Tutti in maschera
Encyclopedia
Tutti in maschera is an opera
(called a commedia lirica) by Carlo Pedrotti
. The libretto
is by Marco Marcelliano Marcello, based on the 1759 comedy L'impresario delle Smirne by Carlo Goldoni
. It was premiered at the Teatro Nuovo, Verona
, on 4 November 1856.
(serious operas) and five were opere semiserie
(operas combining drama and comedy). Only one, the one-act Il parrucchiere della reggenza (The hairdresser of the Regency) of 1852 was designated as a comic opera.
After the premiere, Tutti in maschera was seen in Italy at the Teatro Regio di Parma
in 1859, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
in 1860, the Teatro della Canobbiana
in 1860 (with the famous baritone Antonio Cotogni
as Abdalà) and the Teatro Comunale, Catania
in 1871. It was also performed in Vienna (1865) and, in French as Les masques, at the Théâtre de l'Athénée, Paris
in 1869. Its success in Italy also saw it spread to countries where Italian singers and companies dominated; hence it was premiered in Calcutta in 1867, Australia in 1874 and New Zealand in 1875. It was popular within Italy until the end of the nineteenth century, when it began to gradually fall out of favour and, until a recent co-production between theatres in Savona
, Piacenza
and Rovigo
and Wexford Festival Opera
in 2007-08, was last heard in Italy in 1932 or in 1935.
In Britain, the John Lewis Partnership
Music Society performed the opera, conducted by John Gibbons, at the Royal College of Music
's Britten Theatre in London in 1991.
Singers and actors complain about the previous evening's failure of Gregorio's most recent opera production. Emilio and Vittoria are attracted to each other, and he takes her handkerchief. Gregorio arrives and is subjected to ridicule, but he brings news of a rich Turk (Abdalà) who is interested in taking the company to the East and paying all their expenses. Naturally, everyone wants to be introduced to him.
Scene 2: Emilio's house
Dorotea finds that Emilio, her former lover, is not at home, and searches for the love-letters that she had sent to him. She hides when Vittoria is admitted. The latter is pleased to see the handkerchief that Emilio took, and when he arrives they declare their love. Gregorio is heard, and Vittoria also tries to hide - but she inadvertently picks Dorotea's hiding-place, and the discovery results in a slanging-match involving all four.
The members of the troupe eagerly anticipate Abdalà's arrival, and, when he appears, they are eager to curry favour with him. He is attracted only to Vittoria, and when he proposes a private meeting, she accepts in order to annoy Emilio.
Scene 2: Abdalà's suite
Vittoria is worried that the invitation to a masked ball at La Fenice
which Abdalà has sent her (with instructions specifying what she should wear) might compromise her. He assures her that his only wish is to engage her for his touring company. Suddenly, Dorotea and the rest of the troupe arrive, and Vittoria accidentally mislays the invitation, on which her name does not appear. Gregorio finds it and suspects that it was sent to Dorotea. Vittoria promises Abdalà that she will come to the ball if he does not say anything about the invitation. His response is to invite everyone to the ball, and he promises contracts to all.
Everyone is in disguise - Vittoria as a flower-seller, Dorotea in the costume that Abdalà specified for Vittoria, and both Gregorio and Emilio are dressed as Abdalà. After a lot of confusion, everything is sorted out and Abdalà distributes contracts to the whole troupe, but Vittoria and Emilio opt to stay in Venice to cement their relationship.
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...
(called a commedia lirica) by Carlo Pedrotti
Carlo Pedrotti
Carlo Pedrotti was an Italian conductor, administrator and composer, principally of opera. An associate of Giuseppe Verdi's, he also taught two internationally renowned Italian operatic tenors, Francesco Tamagno and Alessandro Bonci.-Early life:Pedrotti was born in Verona, where he studied music...
. The 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...
is by Marco Marcelliano Marcello, based on the 1759 comedy L'impresario delle Smirne by Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Goldoni
Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
. It was premiered at the Teatro Nuovo, Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, on 4 November 1856.
Background and performance history
Tutti in maschera was the twelfth of Pedrotti's eighteen operas and the tenth to be staged (the first two were never performed). Five of the previous eleven were opere serieOpera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
(serious operas) and five were opere semiserie
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...
(operas combining drama and comedy). Only one, the one-act Il parrucchiere della reggenza (The hairdresser of the Regency) of 1852 was designated as a comic opera.
