Sancia di Castiglia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Work data
Title: Sancia di Castiglia
Title page of the libretto, Naples 1832

Title page of the libretto, Naples 1832

Shape: Tragedia lirica in two acts
Original language: Italian
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto : Pietro Salatino
Premiere: November 4, 1832
Place of premiere: Teatro San Carlo in Naples
Playing time: approx. 1 ¾ to 2 hours
Place and time of the action: Spain in the Middle Ages
people

Sancia di Castiglia (German: Sancha von Kastilien ) is an opera (original: "tragedia lirica") in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti on a libretto by Pietro Salatino. The first performance with Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis in the title role took place on November 4, 1832 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples .

content

There have been several women named Sancha of Castile in Spanish history . Sancha von León had a son named Garcia .

However, the plot of the opera seems completely fictitious. The place of the action is the Royal Palace of Toledo .

first act

The power-hungry Saracen Ircano thinks he is about to reach his destination: On the same day, his wedding to Sancia, Queen of Castile, is to be celebrated, whereby he will ascend the throne. Ircano worries, however, because the body of the actual heir to the throne, Garzia, Sancia's son, who disappeared without a trace in a battle, has never been found. Sancia's adviser Rodrigo, who is against the wedding for political reasons, appears and a dispute with Ircano ensues. Sancia has consented to the marriage, although she still mourns the death of her husband and son Garzia. Rodrigo warns her about Ircano and his claims to power, but Sancia is determined to marry. During the festive ceremony, to the great surprise of all, Aller Garzia appears and claims the throne for himself.

Second act

The completely unscrupulous Ircano wants the death of Garzia and tries to use manipulation and blackmail to get Sancia to poison her own son . This is torn back and forth, but can be drawn into the plot. But the moment she is supposed to give Garzia the goblet , she drinks the poison herself and saves him. Dying, she accuses Ircano and Garzia becomes king of Castile.

layout

Musical structure

  • Sinfonia

first act

  • No. 1 - Introduzione and Cavatina des Ircano: Prence, taci? Il guardo immobile - Quell'acciar nel pungo d'un forte (choir, Ircano, Rodrigo)
  • No. 2 - Choir, Cavatina and Cabaletta of Sancia: Piangendo va l'aurora - Io talor nol più rammento (Choir, Sancia)
  • No. 3 - Duet Rodrigo, Sancia: Semper sarebbe odiato
  • No. 4 - Choir: Oh! nera variety! (Choir, Rodrigo)
  • No. 5 - Final I Che? sì pronta sei (Ircano, Sancia, Chor, Garzia, Rodrigo)

Second act

  • No. 6 - Duet Ircano, Sancia: Il silenzio evitò l'onta
  • No. 7 - Aria of Garzia: Troppo ormai nel cor mi preme (Garzia, Rodrigo, choir)
  • No. 8 - Finale II (with Rondò finale of Sancia): Ciel! Fera vista! Be squallida imago! (Sancia, Ircano, Chor, Garzia, Rodrigo, Elvira)

music

Sancia di Castiglia is Donizetti's sixth opera on a Spanish subject, but including the first with a tragic ending. The opera belongs to Donizetti's middle creative period and is stylistically close to Anna Bolena , who is two years older than him . Sancia di Castiglia corresponds to the type of romantic so-called prima donna opera (such as Semiramide by Rossini or Bellini's Norma ). Donizetti wrote the demanding title role for one of his favorite singers, Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis , who was able to pull out all the stops of romantic bel canto singing. Her part is no longer as rich in coloratura as in Rossini's operas, but it demands a singer of large volume who knows how to sing all the musical subtleties and embellishments of the score with expression, similar to Bellini's . Accordingly, all of the music for the character of Sancia, including all the duets and ensembles in which she is involved, has been carefully crafted. The somewhat fairytale charisma of the libretto is also supported by the young mezzo-soprano cast for the small role of Garzia, which was still very common at the time. Even if the performance arias of the two male characters Ircano and Rodrigo are not entirely free of a certain formulas, the music of the opera is overall of high quality, lyrical melting, romantically veiled tragedy and great expressiveness. In the finale of the first act, Donizetti borrowed a few things from his Ugo, conte di Parigi .

Performance history

Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis

The premiere took place in the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on November 4, 1832. In addition to Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis as Sancia, the important bassist Luigi Lablache (Ircano), the tenor Giovanni Basadonna (Rodrigo), Edvige Ricci (Elvira) and Diomilla Santolini (Garzia) sang.

The opera's premiere was a great success, and on November 6th Donizetti wrote cheerfully to his friend Ferretti (in the Italian original in joking rhymes): “My Sancia di Castiglia was performed beautifully and there was so much applause that the singers, along with the maestro, had to go out into the cheers! Vivat Jesus and Maria as it was in Rome ”(“ La mia Sancia di Castiglia fu eseguita a meraviglia e gli applausi furon tanti, che uscir fuori li cantanti, col maestro in compagnia, fra le grida d'allegria! Viva ognor Gesù e Maria, so pure in Roma sia ").

Nevertheless, the opera could not stay on the stage for long, which may have been due to the somewhat fairytale libretto on the one hand, and the heavy weighting of the demanding prima donna role on the other. Despite the indisputable beauties of the score, Sancia di Castiglia is one of Donizetti's forgotten works today (as of 2019).

There was a new production in 1984 at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo during the third festival with the motto "Donizetti e il suo tempo" with Antonella Bandelli as Sancia, and in the other roles Franco de Grandis (Ircano), Adriana Cicogna (Garzia), Giuseppe Costanzo (Rodrigo) and Doina Palade (Elvira), as well as the RAI Choir and Orchestra Sinfonica under the direction of the young Roberto Abbado . There is a video DVD of this production, which was released by Hardy Classic in 2018.

After the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé had the scene “Sola son io” from Sancia di Castiglia in her concert repertoire in the mid-1980s , the entire opera was performed in Madrid in 1992 with Caballé in the leading role, José Sempere as Rodrigo and Boris Martinovich as Ircano, as well as Itxaro Mentxaca and Rosa Martin. There is also a live recording of this. However, this version is shortened.

literature

  • William Ashbrook: Donizetti. Le opere (English original: Donizetti and his Operas , Cambridge University Press, 1982), Italian translation v. Luigi Della Croce, EDT, Turin 1987, pp. 109-111 and p. 307

Web links

Commons : Sancia di Castiglia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e work information on myword.it (Italian) ( Memento from November 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ November 4, 1832: “Sancia di Castiglia”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on August 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ October 2, 1984: “Sancia di Castiglia”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on August 1, 2019.