I due Foscari

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Work data
Title: The two Foscari
Original title: I due Foscari
Title page of the libretto, Rome 1844

Title page of the libretto, Rome 1844

Original language: Italian
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto : Francesco Maria Piave
Literary source: The Two Foscari by Lord Byron
Premiere: November 3, 1844
Place of premiere: Teatro Argentina , Rome
Playing time: approx. 1 ¾ hours
Place and time of the action: Venice 1457
people
  • Francesco Foscari , Doge of Venice ( baritone )
  • Jacopo Foscari, his son ( tenor )
  • Lucrezia Contarini, Mrs. Jacopo Foscaris ( soprano )
  • Jacopo Loredano, member of the Council of Ten ( bass )
  • Barbarigo, Senator (tenor)
  • Pisana, friend and confidante of Lucrezia ( mezzo-soprano )
  • A servant of the Council of Ten and the Senate (tenor)
  • A servant of the Doge (bass)
  • Members of the Council of Ten and the Senate, Lucrezia's servants, Venetian ladies, people, masks ( choir )

I due Foscari (German: The Two Foscari ) is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi . The libretto by Francesco Maria Piave is based on the play The Two Foscari by Lord Byron . The first performance of the opera took place on November 3, 1844 in the Teatro Argentina in Rome.

action

Francesco Hayez : The Two Foscari, painting 1844

The setting is Venice. The opera deals with the last days of Doge Francesco Foscari and his dismissal on October 23, 1457.

prehistory

Jacopo Foscari, the son of Doge Francesco Foscari , was exiled to Crete at the instigation of Jacopo Loredano for corruption , but has secretly returned to Venice without permission. That same night, young Foscari is said to have murdered an opponent of the Doge's family named Ermolao Donato. Jacopo Loredano is an enemy of the Foscari family because he believes the old doge poisoned his father, Admiral Pietro Loredano .

first act

First picture. Hall in the Doge's Palace

After a short prelude, the first act begins. The Council of Ten and the members of the Senate have gathered to negotiate the case of young Foscari. Jacopo Loredano, a member of the Council of Ten, at whose instigation the young Foscari was banished, is also present, along with his friend, Senator Barbarigo. Jacopo Foscari, the Doge's son, is brought out of the state prison. Despite interrogation and torture, he did not confess to the murder. The Senators and the Council of Ten step down into the council chamber to deliberate on the verdict.

Second picture. In the palace of the Foscari

Jacopo's wife Lucrezia, who thinks her husband is innocent, wants to stand up for Jacopo in court after Jacopo has been sentenced to exile again .

Third picture. Hall in the Doge's Palace

The senators reaffirm the verdict and condemn the young Foscari to be exiled to Crete again.

Fourth picture. The Doge's private chambers

Francesco Foscari is bitter and in a scene and romance laments his misfortune and that of his son. In Finale I, a duet between Lucrezia and the Doge, Lucrezia asks for the help of her father-in-law. The old Doge again laments his powerlessness, but is full of compassion and impressed by Lucrezia's courage.

Second act

First picture. State prison

Jacopo Foscari, exhausted from torture, suspects his imminent death and is haunted by tormenting dreams. He wakes up in the arms of Lucrezia. From her he learns the judgment of the Council of Ten. His father Francesco says goodbye to him. His son will see him again, but then in his role as doge. Loredano, a member of the Council of Ten and enemy of the Foscari, enters the prison cell with guards and triumphantly proclaims the verdict to the young Foscari, according to which he is to be taken away and to be exiled to Crete on the same day without the company of his wife.

Second picture. Council of Ten Hall

In Finale II the verdict against Jacopo is confirmed. Jacopo is supposed to read out his judgment himself. He protests his innocence and turns to his father for help. Lucrezia brings her two sons to soften the sentence. For free. The majority of the senators belong to Loredano's party.

Third act

Francesco Foscari, contemporary portrait by Lazzaro Bastiani

First picture. The old piazzetta of San Marco

On the canale in front of the old piazzetta of San Marco there is a festive and cheerful regatta , unexpectedly interrupted by two trumpeters who announce the gloomy state galley that Jacopo Foscari is to fetch. He says goodbye to his wife and children. Loredano, wearing a mask, interrupts her. In the ensemble scene he speaks of his hatred and revenge. The young Foscari is led away by guards and gets into the galley.

Second picture. Private chambers of the Doge as in the first act

Old Foscari, who is convinced of Jacopo's innocence, laments the fate of his last remaining son. Barbariga appears and informs him that a certain Erizzo confessed on the deathbed the murder for which the young Foscari has been convicted. But it is too late: Lucrezia tells the Doge of her husband's death.

In Finale III, the council members led by Loredano urge old Foscari to resign from his post as doge for reasons of age. Foscari initially refuses because he had to vow to remain in office until his death. Thereupon Loredano wants to take the official insignia away from him, but the old doge fends off him and gives the dog's crown to another senator. Another senator takes Foscari's robe off. Lucrezia helps Francesco Foscari and wants to lead him away. At that moment, the big bell of San Marco sounds , which already announces Foscari's successor Malipiero . Loredano triumphs. Old Foscari dies of a broken heart. Loredano has completed his work of revenge.

Instrumentation

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

Work history

After the two choir operas Nabucco (1842) and I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843) Verdi planned a less lavish opera for his debut at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. At first he had thought of Byron's The Bride of Abydos , but rejected this plan and instead looked at Byron's The Two Foscari . The Teatro La Fenice reacted cautiously to this plan. He then composed Ernani for Venice for the first time with the librettist Piave . However, Verdi did not abandon the plan for I due Foscari . When the Roman Teatro Argentina approached him and commissioned a new opera, he initially planned an opera about Lorenzino de 'Medici . After this project was rejected as "too revolutionary" by the Roman censors , Verdi dealt again with I due Foscari . The librettist was again Piave, with whom Verdi had already worked on Ernani and who later wrote many librettos for Verdi, such as Rigoletto , La traviata and La forza del destino .

Even Piave saw no suitable operatic material in I due Foscari and expanded the plot considerably, with a "series of false theatrical effects" and duplications.

In this opera Verdi worked with many barcarole-like rhythms and for the first time also with "thematic reminiscences". The opera was only moderately successful at the premiere in Rome, and Verdi later distanced himself from this work. Even so, the opera was performed frequently until the 1870s, when the audience experienced a change in taste.

Achille De Bassini (Francesco Foscari), Giacomo Roppa (Jacopo Foscari), Marianna Barbieri-Nini (Lucrezia Contarini), Baldassare Miri (Jacopo Loredano), Atanasio Pozzolini (Barbarigo) and Giulia Ricci (Pisana) sang at the premiere .

literature

  • OPERA. Composers-works-performers. Cologne 1999.
  • Julian Budden: The result of a self-renewal process. In: Supplement to the CD, Philips 1977.
  • Heinz Wagner: The great manual of the opera. 2nd Edition. Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1995, p. 735.

Discography (selection)

Web links

Commons : I due Foscari  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Wagner: The great manual of the opera. 2nd Edition. Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1995, p. 735.
  2. ^ Kurt Malisch: I due Foscari. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , p. 401.
  3. ^ Budden: The result of a self-renewal process. In: Supplement to the CD, Philips 1977, p. 26.
  4. ^ Budden: The result of a self-renewal process. In: Supplement to the CD, Philips 1977, p. 27.
  5. ^ Budden: The result of a self-renewal process. In: Supplement to the CD, Philips 1977, p. 29 f.
  6. ^ Budden: The result of a self-renewal process. In: Supplement to the CD, Philips 1977, p. 28.