| I Medici | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo | |
 Librettto cover published in 1894 | |
| Librettist | Ruggero Leoncavallo |
| Premiere | |
I Medici is an opera in four acts composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with a libretto by the composer. Set in Renaissance Florence at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, it was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called Crepusculum. The opera premiered on 6 November 1893 at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan.
I Medici was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called Crepusculum, with the second and third operas to be called Savonarola and I Borgia. [1] The word "crepusculum" is Latin for "twilight", signaling the influence of Richard Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen (whose fourth installment is called "Twilight of the Gods" ( Götterdämmerung )). [2] The remaining two operas were never completed. Leoncavallo sought to create an "epic poem" for the stage. [3] However, one contemporary review of the premiere stated:
In I Medici we have a historical opera like those that have been made many times before and will be hence ... [but] we do not have either an epoch or a set of characters brought truthfully to life; we do not have, in a word, that human counterpart of Wagner's mythological trilogy at which Leoncavallo gazed. [lower-alpha 1]
It premièred at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 9 November 1893. [4] It was not successful in its day and has never become part of the standard repertoire. However, it was revived at the Frankfurt Alte Oper in 1993 in a concert version conducted by Marcello Viotti (the opera's first performance in Germany) and was given a fully staged performance in March 2013 at the Theater Erfurt in Erfurt, Germany, conducted by Emmanuel Joel-Hornak. [5]
| Role [4] [6] | Voice type [4] [6] | Premiere cast, 9 November 1893 [4] Conductor: Rodolfo Ferrari |
|---|---|---|
| Giuliano de' Medici | tenor | Francesco Tamagno |
| Lorenzo de' Medici | baritone | Ottorino Beltrami |
| Simonetta Cattanei | soprano lirico | Adelina Stehle-Garbin |
| Fioretta de' Gori | dramatic soprano | Adele Gini Pizzorni |
| Giambattista da Montesecco | bass | Giovanni Scarneo |
| Francesco de' Pazzi | bass | Ludovico Contini |
| Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli | tenor | Giovanni Pagliano |
| Il Poliziano | baritone | Vittorio Bellati |
| Archbishop Salviati | bass | Gaetano Biancardi |
| Simonetta's mother | mezzo-soprano | Federica Casali |
The opera is set in Renaissance Italy and concerns intrigues centering on the Medici family, and the Pazzi conspiracy. Giuliano de' Medici loves Simonetta Cattanei, who tries to warn him of the conspiracy against his family. But she is killed by Montesecco, a murderer hired by Pope Sixtus V. Giuliano is killed by the conspirators, but Lorenzo de' Medici escapes with the help of the poet Poliziano. He then wins the support of the people, who lynch the conspirators.
A recording of the opera was released in 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon featuring Plácido Domingo as Giuliano de' Medici, Carlos Álvarez as Lorenzo de' Medici, Vitaly Kovalkov as Francesco de' Pazzi, Daniela Dessì as Simonetta Cattanei (Simonetta Vespucci née Cattaneo ) and Renata Lamanda as Fioretta de' Gori. It was recorded in July 2007 at the Teatro Comunale Florence, with Alberto Veronesi conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino . [6]
Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera Pagliacci (1892) that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success.
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The Pazzi conspiracy was a plot by members of the Pazzi family and others to displace the Medici family as rulers of Renaissance Florence.
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Antonio Cagnoni was an Italian composer. Primarily known for his twenty operas, his work is characterized by his use of leitmotifs and moderately dissonant harmonies. In addition to writing music for the stage, he composed a modest amount of sacred music, most notably a Requiem in 1888. He also contributed the third movement, Quid sum miser, to the Messa per Rossini, a collaborative work created by thirteen composers to honor Gioacchino Rossini.
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Conchita is an opera in four acts and six scenes by composer Riccardo Zandonai. The work uses an Italian language libretto by Maurizio Vaucaire and Carlo Zangarini which is based on Pierre Louÿs's 1898 novel La Femme et le pantin. The work premièred in Milan at the Teatro dal Verme on 14 October 1911 with soprano Tarquinia Tarquini, who later married Zandonai in 1917, in the title role. Her portrayal was lauded by critics and she went on to perform Conchita at the Royal Opera, London (1912), the Cort Theatre in San Francisco (1912), the Philharmonic Auditorium in Hollywood (1912), the Heilig Theatre in Portland (1912), the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia (1912), the Chicago Grand Opera Company (1913), and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (1913). The opera was published by G. Ricordi & Co in 1912.
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Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli was an Italian merchant and one of the instigators of the Pazzi conspiracy.
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