Lucrezia Borgia (Opera)

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Work data
Title: Lucrezia Borgia
Title page of the libretto, Milan 1833

Title page of the libretto, Milan 1833

Shape: Melodramma in a prologue and two acts
Original language: Italian
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto : Felice Romani
Literary source: Lucrèce Borgia by Victor Hugo
Premiere: December 26, 1833
Place of premiere: Teatro alla Scala , Milan
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Venice and Ferrara, 16th century
people
  • Don Alfonso d'Este , Duke of Ferrara ( bass )
  • Lucrezia Borgia , his wife ( soprano )
  • Gennaro ( tenor )
  • Maffio Orsini ( alto )
  • Jeppo Livoretto (tenor)
  • Apostolo Gazella (bass)
  • Ascanio Petrucci (bass)
  • Oloferno Vitellozzo (tenor)
  • Gubetta (bass)
  • Rustighello (tenor)
  • Astolfo (bass)
  • Knights, squires, ladies of honor, henchmen, pages, masks, soldiers, servants, halberdiers, cupbearers, gondoliers ( choir )

Lucrezia Borgia is an opera seria (original name: "Melodramma") in a prologue and two acts (five pictures) by Gaetano Donizetti ( music ) with a libretto by Felice Romani based on the drama Lucrèce Borgia by Victor Hugo . The first performance took place on December 26, 1833 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

action

prolog

The young captain Gennaro is recovering from the hustle and bustle of the Venice Carnival when a masked woman gets out of a gondola and discovers the sleeper in delight. Gennaro wakes up and falls in love with the beautiful stranger. He gives her his name and tells her about his mother, whom he has never met and whom he still loves very much. But the two are interrupted by Gennaro's friends, who have recognized Lucrezia Borgia in the woman and do not hesitate to list the murderous acts of the Borgia family, Gennaro to the horror.

first act

Ferrara , in front of the ducal palace. Don Alfonso suspects Gennaro of being the lover of his wife Lucrezia and plans to kill him. When Gennaro, who is still angry with the Borgia family, comes by, he breaks the first letter "B" out of the family coat of arms, so that only "ORGIA" remains. He is immediately arrested. - Lucrezia is outraged by the mutilation of the coat of arms and demands that her husband punish the perpetrator. Alfonso promises her and, to Lucrezia's horror, brings Gennaro before him as the perpetrator. Alfonso forces her to give Gennaro the poisoned wine himself, which is supposed to kill Gennaro, but after the duke has left, she quickly hands him the antidote and begs him to leave the city quickly.

Second act

The Princess Negroni is giving a party. Lucrezia appears and triumphantly explains to Gennaro's friends that she had poisoned the wine in revenge for the insults she had experienced in Venice. Lucrezia realizes too late that Gennaro, who has not fled out of spite, is among the poisoned. She reveals to him that he is really her son and begs him to drink the antidote again, but there is not enough antidote to save both him and his five friends. After these have fallen victim to the poison, Gennaro decides to follow them into death and not to drink the antidote. He dies in the arms of his mother, who weeps for him and then collapses herself, dead.

Instrumentation

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

Numbers

  • Preludio

prolog

  • No. 1 - Introduction: Bella Venezia! - Nella fatal di Rimini (Gazzella, Petrucci, Orsini, Gubetta, Vitellozzo, Liverotto, Gennaro, choir)
  • No. 2 - Romance Lucrezia, duet Lucrezia and Gennaro and Finale I: Come è bello! ... Quale incanto - Di pescatore ignobile - Maffio Orsini, signora, son io (Lucrezia, Alfonso, Rustighello, Gennaro, Orsini, Vitellozzo, Liverotto , Petrucci, Gazzella, Gennaro)

first act

  • No. 3 - Cavatine Alfonso: Vieni: la mia vendetta (Alfonso, Rustighello)
  • No. 4 - Recitative and choir: Addio, Gennaro - Non far motto: parti, sgombra (Orsini, Liverotto, Petrucci, Gazzella, Vitellozzo, Gubetta, Gennaro, Rustighello, choir, Astolfo)
  • No. 5 - Recitative and Finale II: Tutto eseguisti? - Soli noi siamo - Della duchessa ai preghi (Alfonso, Rustighello, Usciere, Lucrezia, Gennaro)

Second act

  • No. 6 - Introduction: Rischiarata è la finestra (choir)
  • No. 7 - Recitative and Duet Gennaro and Orsini: Sei tu? - Minacciata è la mia vita (Gennaro, Orsini, Chor, Rustighello)
  • No. 8 - Pezzo Concertato: Viva il Madera! - Il segreto per esser felici (Liverotto, Negroni, Orsini, Vitellozzo, Gazzella, Petrucci, Gubetta, Gennaro, Chor, Lucrezia)
  • No. 9 - Rondo Lucrezia: Tu pur qui? ... Né sei fuggito? ... - Era desso il figlio mio (Lucrezia, Gennaro, Alfonso, Rustighello, choir)

Emergence

Victor Hugo wrote his drama Lucrèce Borgia , which is freely based on the life and myth of the historical person Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519), in 1833. Felice Romani soon turned it into a libretto for Donizetti's opera. When the piece was being prepared for a series of performances in the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1840 , Victor Hugo obtained a court order prohibiting the further use of his piece as a template. The textbook was then rewritten, the Italian characters became Turks, and the performances continued under the title La Rinegata .

Luciano Mariani (Don Alfonso), Henriette Méric-Lalande (Lucrezia Borgia), Francesco Pedrazzi (Gennaro), Marietta Brambilla (Maffio Orsini), Napoleone Marconi (Jeppo Liverotto) sang at the premiere on December 26, 1833 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan , Giuseppe Visanetti (Apostolo Gazella), Ismaele Guaita (Ascanio Petrucci), Giuseppe Vaschetti (Oloferno Vitellozzo), Domenico Spiaggi (Gubetta), Ranieri Pochini (Rustighello) and Francesco Petrazzoli (Astolfo).

Discography (selection)

expenditure

  • Notes: Ricordi, Milan / Milano, Donizetti, Lucrezia Borgia. 1869 (piano sheet music and libretto).

literature

  • William Ashbrook: Donizetti and his Operas. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 1982, ISBN 0-521-27663-2 .

Web links

Commons : Lucrezia Borgia (opera)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Norbert Miller : Lucrezia Borgia. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , p. 755.
  2. ^ Record of the performance on December 26, 1833 in the Teatro alla Scala in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .