Adina (opera)

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Opera dates
Title: Adina
Original title: Adina, o Il califfo di Baghdad
Title page of the libretto, Lisbon 1826

Title page of the libretto, Lisbon 1826

Shape: Farsa in one act
Original language: Italian
Music: Gioachino Rossini
Libretto : Marchese Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini
Literary source: Felice Romani , Il califfo e la schiava
Premiere: June 22, 1826
Place of premiere: Teatro de Sao Carlos , Lisbon
Playing time: approx. 1 ¼ hours
Place and time of the action: Baghdad, in the caliph's seraglio
people
  • Il Califfo (Caliph of Baghdad), later recognized as Adina's father ( bass )
  • Adina, Selimos' lover ( soprano )
  • Selimo, young Arab, Adina's lover ( tenor )
  • Alì, confidante of the caliph (tenor)
  • Mustafà, gardener of the seraglio (bass)
  • Guards, craftsmen, gardeners, fishermen, slaves, people ( male choir )

Adina, o Il califfo di Bagdad (Eng .: Adina, or The Caliph of Baghdad ) is a one- act Farsa by Gioachino Rossini (music) with a libretto by Marchese Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini. It was written in 1818, but was not performed for the first time until June 22, 1826 in the Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon.

action

The content is a variant of the seraglio theme also used by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his The Abduction from the Seraglio . Fifteen years after the loss of his lover Zora, the Caliph of Baghdad meets Adina, who reminds him of Zora. He manages to persuade her to marry, even though she is already in love with Selimo. Selimo does not accept that. He persuades her to flee, but it is revealed. The couple and their helper Mustafà are arrested. When Adina begs the caliph for mercy for Selimo, the caliph discovers a medallion that proves that she is Zoras and his own daughter.

Gardens in the Seraglio

Scene 1. The people celebrate the upcoming wedding of Adina with the caliph (chorus: “Splende sereno e fulgido”). The young Arab Selimo and his friend, the gardener Mustafà, enter the scene. Selimo, who loves Adina, really wants to see her again. Mustafà advises against it because of the danger. Only when Selimo slips him money is he ready to pass him off as his assistant and smuggle him into the seraglio.

Scene 2. The Caliph's entrance is accompanied by happy music. The people pay homage to him (chorus: “Viva, viva dei credenti”). The caliph sings about his luck (Aria Califfo: “Qual nei vaghi ed eterni giardini”), while Selimo and Mustafà can only stand by and watch. After another joyful choir (choir and caliph: "Ah! Che amor ci tormenta sovente") the caliph instructs them to decorate the rooms.

Scene 3. The caliph tells his confidante Alì the story of his first love, Zora, whom he met as a soldier in Medina. They were separated when he was captured by enemies. After his release, he searched in vain for her for fifteen years. Only now has Adina awakened his feelings again because of her resemblance to Zora. He hopes that in time she will fall in love with him and forget her current sadness. The two withdraw and Adina appears with her entourage. In her aria she decides to come to terms with fate (Aria of Adina: “Fragolette fortunate”). The servants swear allegiance (chorus: “Vezzosa Adina”).

Scene 4. The caliph tells Adina that she is now the mistress of the seraglio. Adina assures him of her gratitude. The caliph withdraws.

Scene 5. Mustafà approaches timidly. He asks Adina to send her entourage away so that they can talk undisturbed. Then Selimo joins them. He persuades Adina to flee with him. Mustafà should make the necessary preparations.

Room in the seraglio

Scene 6. Adina's entourage greets her in the bridal chamber (choir: “Il regio talamo”). But her feelings are going crazy.

Scene 7. The caliph comes to fetch Adina for the feast. However, Adina wishes to spend the night alone, although she assures him that she does not hate him (Duet Kalif / Adina: “Se non m'odii, o mio tesoro” - “No, non t'odio”). The caliph doesn't understand them.

Scene 8. Alì brings the news that the people have gathered in the temple and are expecting the couple at the pageant. When the caliph informs him of his decision to postpone the wedding for a day, Alì warns him of a possible plot. He observed how Adina secretly talked to one of the slaves in the garden. In addition, his people noticed a strange fisherman who was hiding nearby. The caliph is deeply struck by this suspicion. He orders the seraglio to be guarded strictly (aria of the caliph: "D'intorno al serraglio"). Alì sings about the infidelity of women (Aria of Alì: “Purtroppo la donna”).

