Le siège de Corinthe
Le siège de Corinthe | |
---|---|
Opera by Gioachino Rossini | |
Translation | The Siege of Corinth |
Librettist | |
Language | French |
Based on | Third Siege of Missolonghi |
Premiere | 9 October 1826 , Paris |
Le siège de Corinthe (English: The Siege of Corinth) is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini set to a French libretto by Luigi Balocchi and Alexandre Soumet, which was based on the reworking of some of the music from the composer's 1820 opera for Naples, Maometto II, the libretto of which was written by Cesare della Valle.
Le siège was Rossini's first French opera (known also in its Italian version as L'assedio di Corinto) and was first given at the
Composition history
The opera commemorates the
Liszt wrote an Introduction and Variations for piano based on a march from this opera. That work was deemed lost or mistitled until 1976 when the introduction was discovered by Nancy B. Reich at Manhattanville College's library.[1]
Revised version of Maometto II
The French version of this late Rossini opera was a partial rewrite of the composer's 1820 Italian opera, Maometto II, but with the same story and similar if differently named characters, in the setting of the Turks' 1470
But in 1826, two years after settling in Paris, Rossini tried yet again, with yet another version (which included two ballets, as called for by French operatic tradition), transplanted it to the Peloponnese with the new title Le siège de Corinthe in a topical nod to the then-raging Greek war for independence from the Ottomans, and translated it into French. This time, Rossini succeeded, and the opera was performed in various countries over the next decade or so.
Performance history
The first performance, in French, was at the
In 1949 Le siège de Corinthe was finally revived again in a production starring Renata Tebaldi in Florence. That production was repeated two years later in Rome. In 1969 La Scala revived it for the Rossini centennial with Beverly Sills, in her La Scala debut, as Pamira, Marilyn Horne as Neocle, and Thomas Schippers conducting. The opera used a performing edition by noted musicologist and bel canto expert Randolph Mickelson[6] that made use of insertion arias from the original Neapolitan and Venetian versions and even from other obscure Rossini operas (as Rossini himself commonly did). In 1975, the Metropolitan Opera used the La Scala version for its premiere of the opera. The Met production was conducted by Schippers again and starred Beverly Sills in her Met debut, now opposite Shirley Verrett, Justino Díaz and Harry Theyard.
Since 1975, the only production of the opera in the US has been the October 2006 stagings of the French version by the
Outside the US, the opera has been staged several times. It was produced in Florence in 1982 in Calisto Bassi's Italian version, starring Katia Ricciarelli and contralto Martine Dupuy, and under the direction of Pier Luigi Pizzi. In 1992 the same production was revived in Genoa starring Luciana Serra, but the original French version was chosen instead. The French version was also staged twice at the Rossini Opera Festival: in 2000 starring Michele Pertusi, Ruth Ann Swenson and Giuseppe Filianoti, and in 2017, following the new critical edition by Damien Colas, in a La Fura dels Baus production.
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 9 October 1826 (Conductor: François Antoine Habeneck )
|
---|---|---|
Cléomène, Governor of Corinth | tenor | Louis Nourrit |
Pamira, his daughter | soprano | Laure Cinti-Damoreau |
Néoclès, a young Greek officer | tenor | Adolphe Nourrit |
Mahomet II
|
bass
|
Henri-Étienne Dérivis |
Adraste | tenor | Bonel |
Hiéros | bass | Alexandre-Aimé Prévost |
Ismène | mezzo-soprano | Frémont |
Omar | tenor | Ferdinand Prévôt |
Synopsis
- Place: Corinth
- Time: 1459
Act 1
SCENE ONE: Vestibule of the senate palace at Corinth
Cleomene, governor of Corinth, realizes that his depleted troops cannot withstand another attack. But Neocle, a young Greek officer, encourages the Greeks to keep fighting the Turks that are besieging the city. The soldiers depart for a new attack. Cleomene, impressed by Neocle's valor, has promised him his daughter Pamira in marriage. But she reveals that she loves a certain Almanzor whom she met recently in Athens. Cleomene starts questioning her about Almanzor, but he is called away to the battle. Before leaving he gives his daughter a sword which she must use on herself if the Turks succeed in capturing the city.
SCENE TWO: A Square in Corinth
The Turks are celebrating their victory and praising their leader, Maometto. Cleomene, now a prisoner, is brought in, and Maometto urges him to surrender; he refuses. Pamira rushes in to her father, then recognizes, in Maometto, the man she knew as Almanzor. Maometto offers to marry Pamira and make peace with the Greeks. Cleomene, however, insists she must marry Neocle. When Pamira refuses, Cleomene curses her and leaves her to Maometto.
