Le duc d'Albe

Le duc d'Albe (original French title) or Il duca d'Alba (later Italian title: The Duke of Alba) is an opera in three acts originally composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1839 to a French language libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier, and intended for performance at the Paris Opéra. However, William Ashbrook notes that "Rosine Stoltz, the director's mistress, disliked her intended role of Hélène and Donizetti put the work aside when it was half completed"[1]

Donizetti then abandoned the score in favour of continuing to work simultaneously on both L'ange de Nisida and L'elisir d'amore,[1] and thus it was nearly 34 years after the composer's death that it was completed by his former pupil Matteo Salvi and received its first performance in an Italian translation and under its Italian title Il duca d'Alba at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 22 March 1882 with Leone Giraldoni in the title role, Abigaille Bruschi Chiatti as Amelia di Egmont, and Julián Gayarre as Marcello.

It received almost no performances in Italian until the mid-20th century and was only given its first performances in French in May 2012.

Composition history


Matteo Salvi
(1816–1887)

The opera had been originally commissioned for the Paris Opéra in 1839, and Donizetti worked on it throughout most of that year. However, he abandoned the project with only the first two acts completed, plus notes for the melodies and bass lines for acts 3 and 4.[2] The opera remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1848.

Although abandoned for the Opéra and still incomplete, Donizetti felt that his contract for this opera had been broken and, in late May 1845, decided to leave Vienna for Paris where he would claim a forfeit from the Opéra for its non-production, which still unfinished, as was the libretto. He left Vienna for the last time on 10 July 1845, but appears to have done nothing about the claim when he arrived in Paris, and his final illness soon claimed him.[3]

In 1855, Scribe and Duveyrier's libretto was transferred to Verdi's opera Les vêpres siciliennes, with the setting changed from the Spanish occupation of Flanders in 1573 to the French occupation of Sicily in 1282.

In 1881 Matteo Salvi, a former pupil of Donizetti's, completed the opera from Donizetti's notes with the help of Amilcare Ponchielli, Antonio Bazzini and Cesare Domeniceti.[4] Angelo Zanardini translated Scribe's libretto from the original French into Italian, and the names of the two lovers, 'Henri' and 'Hélène', which by that time had been used in Les vêpres siciliennes were changed to 'Marcello' and 'Amelia'.[5]

When Donizetti abandoned the opera, he re-cycled the famous tenor aria, 'Ange si pur' ( 'Spirto gentil' in the Italian version) for his 1840 opera La favorite. For the premiere, Salvi composed a replacement aria, 'Angelo casto e bel'. He also added recitatives and combined acts 3 and 4 into a single final act.

Performance history

Italian version

Set design for the 1882 production

The opera has only been rarely performed since 1882[6] and "no one seems even to have remembered its existence, until, that is, Fernando Previtali discovered the battered full-score used by the conductor at that momentous prima on a market stall in Rome [on 12 January 1952]".[7] Prof. Alexander Weatherson of London's Donizetti Society, in his study of the opera's performance history notes that:

...Performance history insists that it was under the baton of Fernando Previtali that the treasured score of Il duca d’Alba was brought back to life, complete, in a concert performance in that same city of Rome where it had been discovered on that famous market stall, on 12 January 1952. But this is far from correct. That rebirth version was already abridged, the opera was given in three acts, not four..."[7]

However, there was a major revival of the Italian version at the 1959 Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, after conductor Thomas Schippers re-discovered the score [8] (originally found in 1952), reworked it by removing most of Salvi's additions and reconstructing the final acts himself from Donizetti's notes. However, Weatherson has also stated:

At the Teatro Nuovo of Spoleto on 11 June 1959 was staged a further purported revival of the Donizetti/Salvi opera, again in three acts, the orchestra reduced throughout to “Donizettian” sound-bites (as though the Paris Opéra of his day would have been deficient in instrumentation), with preludes and recitatives dropped....and pared-down codas. Spirto gentil once again making an inappropriate appearance in place of Angelo casto e bel.
This 1959 cut-price version outlined the merest skeleton of the composer’s musical plan, Mr Schippers, it would seem, had no taste for grand opera and tried to rewrite Donizetti’s score as if it was a melodramma romantico such as he might have composed some ten years before his Paris adventure." [7]

The Spoleto production was directed by Luchino Visconti, who used restored sets from the 1882 premiere.

