Marco Visconti (opera)

The composer

Marco Visconti, is an opera in 3 acts by Italian composer Errico Petrella with a libretto by Domenico Bolognese based on the 1834 novel of the same name by Tommaso Grossi. It premiered in 1854 at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and was met with unanimous praise.[1]

Performance history

Despite being quite popular in its first years of existence, it eventually fell into obscurity and has since not been performed for over 100 years.[1] No recording of the opera, or its numbers, is known to exist (apart from piano reductions of the overture and the tenor's act 1 romanza),[2] but its vocal score is available at the International Music Score Library Project.[3]

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Character Voice type Premiere cast
Marco Visconti
Nobleman in love with Bice		 baritone Gaetano Ferri
Ottorino Visconti
His younger cousin and Bice's lover		 tenor Gaetano Fraschini
Bice del Balzo
Young noblewoman		 soprano Rosina Penco
Lodrisio Visconti
Ottorino's Brother		 tenor Corrado Laudano
Oldrado
Lodrisio and Ottorino's father		 bass Marco Arati
Tremacoldo
Court jester		 contralto en travesti Adelaide Borghi-Mamo
Laura
Bice's lady in waiting		 mezzo-soprano Anna Salvetti

Source[3]

Synopsis

Lombardy, 1329

Marco falls in love with Bice, a young noblewoman whose mother he had also courted years prior. His love is unrequited, as Bice is already in a relationship with his younger cousin, Ottorino. Marco challenges Ottorino to a duel for Bice's hand, but Bice ultimately decides to sacrifice herself in order to avoid seeing either of the men die. Marco and Otorrino embrace and forgive each other as Bice dies in Otorrino's arms.

Principal airs

Act 1

  • Cavatina: "In placida notte di stelle raggianti" (Bice)
  • Romanza: "D'ogni terrena beltà l'incanto" (Ottorino)
  • Aria: "Tu beato alfin mi rendi" (Marco)

Act 2

  • Canzonetta: "Rondinella pellegrina" (Tremacoldo)
  • Arioso: "Ei mi appar leggiadro e santo" (Marco)
  • Racconto: "Ecco il campo della sfida" (Tremacoldo)

Act 3

  • Aria: "Come un'aura in sul mattino" (Ottorino)

References

  1. 1 2 "Petrella: Jone" by Gary Hoffman, May 2006, operatoday.com
  2. ↑
  3. 1 2 Marco Visconti (Petrella): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.