La vedova scaltra

La vedova scaltra (English: The Cunning Widow) is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by Mario Ghisalberti, after Carlo Goldoni's original play (also called La vedova scaltra) first given in 1748.

Performance history

It was first performed at the Teatro Reale dell'Opera in Rome on 5 March 1931. It was revived in Venice, in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carlo Goldoni, in February 2007. This performance, with Anne-Lise Sollied, Maurizo Muraro and Emanuele D'Aguanno as the main soloists, has been recorded (see below).

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 5 March 1931 (Conductor: Gino Marinuzzi)
Rosaura, a widow	soprano	Adelaide Saraceni
Monsieur Le Beau, a Frenchman	tenor	Alessio De Paolis
Conte di Bosco Nero, an Italian	tenor	Alessandro Ziliani
Milord Runebif, an Englishman	baritone	Giulio Cirino
Don Alvaro di Castiglia, a Spaniard	baritone	Giacomo Vaghi
Marionette	soprano	Rina De Ferrari
Folletto	tenor	Adelio Zagonara
Arlecchino	baritone	Emilio Ghirardini
Birif	bass	Mario Bianchi
Majordomo	bass	Pierantonio Prodi

Synopsis

The story is a comedy about a young widow courted by four suitors of different nationalities.

Recordings

• Wolf-Ferrari: La vedova scaltra Principal singers: Anne-Lise Sollied (Rosaura), Maurizio Muraro (Runebif), Emanuele D'Aguanno (Le Beau), Mark Milhofer (Bosco Nero), Riccardo Zanellato (Castiglia), Elena Rossi (Marionette), Alex Esposito (Arlecchino), Claudio Zancopé (Birif), Luca Favaron (Folletto), Antonio Casagrande (servant)- Teatro La Fenice Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Martin Director: Massimo Gasparon Recording date: 1 September 2008 Label: Naxos - (CD and DVD)
• Wolf-Ferrari: La vedova scaltra. Anne-Lise Sollied, Henriette Bonde-Hansen, Francesco Piccoli, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Enrique Mazzola Accord Universal France (CD).

References

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005).[http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco?r=&alm_giorno=05&alm_mese=03&alm_anno=1931&alm_testo=La_vedova_scaltra "La vedova scaltra, 5 March 1931"]. Almanacco Amadeus (Italian).
• Waterhouse, John C G (1992), 'Vedova scaltra, La' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7