Schippers presented the United States premiere of the work later that year under the umbrella of the American Opera Society at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on 15 October 1959.

Other stagings included that at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1979 (also using the 1882 sets),[7] the run of six performances at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, in December 1979 and January 1980,[9] and, in October 1982, Opera Orchestra of New York gave a concert performance of a version of the opera with Matteo Manuguerra in the title role.[7][10] About this performance, Weatherson notes: "where there were cuts galore but also the restitution of many of the more characterful sections of the Salvi score".[7]

When the Schippers version with the Visconti production was revived at the Teatro Nuovo in Spoleto (Festival dei Due Mondi) on 1 July 1992 "...there was a further attempt...this time under the baton of Alberto Maria Giuri [and] when the Donizetti/Salvi Il duca d’Alba finally made an appearance in an edition at last musically worthy of its original dimensions and dramatic character, far more complete now, the Duca d’Alba sung by Alan Titus, Marcello by César Hernàndez, Amelia by Michaela Sburiati, Sandoval by Marco Pauluzzo and Carlo by Dennis Petersen."[7]

On 16 July 2007, a concert performance was given by the Orchestra national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon. "It was conducted by Enrique Mazzola; with Inva Mula (Amelia), Franck Ferrari (Duca), Arturo Chacón-Cruz (Marcello), Francesco Ellero d'Artegna (Sandoval) and Mauro Corna (Daniele) with the Orchestre National de Montpellier. The performance has been subsequently issued on CD." [7]

Original French version

In May 2012 Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Ghent presented the first performances of the original French opera in a four-act version, which had been completed in 2012 with additional music by Giorgio Battistelli. [11][12] It used the critical edition prepared by musicologist Prof. Roger Parker who has written extensive notes on the evolution of this original version.[13] The French version featured George Petean as the Duke and Rachel Harnisch as Hélène d'Egmont.[14] and it was conducted by Paolo Carignani.

Roles

Role
Italian / French		 Voice type Italian version
Premiere Cast,
22 March 1882[15]
(Conductor: Marino Mancinelli)
Il duca d’Alba / Le Duc d'Albe,
Governor of Flanders for King Philip II of Spain		 baritone Leone Giraldoni
Amelia di Egmont / Hélène d'Egmont soprano Abigaille Bruschi Chiatti
Marcello di Bruges / Henri de Bruges,
a Flemish patriot and Amelia's lover 		tenor Julián Gayarre
Sandoval, Captain of the Spanish troops baritone Hjalmar Frey
Carlo / Carlos,
a Spanish officer		 tenor Giovanni Paroli
Daniele Brauer / Daniel Brauer,
a Flemish patriot		 baritone Alessandro Silvestri
Il taverniere / Un Tavernier,
a beer seller 		bass Romeo Sartori

Synopsis

Place: Brussels and Antwerp
Time: 1573

Act 1

Julián Gayarre who created the role of Marcello

The Duke of Alba has been sent to Flanders to suppress the rebellion against Spanish rule. Shortly before the action begins, Amelia's father Egmont, a Flemish hero, had been executed by the Duke and she is now determined to assassinate him. The Duke discovers that his long-lost son Marcello, Amelia's lover, is now the leader of the rebellion. The Duke arrests him when he refuses to join the Spanish army.

Act 2

When Marcello is freed from prison, he appeals to the Duke to spare his co-conspirators and Amelia, all of whom have been arrested in Daniele Bauer's tavern. The Duke reveals to Marcello that he is his father. In exchange for his friends' freedom, Marcello kneels before the Duke and acknowledges him as his father.

Act 3

Marcello confesses to Amelia that he is the Duke's son. She asks him to kill the Duke as proof of his love for her. Torn between his father and the woman he loves, Marcello hesitates. Later at the port of Antwerp, Amelia, disguised as a man, takes matters into her own hands and attempts to stab the Duke to death. Marcello throws himself on the Duke to shield him and is unwittingly killed by Amelia.