After the premiere, Tutti in maschera was seen in Italy at the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
in 1859, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
in 1860, the Teatro della Canobbiana
Teatro Lirico (Milan)
The Teatro Lirico is a theatre in Milan, Italy. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was particularly notable for opera performances, including the world premieres of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Giordano's Fedora. The theatre, located on Via Rastrelli, closed in 1998...
in 1860 (with the famous baritone Antonio Cotogni
Antonio Cotogni
Antonio Cotogni was an Italian baritone of the first magnitude. Regarded internationally as being one of the greatest male opera singers of the 19th century, he was particularly admired by the composer Giuseppe Verdi...
as Abdalà) and the Teatro Comunale, 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...
in 1871. It was also performed in Vienna (1865) and, in French as Les masques, at the Théâtre de l'Athénée, 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...
in 1869. Its success in Italy also saw it spread to countries where Italian singers and companies dominated; hence it was premiered in Calcutta in 1867, Australia in 1874 and New Zealand in 1875. It was popular within Italy until the end of the nineteenth century, when it began to gradually fall out of favour and, until a recent co-production between theatres in Savona
Savona
Savona is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea....
, Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
and Rovigo
Rovigo
Rovigo is a town and comune in the Veneto region of North-Eastern Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. -Geography:...
and Wexford Festival Opera
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
in 2007-08, was last heard in Italy in 1932 or in 1935.
In Britain, the John Lewis Partnership
John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership is an employee-owned UK partnership which operates John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and a number of other services...
Music Society performed the opera, conducted by John Gibbons, at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
's Britten Theatre in London in 1991.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, November 4, 1856 (Conductor: Carlo Pedrotti). |
|---|---|---|
| Vittoria, a prima donna Prima donna Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano... |
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... |
Laura Ruggero Antonioli |
| Emilio, her lover | 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... |
Giovanni Petrovich |
| Don Gregorio, a music-teacher | 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... |
Pietro Mattioli-Alessandrini |
| Dorotea, his wife, another prima donna | 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... |
Adele Ruggero |
| Martello, a poet | bass | Luigi Bisi |
| Abdalà, a rich merchant from Damascus Damascus Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major... |
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... |
Davide Squarcia |
| Lisetta, Emilio's maid | soprano | Antonietta Scotti |
| actors, singers, masked-ballgoers | ||
Act 1
Scene 1: A cafeSingers and actors complain about the previous evening's failure of Gregorio's most recent opera production. Emilio and Vittoria are attracted to each other, and he takes her handkerchief. Gregorio arrives and is subjected to ridicule, but he brings news of a rich Turk (Abdalà) who is interested in taking the company to the East and paying all their expenses. Naturally, everyone wants to be introduced to him.
Scene 2: Emilio's house
Dorotea finds that Emilio, her former lover, is not at home, and searches for the love-letters that she had sent to him. She hides when Vittoria is admitted. The latter is pleased to see the handkerchief that Emilio took, and when he arrives they declare their love. Gregorio is heard, and Vittoria also tries to hide - but she inadvertently picks Dorotea's hiding-place, and the discovery results in a slanging-match involving all four.
Act 2
Scene 1: An ante-room in a hotelThe members of the troupe eagerly anticipate Abdalà's arrival, and, when he appears, they are eager to curry favour with him. He is attracted only to Vittoria, and when he proposes a private meeting, she accepts in order to annoy Emilio.
Scene 2: Abdalà's suite
Vittoria is worried that the invitation to a masked ball 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...
which Abdalà has sent her (with instructions specifying what she should wear) might compromise her. He assures her that his only wish is to engage her for his touring company. Suddenly, Dorotea and the rest of the troupe arrive, and Vittoria accidentally mislays the invitation, on which her name does not appear. Gregorio finds it and suspects that it was sent to Dorotea. Vittoria promises Abdalà that she will come to the ball if he does not say anything about the invitation. His response is to invite everyone to the ball, and he promises contracts to all.
Act 3
The masked ball at La FeniceEveryone is in disguise - Vittoria as a flower-seller, Dorotea in the costume that Abdalà specified for Vittoria, and both Gregorio and Emilio are dressed as Abdalà. After a lot of confusion, everything is sorted out and Abdalà distributes contracts to the whole troupe, but Vittoria and Emilio opt to stay in Venice to cement their relationship.
Recording
Pedrotti: Tutti in maschere, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo e Della Liguria- Conductor: Giovanni Di Stefano
- Principal singers: Massimiliano Viapiano (Baritone), Anna Gemmabella (Mezzo Soprano), Domenico Colaianni (Baritone), Yolanda Auyanet (Soprano), David Sotgiu (Tenor), Paolo Bordogna (Baritone)
- Coro del Teatro dell'Opera Giocosa
- Release Date: 2009-01-08
- Label: Bongiovanni
- Catalog No: BGV 20011
- Format: DVD-Video
- Number of Discs: 1
- UPCUniversal Product CodeThe Universal Product Code is a barcode symbology , that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item...
: 675754013264