Il viaggio a Reims
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| Operas by Gioachino Rossini |
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La cambiale di matrimonio (1810) |
Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro (The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis) is an operatic dramma giocoso in one act by Gioacchino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Balocchi, based in part on Corinne, ou L'Italie by Mme de Staël.
Rossini's last opera in the Italian language (all of his later works were in French), premiered under the title Le voyage à Reims, ou l'Hôtel du Lys-d'Or. Commissioned to celebrate the coronation of French King Charles X in Rheims in 1825, the work has been critically acclaimed as one of Rossini's finest compositions. It is a demanding work, requiring 14 soloists (three sopranos, one contralto, two tenors, four baritones, and four basses). At its premiere, it was sung by the the greatest voices of the day.
Since the opera was written for a specific occasion, with a plot about European celebrators en route to join in the French coronation festivities, Rossini never intended for the opera to have a life beyond a few performances in Paris. The composer later re-used about half of the music in Le comte Ory.
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[edit] Performance history
The overture is typical of Rossini’s grander music, crafted for a heavy but precise, high spirited performance. It appears later as ballet in Le siège de Corinthe (1826), and though it was not played at the 1825 premiere of Il viaggio, has since never faded from the concert stage. It is frequently recorded and heard often today, though it is sometimes omitted from newer recordings of the opera.
Il viaggio a Reims was first performed at the Théâtre Italien, Paris, on June 19, 1825 with Giuditta Pasta as Corinna.There were only four original performances. The different parts of the manuscript, assumed lost, were re-found and re-assembled in the 1970s by the musicologist Janet Johnson, with the help of Philip Gosset.
The first performance after the reconstruction was given at the Rossini Opera Festival on August 18, 1984. It was conducted by Claudio Abbado and directed by Luca Ronconi. The cast included Francisco Araiza, Lella Cuberli, Enzo Dara, Cecilia Gasdia, Eduardo Gimenez, William Matteuzzi, Leo Nucci, Ruggero Raimondi, Samuel Ramey, Katia Ricciarelli, Lucia Valentini Terrani.
Other performances have followed. The American premiere was given on June 14, 1986 by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis at the Loretto-Hilton Theater in St. Louis, Missouri, directed by Colin Graham and conducted by Richard Buckley. In Helsinki, on January 9, 2003, the opera was directed by Dario Fo and conducted by Pietro Rizzo. In November 2005 there was another production in Monte Carlo, with a cast including June Anderson, Raùl Gimenez, Rockwell Blake, and Ruggero Raimondi. The Wiener Staatsoper produced the opera in its Rossini Festival conducted by Claudio Abbado, with Monserrat Caballé and again Ruggero Raimondi. The Kirov Opera performed it at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in January 2007. The work was produced in Tel Aviv by the Israel Opera in November 2007.
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, June 19, 1825 (Conductor: Gioacchino Rossini) |
|---|---|---|
| Madame Cortese, Tyrolean hostess of the spa hotel |
soprano | Ester Mombelli |
| Contessa di Folleville, a fashionable young widow |
soprano | Laure Cinti-Damoreau |
| Corinna, a famous Roman poetess | soprano | Giuditta Pasta |
| Marchesa Melibea, the Polish widow of an Italian general killed on their wedding night |
mezzo-soprano | Adelaide Schiasetti |
| Conte di Libenskof, Russian general in love with Marchesa Melibea |
tenor | Marco Bordogni |
| Belfiore, handsome young French officer and spare-time painter |
tenor | Domenico Donzelli |
| Lord Sidney, English colonel secretly in love with Corinna |
bass | Carlo Zucchelli |
| Don Alvaro, Spanish admiral in love with Marchesa Melibea |
bass | Nicolas Levasseur |
| Barone di Trombonok, German major and music lover |
bass | Vincenzo Graziani |
| Don Profondo, scholar and lover of antiquities, friend of Corinna |
bass | Felice Pellegrini |
| Don Prudenzio, doctor at the spa | bass | Luigi Profeti |
| Modestina, the Contessa di Folleville's chamber maid | mezzo-soprano | Marietta Dotti |
| Don Luigino, cousin of the Contessa di Folleville | baritone | Piero Scudo |
| Maddalena, hotel housekeeper from Normandy | mezzo-soprano | Caterina Rossi |
| Antonio, maître d'hotel | baritone | Auletta |
| Zefirino, courier | tenor | Giovanola |
| Gelsomino, valet | tenor | Trévaux |
| Delia, young Greek girl who is Corinna's travelling companion |
soprano | Maria Amigo |
| Four strolling players, chorus of countrymen and women, gardeners, hotel staff, dancers, servants | ||
[edit] Selected recordings
There is an audio recording of a live performance at the 1984 Pesaro Festival conducted by Claudio Abbado with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The singers were Cecilia Gasdia (soprano), Katia Ricciarelli (soprano), Lella Cuberli (soprano), Lucia Valentini Terrani (mezzo soprano), Edoardo Gimenez (tenor), Francisco Araiza (tenor), Samuel Ramey (bass), Ruggero Raimondi (bass), Enzo Dara (bass), Leo Nucci (baritone), Giorgio Surjan (baritone), Oslavio di Credico (tenor), Raquel Pierotti (mezzo soprano), Antonella Bandelli (mezzo soprano), Bernadette Manca di Nissa (contralto), Luigi de Corato (baritone), Ernesto Gavazzi (tenor), William Matteuzzi (tenor). It was published by DGG (415498).
Claudio Abbado recorded it again, this time with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1993. The singers were Cheryl Studer, Sylvia McNair, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Luciana Serra, Raùl Gimenez, William Matteuzzi, Samuel Ramey, Ruggero Raimondi, Enzo Dara, Lucio Gallo, Giorgio Surjan, Guglielma Mattei, Nicoletta Curiel, Barbara Frittoli, Claudio Otelli, Bojidar Nikolov. (CD: Sony).
There is a video recording from the Liceu, Barcelona, made in 2003 conducted by Jesús López-Cobos and directed by Sergi Belbel. The singers were Elena de la Merced, Maria Bayo, Kenneth Tarver, Nicola Ulivieri, etc. (DVD released: TDK DVUSOPVAR). Also, a recent recording on DVD is available, made by the Kirov Opera under Valery Gergiev at the Théâtre Châtelet in Paris (Opus Arte, Catalogue # OA 0967 D), reviewed by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, November 27, 2007).
[edit] Sources
- Osborne, Richard: "Viaggio a Reims, Il" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Stanley Sadie (Ed.). (London: MacMillan, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
