Il crociato in Egitto

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Work data
Title: The crusader in Egypt
Original title: Il crociato in Egitto
Scene from the first act, set by Francesco Bagnara, 1824

Scene from the first act,
set by Francesco Bagnara, 1824

Shape: Opera in two acts
Original language: Italian
Music: Giacomo Meyerbeer
Libretto : Gaetano Rossi
Premiere: March 7, 1824
Place of premiere: Venice , Teatro La Fenice
Playing time: approx. 3 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Damiette , around 1250
people
  • Aladino, Sultan of Damiette ( bass )
  • Palmide, his daughter ( soprano )
  • Armando von Orville, Knight of the Rhodes , under the name Elmireno (soprano- castrato or mezzo-soprano )
  • Osmino, vizier ( tenor )
  • Alma, confidante Palmides (soprano)
  • Adriano von Montfort, Grand Master of the Rhodians (tenor)
  • Felicia, niece Adrianos ( old )
  • Mirva, five-year-old boy (silent role)
  • Choir , ballet and extras

Il crociato in Egitto (German: The Crusader in Egypt ) is an opera in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer . Gaetano Rossi wrote the libretto . The first performance took place on March 7, 1824 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

action

The crusader Armando lives under the false name Elmireno in Egypt at the court of the Sultan Aladino. He has a secret marriage to Palmide, the sultan's daughter, who has converted to Christianity. When Armando's former fiancée Felicia, disguised as a man, and his uncle Adriano arrive in Egypt, Armando's true identity is revealed. All Christians are first sentenced to death. However, after Armando has saved the Sultan's life, he makes peace with the Christians.

music

Orchestral line-up

Since the opera's autograph has been lost, the critical work edition, edited by Claudio Toscani, was created on the basis of later copies that have been preserved. After this critical edition, the following orchestral line-up is planned for the opera:

2 flutes (also piccolo ), 2 oboes (2nd also English horn ), 2 clarinets , 4 bassoons , contrabassoon , 4 horns , 4 trumpets , 3 trombones , timpani ; Percussion : bass drum , cymbals , triangle ; Harp, strings, harpsichord .

Incidental music : 8 trumpets, contrabassoon, 3 trombones, 3 small drums , bass drum, cymbals, 4 stirring drums.

Banda : piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, small clarinet in F, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 keyed trumpets, 6 trumpets, 3 trombones, serpentone, snare drum, bass drum.

meaning

Il crociato in Egitto was Meyerbeer's last and most successful opera for Italy before he went to France, where he became the main representative of the genre Grand opéra with works such as Robert le diable , Les Huguenots and Le prophète . Il crociato in Egitto contains the role of Armando, one of the last great operatic roles for a castrato that Meyerbeer had written for the then famous Giovanni Battista Velluti . The other singers at the premiere were Luciano Bianci (Aladino), Henriette Méric-Lalande (Palmide), Giovanni Boccaccio (Osmino), Maria Bramati (Alma), Gaetano Crivelli (Adriano di Monfort) and Brigida Lorenzani (Felicia).

Recordings

  • Opera Rara (CD) with Diana Montague , Yvonne Kenny, Bruce Ford , Ian Patt, Della Jones (1992)
  • Naxos (CD) with Patrizia Ciofi , Marco Vinco, Iorio Zennaro, Silvia Pasini, Laura Polverelli
  • Dynamic (DVD) with Patrizia Ciofi, Marco Vinco, Iorio Zennaro, Silvia Pasini, Laura Polverelli (2007)

Web links

Commons : Il crociato in Egitto  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Brief information on the opera at Ricordi's
  2. ^ Il crociato in Egitto (Giacomo Meyerbeer) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .