In Greek mythology, Phaedra was a Cretan princess. Her name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which means "bright". According to legend, she was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, and the wife of Theseus. Phaedra fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus. After he rejected her advances, she accused him of trying to rape her, causing Theseus to pray to Poseidon to kill him, and then killed herself.
Phèdre is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.
Olga Rudge was an American-born concert violinist, now mainly remembered as the long-time mistress of the poet Ezra Pound, by whom she had a daughter, Mary.
Ildebrando Pizzetti was an Italian composer of classical music, musicologist, and music critic.
Teseo is an opera seria with music by George Frideric Handel, the only Handel opera that is in five acts. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Philippe Quinault's Thésée. It was Handel's third London opera, intended to follow the success of Rinaldo after the unpopular Il pastor fido.
Arianna in Creta is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Francis Colman from Pietro Pariati's Arianna e Teseo, a text previously set by Nicola Porpora in 1727 and Leonardo Leo in 1729.
Cesare Valletti was an Italian operatic tenor, one of the leading tenore di grazia of the postwar era.
Phaedra is a Roman tragedy written by philosopher and dramatist Lucius Annaeus Seneca before 54 A.D. Its 1,280 lines of verse tell the story of Phaedra, wife of King Theseus of Athens and her consuming lust for her stepson Hippolytus. Based on Greek mythology and the tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides, Seneca's Phaedra is one of several artistic explorations of this tragic story. Seneca portrays Phaedra as self-aware and direct in the pursuit of her stepson, while in other treatments of the myth, she is more of a passive victim of fate. This Phaedra takes on the scheming nature and the cynicism often assigned to the nurse character.
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, was a basso opera singer of mixed Italian-Russian parentage.
Literaturoper, a term coined by the German music critic Edgar Istel, describes a genre of opera that emerged during the late 19th century. When an existing play for the legitimate theatre is set to music without major changes and without the intervention of a librettist, a “Literaturoper” is the result. Although the term is German, it can be applied to any kind of opera, irrespective of style or language.
La figlia di Iorio, sometimes written as La figlia di Jorio, is an opera in three acts by Alberto Franchetti to a libretto by Gabriele D'Annunzio. The libretto is a very close rendering of D'Annunzio's play of the same name. La figlia di Iorio premiered at La Scala on 29 March 1906, conducted by Leopoldo Mugnone. Although the play, which had premiered two years earlier, was considered one of D'Annunzio's greatest works, the opera did not achieve a comparable success and has been rarely performed since its day.
Dèbora e Jaéle is an opera in three acts composed by Ildebrando Pizzetti who also wrote the libretto. The libretto is based on the story of Deborah and Jael from the Book of Judges in the Bible. However, it differs in several ways from the traditional Biblical account, primarily in the motivations of its characters and the relationships between them. The opera was first performed at La Scala, Milan on 16 December 1922.
Fanny Anitúa Medrano was a renowned Mexican contralto opera singer.
Sardanapalus (1821) is a historical tragedy in blank verse by Lord Byron, set in ancient Nineveh and recounting the fall of the Assyrian monarchy and its supposed last king. It draws its story mainly from the Historical Library of Diodorus Siculus and from William Mitford's History of Greece. Byron wrote the play during his stay in Ravenna, and dedicated it to Goethe. It has had an extensive influence on European culture, inspiring a painting by Delacroix and musical works by Berlioz, Liszt and Ravel, among others.
Fra Gherardo is an opera in three acts composed by Ildebrando Pizzetti who also wrote the libretto. Set in Parma at the end of the 13th century, the opera's story is based on the life and death of Gherardino Segalello as chronicled by Salimbene of Parma. Pizzetti composed the work, his fifth opera, between 1925 and 1927. The world premiere took place at La Scala, Milan on 16 May 1928 in a performance conducted by Arturo Toscanini with Antonin Trantoul and Florica Cristoforeanu in the leading roles of Fra Gherardo and Mariola.
The Daughter of Iorio is a 1904 play by the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio. The play is written in verse and has elements of local dialect, proverbs and traditional rhymes from Abruzzo. It tells the tragic story of the love between a young female outcast and a shepherd who is being married off to a woman he does not love.
Clitennestra, an opera in a prelude and two acts, was the last work by Ildebrando Pizzetti. The libretto is in Italian. The opera play is based on ancient Greek mythology written by Aeschylus and Sophocles. It was premiered at La Scala in Milan on 1 March 1965, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni.
Ifigenia is a tragic opera in one act by Ildebrando Pizzetti, who also wrote the libretto with Alberto Perrini. The libretto is in Italian language. It was premiered as a radio broadcast from RAI Auditorium in Turin on 3 October 1950. In the same year, it received the first prize of Prix Italia radio annual award, that was held in Turin. The opera made its theatrical debut at Teatro Comunale in Florence on 9 May 1951 during the 14th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival.
L’oro is an opera in three acts composed by Ildebrando Pizzetti who also wrote the libretto in Italian language. It premiered at La Scala in Milan on 2 January 1947, conducted by Pizzeti himself.
