Loreley (opera)

Loreley is a three-act azione romantica opera by Alfredo Catalani, composed to a libretto by Angelo Zanardini, Giuseppe Depanis, Carlo D'Ormeville and others.

The opera is an extensive reworking of Catalani's dramma fantastico Elda, originally to a text by Carlo D'Ormeville, which was first given in Turin in 1880 under Carlo Pedrotti, with Adelina Stehle, Nadina Boulicioff, Enrico Barbacini, Sante Athos and Édouard de Reszke.

Performance history

Loreley was first performed at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 16 February 1890 under Edoardo Mascheroni. It was subsequently given at Covent Garden in London on 12 July 1907. The first American performance was presented by the Chicago Opera Association at the Auditorium Building in Chicago on 17 January 1919 with Anna Fitziu in the title role.

Roles and role creators

Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 16 February 1890
(Conductor: Edoardo Mascheroni)
Loreley soprano Virginia Ferni-Germano
Walter tenor Eugenio (Eugène) Durot
Anna di Rehberg soprano Eleonora (Leonora) Dexter
Hermann baritone Enrico Stinco-Palermini
Rodolfo bass Natale Pozzi

Synopsis

The action takes place on the banks of the Rhine in 1500.

Act I. Feast in the castle of Count Walter on the banks of the Rhine in honor of his engagement with his niece Anna Margrave Rudolf von Rehberg. A friend, Walter, – Baron Hermann, secretly in love with Anna. He knows about the passion of Walter Lorelei – a poor orphan, in which Walter swore allegiance on the banks of the Rhine. Having learned from the engagement Herman Walter, Loreley catches the Rhine and into a nymph.

Act II. Hermann tries to convince Anna not to marry Walter. Anna rejects his arguments. During the wedding appears Lorelei. Blinded by her charms Walter leaves Anna, who can not withstand shock and dies.

Act III. On the banks of the Rhine, Walter realizes his action. You hear a song witch Lorelei. Walter throws himself into the Rhine.

References

External links

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