in Paris", International Herald Tribune
  International Herald Tribune
  The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
  
  , 28 February 2003. Accessed via subscription 3 June 2009. Accessed 3 June 2009.
• Tamburri, Anthony Julian, Of saltimbanchi and incendiari: Aldo Palazzeschi and avant-gardism in Italy, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1990. ISBN 0838633757

External links

• Detailed information on the scoring – Brahms database, IRCAM
  IRCAM
  IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...