Amica is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in two acts by Pietro Mascagni

Pietro Mascagni

Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...

, originally composed to a libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Paul Bérel (the pseudonym of Paul de Choudens). The only opera by Mascagni with a French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 libretto, it was an immediate success with both the audience and the critics on its opening night at the Théâtre du Casino in Monte-Carlo on 16 March 1905. Mascagni himself conducted the performance. The opera had its Italian premiere (with an Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 libretto by Mascagni's close collaborator, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti

Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti

Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti was an Italian librettist, best known for his friendship and collaboration with the composer Pietro Mascagni...

) on 13 May 1905 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

However, like many of Mascagni's operas apart from Cavalleria rusticana

Cavalleria rusticana

Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...

, the work then fell into obscurity. One of its few revivals in modern times was on 4 August 2007 at the Festival della Valle d'Itria

Festival della Valle d'Itria

The Festival della Valle d’Itria is a summer opera festival held in the south eastern Italian town of Martina Franca in the Apulia region. The Festival was founded in 1975 and performances are given in July and August each summer on a specially constructed stage in the outdoor courtyard of the...

, using the original French libretto (it has been released on CD, see below). In October 2008, Opera di Roma

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...

 used the Italian libretto for a new production of Amica in collaboration with Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Opéra de Monte-Carlo

The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house located in the principality of Monaco.With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des Bains de Mer, decided on the construction of an opera house. Initially, it was Charles III's...

 and the Teatro Carlo Goldoni in Livorno

Livorno

Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...

.

Set in the mountains of Savoy

Savoy

Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....

 around 1900, Amica is a classic verismo

Verismo

Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....

 drama. It recounts a domestic tragedy involving two brothers (Giorgio and Renaldo) and the woman they both love (Amica).

Roles

Role	Voice type	French Premiere Cast, 16 March 1905 Conductor: Pietro Mascagni	Italian Premiere Cast, 13 May 1905 Conductor: Pietro Mascagni
Amica	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Geraldine Farrar Geraldine Farrar Geraldine Farrar was an American soprano opera singer and film actress, noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".- Early life and opera career :Farrar was born in Melrose,...	Amalia Karola
Giorgio	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Charles Rousselière	Piero Schiavazzi
Renaldo	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Maurice Renaud Maurice Renaud Maurice Renaud , was a cultured French operatic baritone. He enjoyed an international reputation for the superlative quality of his singing and the brilliance of his acting.-Early years:...	Riccardo Stracciari
Père Camoine	bass	Henri-Alexandre Lequien	Leo Eral
Magdelone	soprano	Paola Rainaldi	Italia Bonetti

Recordings

• In Italian: Katia Ricciarelli
  Katia Ricciarelli
  -Biography:Born at Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music.She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in La bohème in Mantua in 1969,...
  
  , Fabio Armiliato
  Fabio Armiliato
  Fabio Armiliato is an Italian tenor.-Career:Born in Genoa, he has had an impressive career and has being hailed by critics as "the best Chénier of our time"....
  
  , Walter Donati, Elia Padovan, Hungarian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Conductor: Marco Pace. Released 1996. Kicco Classic 00296

• In the original French: Anna Malavasi, David Sotgiu, Pierluigi Dilengite, Marcello Rosiello, Francesca De Giorgi, Festival della Valle d'Itria, Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia, Bratislava Chamber Choir. Conductor: Manlio Benzi. Digital live recording. Released 2008. Dynamic CDS 574

Sources

• Casaglia, Gherardo, "16 Marzo 1905" and "13 Maggio 1905", Almanacco Amadeus, 2005 (in Italian, accessed 5 April 2010)
• Jellinek, George, Recording review, Opera News
  Opera News
  Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
  
  , November 1996
• Mallach, Alan, Pietro Mascagni and His Operas, UPNE, 2002, pp 165-169. ISBN 1-55553-524-0

External links

• Libretto in Italian at Mascagni.org
• Opera di Roma website