Salvatore Giuliano (opera)
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| Original title: | Salvatore Giuliano |
Scene from the opera |
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| Shape: | Thoroughly composed |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Lorenzo Ferrero |
| Libretto : | Giuseppe Di Leva |
| Premiere: | January 25, 1986 |
| Place of premiere: | Rome , Teatro dell'Opera di Roma |
| Playing time: | about 80 minutes |
| Place and time of the action: | 1940s in Sicily , Italy |
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Salvatore Giuliano is a one-act opera by Lorenzo Ferrero based on a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Di Leva, designed to be performed with Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana . The work was commissioned by the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and premiered there on January 25, 1986.
The action takes place in Sicily and is based on events from the life of the legendary historical figure Salvatore Giuliano (1922–1950), a Sicilian farmer who fought against the Italian state authorities on behalf of a separatist movement.
Performance history
The original production, directed by Luciano Damiani and directed by Gustav Kuhn , became the subject of a monograph entitled Nascita di un'opera: Salvatore Giuliano , published in 1987 by photographer Lorenzo Capellini.
This was followed by two productions in Germany: the first was performed under the direction of Frank Cramer on May 13, 1987 in the Mainfranken Theater in Würzburg, and another under the direction of Johannes Wedekind on June 8, 1996 in the Kassel State Theater .
action
- Place and time: Western Sicily, Montelepre and the surrounding mountains, second half of the 1940s
A gunshot can be heard at dawn in an empty village, causing a man to flee. When the village wakes up, a representative of the EVIS ( Esercito Volontario per l'Indipendenza della Sicilia , German: Volunteer Army for the Independence of Sicily) appears, speaks to the residents and introduces them to Salvatore Giuliano. In his speech, the man calls on the villagers to support EVIS 'struggle for independence. After Giuliano has assured his support, he remains alone with his lieutenant Gaspare Pisciotta. When they are discussing how they could free Giuliano's mother from prison, she is unexpectedly brought back to him by a mafioso. Giuliano realizes that he now owes something to the mafia.
In his mountain fortress, Giuliano Maria, a Swedish journalist who came to interview him, tells the story of his life. He recalls that it was only by accident that he became a criminal because of the poverty and injustice of the Italian state. He confesses that he is hoping for his amnesty and emigration to America. The interview is interrupted by the mobster who has come back to ask for his reward. He asks Giuliano to attack the Communist Labor Day parade in Portella della Ginestra. In exchange, the mafia would guarantee him protection and help with his application for amnesty. Giuliano agrees.
After the attack, Colonel Ugo Luca, the head of the newly formed special police to suppress banditry, ponders the order from the Minister of the Interior to liquidate Giuliano because he now knows too much. Meanwhile, at his sister's wedding reception, Giuliano makes an irreparable mistake by killing five mafiosi who came to inform him that the authorities in Rome offered a reward for his capture. Horrified by this crime, the mafioso meets Colonel Luca and while the police are carrying away the bodies, they decide to join forces against Giuliano. Pisciotta is called to the Colonel, who convinces him to betray Giuliano in exchange for his own life. In a last desperate attempt, Pisciotta tries to convince Giuliano to flee immediately, but he refuses to leave the place. In the empty village, as at the beginning, the shadows of two men can be seen on the background: one shoots and the other falls over. The lights in the village go out and a woman's voice can be heard. She calls: "Giuliano!"
Arias and excerpts
The orchestra Intermezzo, which depicts the massacre in Portella della Ginestra, and Giuliano's aria Poi andrò in America were arranged as excerpts for concert performances. The aria was first performed at the Palm Beach Opera in February 1992.
literature
- Giorgio Bagnoli (Ed.): The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera. Simon & Schuster, New York 1993, ISBN 0-671-87042-4 .
- Lorenzo Capellini: Nascita di un'opera: Salvatore Giuliano. Nuova Alfa Editoriale, Bologna 1987, ISBN 88-7779-008-3 .
- Piero Gelli (Ed.): Dizionario dell'Opera 2008. Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore, Milano 2007, ISBN 978-88-6073-184-5 .
- Amanda Holden (Ed.): The New Penguin Opera Guide. Penguin Books, London 2001, ISBN 0-14-051475-9 .
- Alberto Iesuè: Storia della musica . Volume 1, Franco Muzzio & C editore SpA, Padova 1988, ISBN 88-7021-449-4 .
- Ettore Napoli: Guida alla musica sinfonica. Zecchini Editore, Varese 2010, ISBN 978-88-6540-001-2 .
- Francesco Renda: Salvatore Giuliano: Una biografia storica. Sellerio editore, Palermo 2002, ISBN 88-389-1769-8 .
- Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan Publishers, London 1992-2002, ISBN 0-19-522186-9 .
