Stiffelio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Operas by Giuseppe Verdi |
|---|
 |
|
Oberto (1839) |
Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois.
Contents |
[edit] Performance history and revisions
The opera was first performed on 16 November 1850 at the Teatro Grande, Trieste.
The original plot of Stiffelio excited vigorous censorship, since it involved a Protestant minister of the church with an adulterous wife, and a final church scene in which he forgives her with words quoted from the New Testament. In fact, there were two reworkings of the opera, the first in 1851 as Guglielmus Wellingrode (with the hero a German Prime Minister), and the second, in 1857, as the four-act opera Aroldo, a more radical alteration with the hero as an English Crusader, and with the final scene entirely replaced by a wholly new fourth act.
Stiffelio is believed to have received its first British performance in an English language production at the Collegiate Theatre, London by the University College London Music Society, on 14 February 1973. Although vocal scores were known, no full score existed until the discovery of a copyist's score at Naples Conservatory, and a new performing edition was prepared for Messrs Barenreiter. This edition was the basis of performances at Naples and Cologne, but it cut material (especially from Act I, overture and choruses), and added in sections from Aroldo which were not in the original score. For the University College production microfilm of the copyist's score was obtained to restore the composer's intentions as far as possible. Since even the original premiere was partly cut by the censors, therefore this was probably one of the first ever authentic performances of the work.[1]
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, November 16, 1850[2] (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Stiffelio, a Protestant priest | tenor | Gaetano Fraschini |
| Lina, his wife | soprano | Marietta Gazzaniga |
| Stankar, her father, an elderly colonel | baritone | Filippo Colini |
| Raffaele, Lina's lover | tenor | Ranieri Dei |
| Jorg , an elderly minister | bass | Francesco Reduzzi |
| Dorotea , Lina's cousin | mezzo-soprano | Viezzoli De Silvestrini |
| Federico, Dorotea's lover | tenor | Giovanni Petrovich |
[edit] Synopsis
The action takes place in Austria at Stankar's castle by the river Salzbach.
Time: The beginning of the nineteenth century.
[edit] Act 1
Scene 1: A hall in Count Stankar's castle
Scene 2: The same some hours later
[edit] Act 2
A graveyard near the castle
[edit] Act 3
Scene 1: A room in Count Stankar's Castle
Scene 2: A church
Stiffelio, a Protestant minister, is the head of a sect and renowned for his goodness, faith and religious speaking. He is married to Lina, daughter of Count Stankar. During a long absence, Rafaello di Leuthold cynically pays court to her and there is an adulterous union. Stankar, hearing of the circumstances, tries to hide the fact from Stiffelio. He also sets out to avenge the dishonour to his family by forcing a violent confrontation with the adulterer. Lina, with all her weakness, loves her husband still, but he, a man of blameless life, is intensely jealous and cannot forgive her. A sense of guilt and terror is developed in the graveyard scene and in the third act. There is a bloody duel, and in the final church scene Stiffelio forgives his repentant wife in front of the assembled congregation.
[edit] Noted arias
- "Vidi dovunque gemere" - Stiffelio in Act I, Scene 1
- "A te ascenda, O Dio clemente" - Lina in Act I, Scene 1
- "Ah v'appare in fronte scritto" - Stiffelio in Act I, Scene 1
- "Di qua varcando sul primo albore" - Stiffelio in Act I, Scene 1
- "Ah dagli scanni eternei" - Lina in Act II, Scene 1
- "Perder dunque voi volete" - Lina in Act II, Scene 1
- "Lina pensai che un angelo" - Stankar in Act III, Scene 1
- "O gioia inesprimibile" - Stankar in Act III, Scene 1
[edit] Selected recordings
| Year | Cast (Stiffelio, Lina, Stankar) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | José Carreras, Sylvia Sass, Matteo Manuguerra |
Lamberto Gardelli, ORF Symphony orchestra and chorus |
Audio CD: Philips ASIN: B00000E3VV |
| 1993 | Plácido Domingo, Sharon Sweet, Vladimir Chernov |
James Levine, Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus |
DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 4288 |
Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company; "ASIN" is amazon.com product reference number.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Programme, February 1973 (University College London).
- ^ List of singers taken from Budden, Julian: The Operas of Verdi (Cassell), vol 1, p. 448.