Act 2
Maometto's tent
Alone, Pamira is torn between her love for Maometto and her duty to her father and Greece. Maometto enters and tries to comfort her. Preparations begin for their wedding, but a commotion outside the tent interrupts the proceedings. It is Neocle, who has come to take Pamira back to the Greeks. Maometto, angry, is about to kill the intruder when Pamira claims he is her brother. The Greeks prepare for a new battle, and from the citadel Cleomene calls to Pamira. She deserts Maometto to join her father and country. Maometto vows that by sunrise every Greek will be dead.
Act 3
The tombs of Corinth, illuminated by a multitude of fires
Neocle enters the catacombs, mastering his fear. He joins the Greeks who are preparing to make a final stand. In the distance, Pamira and the Greek women are heard in prayer. Cleomene recognizes Pamira's voice; but, feeling betrayed by her, he swears she is no longer his daughter. Maometto approaches and once again offers to marry Pamira and make peace with the Greeks. Cleomene would rather see Pamira die than married to their enemy. Neocle returns and reveals to Maometto that he isn't Pamira's brother, he's the man her father wants her to marry. Maometto, enraged, departs for the field of battle. Pamira enters and Neocle makes father and daughter reconcile. The three of them pray for God's protection. Jero, the guardian of the graves, enters with the Greek warriors; he blesses their banners and recalls ancient Greek victories at Marathon and Thermopylae. The men march off to battle, while Pamira and the women pray for God's mercy. When they hear Turkish cries of victory, the women prepare to die. Maometto, victorious, returns to claim Pamira; but she and the women kill themselves rather than submit. The building collapses, revealing behind it the city of Corinth in flames.
Recordings
Year | Cast: Cléomène, Pamira, Néoclès, Maometto |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label [7] |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | Franco Bonisolli, Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne, Justino Díaz |
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus )
(Recording of a performance of the version prepared by Schippers and Randolph Mickelson at La Scala, 11 April [8] |
Audio CD: Arkadia Cat: CD 573; Legato Classics Cat: LCD 135–2; Celestial Audio Cat: CA 034 |
1974 | Harry Theyard, Beverly Sills, Shirley Verrett, Justino Díaz |
Thomas Schippers, Ambrosian Opera Chorus (Recorded in July and August 1974) |
Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 64335 |
1975 | Harry Theyard, Beverly Sills, Shirley Verrett, Justino Díaz |
Thomas Schippers, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Recording of a performance at the MET given in Italian in a version prepared by Thomas Schippers for La Scala, under the title ‘’L'Assedio de Corinthe") |
Audio CD: Bensar Cat: OL 41975 |
1992 | Dano Raffanti, Luciana Serra, Maurizio Comencini, Marcello Lippi |
Paolo Olmi, Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa |
Audio CD: Nuova Era Cat: 7140-7142 & Cat: NE 7372/3 |
2000 | Stephen Mark Brown, Ruth Ann Swenson, Giuseppe Filianoti, Michele Pertusi |
Maurizio Benini, Opéra National de Lyon Orchestra and the Prague Chamber Chorus (Recording of a performance in French at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, 5 August) |
Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CD 597; Charles Handelman, Live Opera Cat: (unnumbered) |
2010 | Marc Sala, Majella Cullagh, Michael Spyres, Lorenzo Regazzo |
Jean-Luc Tingaud, Virtuosi Brunensis and Camerata Bach Choir (Recording of performances at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival) |
Audio CD: Naxos Cat: 8.660329-30 |
References
Notes
- JSTOR 23506355.
- ^ Alfred Loewenberg, Annals of Opera, 1597-1940, 3rd edition (London: John Calder, 1978), folio 669
- ^ Almanacco Amadeus
- ^ Lahee, Henry C. "Annals of Music in America". Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ISBN 88-11-41059-2
- ^ Biography of Mickelson on vocalimages.com. Retrieved 16 June 2014
- ^ Recordings of Le siège de Corinthe on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
- ^ Complete Beverly Sills performance list
Sources
- Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Le siège de Corinthe". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
- Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), "Le siège de Corinthe" in ISBN 0-14-029312-4
- ISBN 0931340713
- Osborne, Richard, Rossini (1990), Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-088-5
- Osborne, Richard (1998), "Le siège de Corinthe", in ISBN 1-56159-228-5
- ISBN 0-486-25396-1,
- Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5