At night in a secluded place near the seraglio. A branch of the river can be seen.

Scene 9. Selimo hopes that heaven will show itself graciously and that her escape will succeed (recitative and aria by Selimo: “S'alza la notte”). Mustafà anxiously joins him.

Scene 10. Adina comes out of the building. Despite everything, it is difficult for her to say goodbye to the seraglio (Adina's aria: “Nel lasciarti, o caro abergo”). Selimo and Mustafà receive you. While Mustafà notifies their helpers, Adina and Selimo ask for protection for the night (duet Adina / Selimo: “Oh notte amica”). Nevertheless, the escape is discovered. Suddenly the bank is swarming with soldiers.

Scene 11 The caliph appears and angrily has the fugitives arrested. Selimo shows no fear. He asks for a sword to defend himself. Adina, on the other hand, takes all the blame to protect her lover. Only Mustafà remains fearful (quartet: "Oh qual notte orrenda è questa!"). Selimo and Mustafà will be continued.

Scene 12. While the caliph ponders Adina's ingratitude, she rushes over and asks for a hearing. She explains to him that Selimo is her great love and that they have been promised each other since childhood. He had already protected her earlier when she was kidnapped by foreign soldiers. Therefore she begs mercy for him. The caliph remains tough at first. But when Adina sinks down in front of him, he discovers a medallion on her neck. He recognizes it as the one he had given Zora back then - with his own portrait. So Adina is his and Zora's daughter. The judgment can no longer be carried out under any circumstances. He rushes to prevent it.

Scene 13. Adina is woken up by her entourage (chorus: “Apri i begli occhi, Adina”). They explain to the desperate that they can still hope.

Last scene. The released Selimo comes in, and shortly afterwards the caliph. They tell Adina that she is the daughter of Zora and the caliph. So everything turned out for the better. Torment and suffering can be forgotten (Tutti: “Per semper dimentica”).

layout

Rossini wrote only four musical numbers directly for Adina. Two more numbers come from an unknown colleague, and he took three from his Sigismondo from 1815. Rossini did not provide for an overture because it had not been contractually agreed.

Although the work is called “farsa”, the text of the contract already provided for an addition with the term “semiseria”. The opera has only a few comical elements that are limited to the gardener Mustafà. He only takes part in recitatives and ensembles. In addition to the three main roles of the caliph, Selimos and Adinas, there is only one real supporting role, Alì, who is assigned at least one sorbetto aria. Richard Osborne characterized the opera as "a small format, more of a pencil sketch than a painting, but remarkable because of the soft, carefully crafted music for Adina [...], because of the crystal-clear instrumentation and because of a mood that is predominantly sad."

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

  • Two flutes / piccolo flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons
  • Two horns, two trumpets
  • Timpani, bass drum , cymbals , sistrum
  • Strings
  • Continuo

Work history

Rossini received the commission for Adina in 1817/1818 from a Portuguese nobleman, the son of the Lisbon police prefect, who wanted to give it as a gift to a soprano he admired at the Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon. It is therefore a private order. The client gave him a free hand in choosing the libretto. Rossini also did not have to take into account any limited abilities of the orchestra musicians. He signed the contract on April 7, 1818 in Naples. Composition should be completed by June 10th. The wages were 200 Milanese gold coins when handed over in Bologna or 540 ducats when handed over in Naples. Due to other orders and an illness, the execution of the order was postponed. Rossini presumably finished the composition in Bologna in August 1818 and then sent it to Portugal. For unknown reasons, the world premiere in the Teatro de São Carlos did not take place until 1826. Rossini probably never had the opportunity to hear the opera.

The libretto comes from Marchese Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini, a friend of Rossini. It is based on Felice Romani's libretto for Francesco Basili's opera Il califfo e la schiava, which was performed on August 21, 1819 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Another possible source is Andrea Leone Tottolas for Manuel García's Il califfo di Bagdad (Naples 1813) written adaptation of the libretto Le Calife de Bagdad by Claude Godard d'Aucour de Saint-Just, set to music by François-Adrien Boieldieu in 1800 and performed in Paris had been.

