La Cleopatra (Cimarosa)
(Redirected from
La Cleopatra
)La Cleopatra | |
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Opera seria by Domenico Cimarosa | |
Librettist | Ferdinando Moretti |
Language | Italian |
Premiere | 7 February 1789 |
La Cleopatra (1789) is an opera seria in two acts by composer Domenico Cimarosa with an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Moretti.[1]
Historical background and musical analysis
La Cleopatra was commissioned by Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1788. Cimarosa and Moretti were instructed to keep the
arias with only a few duets, a quartet, a ballet, and a march. Although music critics have admired the duet at the end of act one, the ballet music, and the final quartet, the opera as a whole is not considered particularly remarkable. The work premiered at the Hermitage Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 27 September 1789.[2]
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 27 September 1789 |
---|---|---|
Cleopatra | coloratura soprano | Anna Pozzi |
Antonio | castrato | Domenico Bruni |
Domizio | tenor | Gugliemo Jermoli |
Arsinoe | soprano | Marianna Gattoni |
Recordings
- La Cleopatra with conductor Franco Piva and the Orchestra e Coro Città di Adria. Cast includes: Luisa Giannini (Cleopatra), Patrizia Morandini (Antonio), Luca Favaron (Domizio), and Maria Pia Moriyòn (Arsinoe). Released in 1996 on Bongiovanni GB label.
Sources
- Holograph Score: Library of Music Conservatory "San Pietro a Majella", Naples, Shelfmark: 13.2.11-12.
- Original 1789 printed libretto: Rossiyskaya Natsional'naya Biblioteka, Saint Petersburg, Shelfmark: 13.16,2,4.
References
- ^ "La Cleopatra von Domenico Cimarosa". Archived from the original on 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ Opera Today : CIMAROSA: Cleopatra