La figlia di Iorio

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La figlia di Iorio
Opera by Alberto Franchetti
Adolfo De Karolis (1874-1928), La figlia di Iorio (1914).jpg
TranslationThe Daughter of Iorio
Librettist Gabriele D'Annunzio
LanguageItalian
Based on the librettists's play
Premiere
29 March 1906 (1906-03-29)
La Scala, Milan

La figlia di Iorio (The Daughter of 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. [1]

Contents

Roles

Drawing by Peter Hoffer for the 1954 edition of the libretto Disegno per copertina di libretto, disegno di Peter Hoffer per La figlia di Iorio (1954) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON012476.jpg
Drawing by Peter Hoffer for the 1954 edition of the libretto
RoleVoice typePremiere cast
29 March 1906
Aligi tenor Giovanni Zenatello
Candia della Leonessa mezzo-soprano Eleonora de Cisneros
Crocifero bass Libero Ottoboni
Favettamezzo-sopranoMaria Bastia Pagnoni
Ienne dell'EtabassMansueto Gaudio
Lazaro di Roio baritone Eugenio Giraldoni
Mielitorebass Adamo Didur
Mila di Codra soprano Angelica Pandolfini
OrnellasopranoAdele D'Albert
SplendoresopranoTeresina Ferraris

Synopsis

Set design of the cave from Act II Caverna d'Aligi, bozzetto di Francesco Paolo Michetti per La figlia di Iorio (s.d.) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON011984.jpg
Set design of the cave from Act II
Grotta del Cavallone in Lama dei Peligni Grotta del Cavallone IMG 0176.jpg
Grotta del Cavallone in Lama dei Peligni

The story is set in the small town in Abruzzo: Lama dei Peligni. Near the Grotta del Cavallone, lives a wealthy family in decline: the Sangro of Roio del Sangro. The father Lazaro di Roio is happy because his young son Aligi is getting married with a rich woman of the country. However the wedding is interrupted by the inhabitants of Lama, enraged against a girl. The girl named Mila is accused by the superstitions of the people of being a witch, and so is likely to be sentenced to death. Aligi chases people away, because he is in love with her. So the young man breaks the marriage and Lazaro curses him away. Aligi and Mila go to live in exile in the Cave, hated by all the people, and plan to leave the country. Aligi but is too poor and so he travels to Rome to appeal to the pope. When he returns confident, Aligi discovers that the inhabitants of Lama Peligni burned alive Mila during his absence.

Recordings

Notes and references

  1. An opera by Ildebrando Pizzetti with the same title, and again set to D'Annunzio's play, premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1954.

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