Gabriella di Vergy
Encyclopedia
Gabriella di Vergy is an opera seria in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti
written in 1826 and revised in 1838, from a libretto
by Andrea Leone Tottola
, which was based on the tragedy Gabrielle de Vergy (1777) by Dormont De Belloy. Prior to that, the play was itself inspired by two French medieval legends, Le châtelain de Coucy et la dame de Fayel
and Le Roman de la chastelaine de Vergy.
The story had already been the subject of an opera by Michele Carafa
(1816) and had previously been used by Johann Simon Mayr (Raul di Créqui, Milan
, 1809), Francesco Morlacchi
(Raoul de Créqui, Dresden
, 1811), and Carlo Coccia
(Fayel , Florence
, 1817). It was also subsequently used as Gabriella di Vergy by Saverio Mercadante
in 1828.
"In its original form the opera was never performed", but parts of the original version were re-used by Donizetti in his other operas Otto mesi in due ore (Naples, 1827), L’esule di Roma (Naples 1828), Il paria (Naples 1829) and Anna Bolena
. For the revised version, Donizetti revisited Gabriella di Vergy and incorporated into the opera parts of Ugo, conte di Parigi
(Milan 1832), Rosmonda d'Inghilterra
(Florence 1834) and Maria de Rudenz
(Venice 1838).
and with the title of Gabriella The opera was rediscovered in 1978 by Don White and Patric Schmid of Opera Rara
. Subsequently, it was given its first performance in the UK on 9 September 1978 in Belfast and recorded.
Gabriella has married Fayel under pressure from her father and the reported death of Raoul, the man she really loves on his return from the Crusades
. She discovers too late that she had been deceived and that Raoul is alive. Raoul returns and accuses her of perfidy. Meanwhile, he is under pressure from the Emperor to marry Fayel's sister, Almeide. The story has a tragic and macbre end. Raoul is killed by Fayel in a duel. Fayel cuts out his heart and brings it to Gabriella in an urn. She goes mad and dies of a broken heart. Her final words to Fayel, and the final words of the opera are her wish for the foaming blood in the urn to rise up and cover Fayel's face and for Raoul's ghost to rise from its tomb to embed in Fayel's heart the knife he had used to cut out Raoul's.
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
written in 1826 and revised in 1838, from 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 Andrea Leone Tottola
Andrea Leone Tottola
Andrea Leone Tottola was a prolific Italian librettist, best known for his work with Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini.It is not known when or where he was born...
, which was based on the tragedy Gabrielle de Vergy (1777) by Dormont De Belloy. Prior to that, the play was itself inspired by two French medieval legends, Le châtelain de Coucy et la dame de Fayel
Le Châtelain de Coucy
Le Chastelain de Couci was a French trouvère of the 12th century. He may have been the Guy de Couci who was castellan of Château de Coucy from 1186 to 1203....
and Le Roman de la chastelaine de Vergy.
The story had already been the subject of an opera by Michele Carafa
Michele Carafa
Michele Enrico Carafa di Colobrano was an Italian opera composer. He was born in Naples and studied in Paris with Luigi Cherubini. He was Professor of counterpoint at the Paris Conservatoire from 1840 to 1858...
(1816) and had previously been used by Johann Simon Mayr (Raul di Créqui, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 1809), Francesco Morlacchi
Francesco Morlacchi
Francesco Morlacchi was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, he was instrumental in popularizing the Italian style of opera.-Biography:...
(Raoul de Créqui, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, 1811), and Carlo Coccia
Carlo Coccia
Carlo Coccia was an Italian opera composer. He was known for the genre of opera semiseria.- Life and career :...
(Fayel , Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, 1817). It was also subsequently used as Gabriella di Vergy by Saverio Mercadante
Saverio Mercadante
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
in 1828.
"In its original form the opera was never performed", but parts of the original version were re-used by Donizetti in his other operas Otto mesi in due ore (Naples, 1827), L’esule di Roma (Naples 1828), Il paria (Naples 1829) and Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
. For the revised version, Donizetti revisited Gabriella di Vergy and incorporated into the opera parts of Ugo, conte di Parigi
Ugo, conte di Parigi
Ugo, conte di Parigi is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis's Blanche d'Aquitaine...
(Milan 1832), Rosmonda d'Inghilterra
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra is a melodramma or opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Felice Romani originally for Coccia's Rosmunda...
(Florence 1834) and Maria de Rudenz
Maria de Rudenz
Maria de Rudenz is a dramma tragico, or tragic opera, in three parts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on "a piece of Gothic horror", La nonne sanglante by Anicet-Bourgeois, Cuvelier and Maillan, and The monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis...
(Venice 1838).
Performance history
After Donizetti's death, his revised Gabriella di Vergy finally received its first performance on 29 November 1869 at the Teatro San Carlo in NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and with the title of Gabriella The opera was rediscovered in 1978 by Don White and Patric Schmid of Opera Rara
Opera Rara
Opera Rara is a British record label, founded in the early 1970s by Americans Patric Schmid and Don White to promote concerts of rare and/or forgotten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Donizetti and such other "bel canto" composers as Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, and Federico Ricci.The...
. Subsequently, it was given its first performance in the UK on 9 September 1978 in Belfast and recorded.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 29 November 1869 (Conductor: - Nicola De Giosa) |
|---|---|---|
| Gabriella di Vergy | 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... |
Marcella Lotti della Santa Marcella Lotti della Santa Marcella Lotti della Santa was an Italian opera singer who had an active international career during the 1850s and 1860s. One of her nation's leading sopranos, she drew particular acclaim for her portrayal of Verdi heroines... |
| Almeide, Fayel's sister | soprano | Carolina Certoné |
| Fayel, earl of Vermand | 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... |
Giuseppe Villani |
| Raoul | 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... |
Gottardo Aldighieri Gottardo Aldighieri Gottardo Aldighieri was an Italian operatic baritone who had a major opera career in Italy from 1858-1885. He possessed a powerful and beautiful voice and appeared on the stages of most of Italy's great opera houses. He sang a broad repertoire which encompassed works by Italian, French, and German... |
| Filippo Augusto | bass | Marco Arati Marco Arati Marco Arati was an Italian operatic bass active during the 1840s through the 1880s. Although he occasionally appeared at other opera houses in Italy, he was primarily committed to the Teatro di San Carlo where he sang roles for more than four decades... |
| Armando, Fayel's friend | bass | Memmi |
| Fayel's relatives, Gabriella's bridesmaids', followers of Filippo, people" | ||
Synopsis
- Place: Burgundy
- Time: Middle AgesMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Gabriella has married Fayel under pressure from her father and the reported death of Raoul, the man she really loves on his return from the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. She discovers too late that she had been deceived and that Raoul is alive. Raoul returns and accuses her of perfidy. Meanwhile, he is under pressure from the Emperor to marry Fayel's sister, Almeide. The story has a tragic and macbre end. Raoul is killed by Fayel in a duel. Fayel cuts out his heart and brings it to Gabriella in an urn. She goes mad and dies of a broken heart. Her final words to Fayel, and the final words of the opera are her wish for the foaming blood in the urn to rise up and cover Fayel's face and for Raoul's ghost to rise from its tomb to embed in Fayel's heart the knife he had used to cut out Raoul's.
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Gabriella, Fayel, Raoul, King) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Ludmilla Andrew, Christian Duplessis, Maurice Arthur, John Tomlinson |
Alun Francis Alun Francis Alun Francis is a Welsh conductor.-Professional career:Francis was the principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra from 1966 for ten years... , Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"... and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir |
Audio CD: Opera Rara Cat: OR 3 |