Recordings

Italian version: Prepared by Angelo Zanardini, Rome 1882.

Year Cast (Il duca d'Alba,
Marcello di Bruges,
Amelia di Egmont)		 Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra		 Label[16]
1951 Giangiacomo Guelfi,
Amedeo Berdini,
Caterina Mancini		 Fernando Previtali,
Orchestra sinfonica della RAI di Roma		 Audio CD: Bongiovanni Historical Opera Collection
Cat: HOC015-16
1959 Louis Quilico,
Renato Cioni,
Ivana Tosini		 Thomas Schippers,
Trieste Philharmonic Orchestra
and Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi Chorus		 Audio CD: Opera D'Oro
Cat: OPD1178
1982 Matteo Manuguerra,
Dalmacio González,
Marina Krilovici		 Eve Queler,
Opera Orchestra of New York and Schola Cantorum of New York
(Recording of a concert performance in the Carnegie Hall,
New York, 28 October) 		Audio CD: Omega Opera Archive
Cat: 2574
2007 Franck Ferrari,
Arturo Chacon Cruz,
Inva Mula		 Enrique Mazzola,
Orchestra National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon
and Latvian Radio Chorus. (Recording of a concert performance)		 Audio CD: Accord
Cat: 4800845

Original version using the French text: Completed by Giorgio Battistelli in 2012.[12]

Year Cast:
(Le Duc d'Albe,
Henri de Bruges,
Hélène d'Egmont)		 Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra		 Label
2012 Georges Petean,
Ismael Jordi,
Rachel Harnish		 Paolo Carignani,
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp/Ghent
(Recorded at a performance given by the Vlaamse Opera in May 2012)		 Audio CD: Dynamic,
Cat: CDS 7665

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Ashbrook 1998, p. 1263
  2. ↑ Edward Rothstein, 30 May 1992, "A Donizetti Work Is Resurrected, Sets and All", The New York Times
  3. ↑ Weinstock 1963, pp. 231—232
  4. ↑ John Rockwell, 31 October 1982, "Concert: Eve Queler leads Alba", The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Yolen Buldrini, "Dossier: Il Duca d'Alba", on Forum Opéra (French) (accessed 26 December 2013)
  6. ↑ See Weatherson, "The 'hache sanglante' of the Duke of Alba", Parts 1, 2, and 3, for a history of the Italian version
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Weatherson, "The 'hache sanglante'", Part 3
  8. ↑ "Music: Donizetti Revived", Time, 22 June 1959: "In a publisher's warehouse in Milan last fall, Kalamazoo-born conductor Thomas Schippers discovered an opera score dedicated to Queen Margherita of Italy and tied up in purple string. In Spoleto last week, at the opening of Gian Carlo Menotti's Festival of Two Worlds, he unwrapped his find before a capacity audience. Italian critics promptly hailed the long-forgotten work as one of the finest creations of composer Gaetano Donizetti". Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  9. ↑ In-house theatre programme, Il duca d'Alba. Naples, Public Relations Office of the Teatro S. Carlo, 1979. The performances are listed as taking place on 27th and 30th December 1979 and on 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th January 1980.
  10. ↑ Cast and production details on the OONY website Retrieved 12 May 2012
  11. ↑ "We asked composer Giorgio Battistelli to finish Donizetti's unfinished opera", on vlaamseopera.be
  12. 1 2 "Le Duc d'Albe" on the Vlaamse Opera's website at vlaamseopera.be/en. Retrieved 26 December 2013
  13. ↑ Parker, Roger, "Donizetti’s Forgotten French Opera: In Search of Le Duc d’Albe", Donizetti Society (London), June 2012, on donizettisociety.com. Retrieved 9 February 2014
  14. ↑ Premiere cast from Donizetti Society, London
  15. ↑ Premiere cast from Casaglia
  16. ↑ Source of recording on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

Cited sources

Other sources

External links

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