Bianca e Fernando

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Work data
Title: Bianca e Fernando
Title page of the libretto, Milan 1829

Title page of the libretto, Milan 1829

Shape: Opera seria in two acts
Original language: Italian
Music: Vincenzo Bellini
Libretto : Domenico Gilardoni (1st version);
Felice Romani (revision of the 2nd version)
Literary source: Bianca e Fernando alla tomba di Carlo IV, duca di Agrigento by Carlo Roti
Premiere: May 30, 1826 (1st version)
April 7, 1828 (2nd version)
Place of premiere: Teatro San Carlo , Naples (1st version)
Teatro Carlo Fenice, Genoa (2nd version)
Playing time: about 3 hours
Place and time of the action: Agrigento in the 14th to 15th century
people
  • Bianca, daughter of Carlo, Filippo's fiancée ( soprano )
  • Fernando, son of Carlo, brother Bianca, disguised under the name Adolfo ( tenor )
  • Carlo, Duke of Agrigento, father of Bianca and Fernando ( bass )
  • Filippo, Agrigento usurper , Bianca's fiancé (bass)
  • Viscardo, in Filippo's service ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Clemente, Fernando advisor, hermit (bass)
  • Uggero, Fernando's confidante (tenor)
  • Eloisa, Bianca's confidante (mezzo-soprano)
  • People ( chorus )

Bianca e Fernando (Bianca and Fernando) is an opera seria (original name: "Melodrammo serio") in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini . The libretto of the first version was written by Domenico Gilardoni , in which later some additions and changes were made by Felice Romani . The opera is based on the novel Bianca e Fernando alla tomba di Carlo IV, duca di Agrigento by Carlo Roti .

action

first act

Alessandro Sanquirico: stage design for the first act, 1828

Carlo, the Duke of Agrigento , was ousted by Filippo, who has now taken power himself as a usurper . He is engaged to Bianca, the daughter Carlos. Carlos's son Fernando had fled at first, but after years he is returning under the name Adolfo, with the help of Clemente and Uggero to find out where his father is. They hope to find out Carlo's whereabouts from Viscardo, a confidante of Filippo, but are unsuccessful. When Fernando meets his sister Bianca, she recognizes him by his voice. However, he denies his identity, but learns that Carlo is being held captive in an underground dungeon.

Second act

Adolfo (Fernando) meets Filippo unrecognized, who tries to persuade him to kill Carlo. In order to find out where his father was hiding, Adolfo pretended to accept this suggestion. Bianca prays for the well-being of her father and for the appearance of her brother, whom she now recognizes beyond doubt when he appears. The latter disapproves of their relationship with the usurper, but they both find their father and some friends in a dungeon and bring him food. When Filippo appears, he and his followers are overwhelmed and Carlo takes control of his empire again.

Instrumentation

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

Emergence

The work was Bellini's second opera, which he composed at the age of 24. Initially, the work was given the title Carlo d'Agrigento , which was then changed to Bianca e Fernando . Then, however, objections were made by the censors, because the name "Fernando" coincided with that of the Bourbon king Ferdinand VII (according to Herbert Weinstock with that of the heir to the throne, later Ferdinand II of Sicily ) and it was feared that the royal family would be denigrated. With the composer's consent, the opera has now been temporarily renamed Bianca e Gernando . However, the name of the title hero Fernando has not been changed. The premiere took place on May 30, 1826 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in the presence of Gaetano Donizetti , who commented very positively on the work. It sang u. a. Henriette Méric-Lalande as Bianca, Giovanni Battista Rubini as Gernando, Luigi Lablache as Filippo, Almerinda Manzocchi as Viscardo, Gaetano Chizzola as Uggero and Eloisa Manzocchi as Eloisa.

On April 7, 1828, the revised version was first performed under the title Bianca e Fernando at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa . This time the cast included u. a. Adelaide Tosi (Bianca), Giovanni David (Fernando) and Antonio Tamburini (Filippo). After that, the opera was only performed very rarely.

Recordings

  • 1976; Yasuko Hayashi, Antonio Savastano, Enrico Fissore, Mario Macchi; RAI Turin Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Gabriele Ferro; Audio CD:
  • 1991; Young Ok Shin, Gregory Kunde , Haijing Fu, Aurio Tomicich; Teatro Massimo Bellini , Choir and Orchestra Catania under the direction of Andrea Licata; Audio CD from the Catania Bellini Festival

Web links

Commons : Bianca e Fernando  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the work and audio samples at esdf-opera.de, accessed on November 22, 2016.
  2. ^ Friedrich Lippmann : Bianca e Fernando. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , p. 239.
  3. ^ Herbert Weinstock: His life and His Operas. Knopf, New York 1971, ISBN 0-394-41656-2 , p. 31.
  4. ↑ Information on the work at zazzerino.info, accessed on November 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ Bianca e Gernando (Vincenzo Bellini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 20, 2017.
  6. ↑ Bianca e Fernando (Vincenzo Bellini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on July 24, 2019.