The soprano Luisa Valesi (Adina), the tenors Luigi Ravaglia (Selimo) and Gaspar Martinelli (Alì) as well as the basses Jõao Oracio and Giovanni Orazio Cartagenova (Califfo) and Filippo Spada (Mustafà) sang the world premiere on June 22, 1826. On the same day, the second act of his opera Semiramide and a ballet were performed.

There was probably only one performance in 1826, and after that the work was not performed for a long time. The piano reduction was published by Ricordi in 1859 . It was not performed again until 1963 at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and in 1968 for the only performance so far in Great Britain in Oxford. There were scenic performances in Bologna in 1981 and in Rome in 1992. Adina was played at the Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro in 1999, 2003 and 2018 and at the Festival Rossini in Wildbad in 2012.

Recordings

  • September 30, 1963 (live from Siena): Bruno Rigacci (conductor), Orchestra da Camera dell'Angelicum di Milano, Coro dell'Angelicum di Milano. Giorgio Tadeo (Califfo), Mariella Adani (Adina), Mario Spina (Selimo), Florindo Andreolli (Alì), Paolo Pedani (Mustafà). VOCE LP: VOCE-32 (3).
  • May 1991: Aldo Tarchetti (conductor), Zilina Chamber Orchestra, Church Music Society Bratislava. Romano Franceschetto (Califfo), Doina Dinu-Palade (Adina), Milan Voldrich (Selimo), Ivan Ozvat (Alì), Michael Dale Hajek (Mustafà). Rugginenti Editore RUS 55100 1-2 (2 CD).
  • May 1992 (video, live from Rome): Evelino Pidò (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma . Bruno Praticò (Califfo), Alessandra Ruffini (Adina), Rockwell Blake (Selimo), Claudio di Segni (Alì), Alfonso Antoniozzi (Mustafà). House of Opera DVDCC 110 (1 DVD).
  • July 1992 (German version, live from the Kursaal Binz in Rügen, without sorbetto aria by Alì, with overture by L'italiana in Algeri ): Wilhelm Keitel (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Putbus opera festival, Rügen. Olaf Haye (Califfo), Susanne Blattert (Adina), Eberhard Francesco Lorenz (Selimo), Bruce Brys (Alì), Roland Fix (Mustafà). Canterino CD: CNT 1082 (1 CD).
  • May 1999 (live from Putbus ): Wilhelm Keitel (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Putbus Opera Festival, Rügen. Donato di Gioia (Califfo), Maria Breuer (Adina), Patrizio Saudelli (Selimo), Timothy Simpson (Alì), Ezio Maria Tirsi (Mustafà). Arte Nova 74321 67517-2 (2 CD).
  • August 2003 (live from the Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro ): Renato Palumbo (conductor), Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna , Prague Chamber Chorus. Marco Vinco (Califfo), Joyce DiDonato (Adina), Raul Giménez (Selimo), Saimir Pirgu (Alì), Carlo Lepore (Mustafà). Celestial Audio CA 456 (1 CD).

Web links

Commons : Adina (Rossini)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e f Charles Osborne : The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon, 1994, ISBN 978-0-931340-71-0
  2. ↑ a b Adina. Notes on the Critical Edition by Fabrizio Della Seta , accessed December 21, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b c d Reto Müller : Adina ossia il Califfo di Bagdad. From: Bulletin of the German Rossini Society. No. 14, March 1999, pp. 12-15
  4. ^ A b Richard Osborne: Rossini - life and work. Translated from the English by Grete Wehmeyer. List Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-471-78305-9
  5. ^ Herbert Weinstock : Rossini - A biography. Translated by Kurt Michaelis. Kunzelmann, Adliswil 1981 (1968), ISBN 3-85662-009-0
  6. ^ Il califfo e la schiava (Francesco Basili) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
  7. ^ Il califfo di Baghdad (Manuel García) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
  8. ↑ Le calife de Bagdad (Adrien Boïeldieu) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna
  9. ^ Adina (opera) (performance dates from June 22, 1826 in the Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
  10. ↑ Thomas Molke: Rossini in Wildbad 2012. Performance review in Online Musik Magazin , accessed on December 22, 2012.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f Gioacchino Rossini. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.