Five opera premieres to look forward to in May
Monday, May 2, 2016
For opera lovers looking for rarely heard gems, the month of May will not disappoint. Take a look at these five, which also have autograph manuscripts in the RISM database.
Vincenzo Bellini: Adelson e Salvini
May 11, The Barbican, London
Autograph sketches in Berlin (RISM ID no. 464120091)
The opera Adelson e Salvini by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) received its premiere on 12 February 1825 at the Teatro Carlo in Naples. The autograph sketches are of an aria sung by the character of Struley from act 2, scene 1. Today the sketches can be found at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (D-B) and are viewable online.
Georg Benda: Romeo und Julie
May 13, Centre lyrique, Clermont-Auvergne, France
Autograph manuscript in Gotha (RISM ID no. 240010000)
The autograph manuscript of this Singspiel by Georg Benda (1722-1795) is preserved in the city in which it was created, Gotha (today at the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, D-GOl). On the manuscript, Benda calls the opera “eine Oper mit gesprochenen Dialog oder Ein Drama mit Gesang.”
Joseph Haydn: Orlando paladino
May 7, Theater Winterthur, Germany
Partial autograph manuscript in Budapest (RISM ID no.530005260)
The occasion for which Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) wrote the opera Orlando paladino was a visit of the Russian Grand Duke at Schloss Esterházy in 1782, but the visit was cancelled on short notice. A partial autograph manuscript is at the National Széchényi Library (Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, H-Bn) in Budapest. The duet “Quel tuo visetto amabile” (see image) was later adapted as an insertion duet in Vicente Martin y Soler’s 1786 opera Il burbero di buon cuore.
Niccolò Jommelli: Vologeso
May 16, Oper Stuttgart
Possible autograph manuscript in Mantova, Italy (RISM ID no. 850002145)
The libretto to Vologeso is one of the librettos most frequently set to music, sometimes with the title Lucio Vero or Berenice. Niccolò Jommelli (1714-1774) set the material twice: for the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan (1754) and for the Schlosstheater in Ludwigsburg (1766). A possible autograph manuscript containing the recitative “Berenice ove sei” and the aria “Ombra cara del dolce mio sposo” is at the Biblioteca dell’Accademia nazionale virgiliana di scienze lettere e arti (I-MAav) in Mantova, Italy.
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari: Sly
May 27, Magyar Állami Operaház, Budapest
Autograph sketches in Munich (RISM ID no. 456082202)
A comprehensive collection of autograph sketches to the opera Sly by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) can be found today at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (D-Mbs). The differences between the sketches and the final version give insight into the compositional process.
Image: Haydn, “Quel tuo visetto amabile.” London, Edinburgh, Corri, Dussek & Co. Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (US-NYp), Drexel 4810.19.RISM A/I: H 2573. Via Wikimedia Commons.
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