Ulisse is an opera in a Prologue

Prologue

A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance...

 and two acts composed by Luigi Dallapiccola

Luigi Dallapiccola

Luigi Dallapiccola was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.-Biography:Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria , to Italian parents....

 to his own 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 legend of Ulysses

Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....

. It premiered at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 (in German translation as Odysseus) on 27 November 1968 conducted by Lorin Maazel

Lorin Maazel

Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...

 with Erik Saedén

Erik Saedén

Carl Erik Saedén, born 3 September 1924 in Vänersborg, died 3 November 2009, was a Swedish bass-baritone whose career was principally centred on Stockholm, both on the operatic stage as well as the concert platform...

 in the title role. Ulisse was Dallapiccola's last opera and took eight years to compose. As in his previous operas, Volo di notte

Volo di Notte

Volo di notte is a one-act opera composed by Luigi Dallapiccola to an Italian libretto he wrote based on the novel Vol de nuit by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry...

and Il prigioniero

Il prigioniero

Il prigioniero is an opera in a prologue and one act, with music and libretto by Luigi Dallapiccola. The opera was first broadcast by the Italian radio station RAI on 1 December 1949...

, his declared theme was "the struggle of man against some force much stronger than he".

Roles

• Ulisse – 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...
  
  
• Calypso – 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...
  
  
• Nausicaa – soprano
• Re Alcinoo – 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...
  
  
• Demodoco – 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...
  
  
• Circe – mezzo-soprano
• La madre di Anticlea – soprano
• Tiresia – tenor
• Pisandro – baritone
• Antinoo – baritone
• Eurimaco – tenor
• Melanto – mezzo-soprano
• Eumeo – tenor
• Telemaco – 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...
  
  
• Penelope – soprano
• Ancella 1 – soprano
• Ancella 2 – contralto

Sources

• Casaglia, Gherardo, "Dallapiccola", Almanacco Amadeus. Accessed 24 June 2009.
• Gelli, Piero (ed.), "Ulisse", Dizionario dell'Opera, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, ISBN 88-6073-184-4. Accessed online 16 March 2009
• Shirley, Wayne, Luigi Dallapiccola's Sketch for Ulisse, The Moldenhauer Archives, Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
  
  
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan, "Dallapiccola, Luigi", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 1996. Accessed online via subscription 25 June 2009