I Medici is an opera composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Ruggero Leoncavallo

Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:...

, with a libretto by the composer.

Performance history

It premièred at the Teatro Dal Verme

Teatro Dal Verme

The Teatro Dal Verme is a theatre in Milan, Italy located on the Via San Giovanni sul Muro, on the site of the former private theatre the Politeama Ciniselli. It was designed by Giuseppe Pestagalli to a commission from Count Francesco Dal Verme, and was used primarily for plays and opera...

 in 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 ,...

 on 9 November 1893. It was not successful in its day and has never become part of the standard repertoire.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast 9 November 1893 (Conductor: Rodolfo Ferrari)
Giuliano de' Medici	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...	Francesco Tamagno Francesco Tamagno Francesco Tamagno was an operatic tenor from Italy who sang with enormous success throughout Europe and America. On 5 February 1887, he cemented his place in musical history by creating the role of Otello in Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece of the same name...
Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...	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...	Ottorino Beltrami
Simonetta Cattanei	soprano lirico	Adelina Stehle Adelina Stehle Adelina Stehle was an Austrian-born operatic soprano, associated almost entirely with the Italian repertory. She studied singing in Milan and debuted as Amina in 1881 in Broni in Lombardy. Her career eventually brought her to La Scala in 1890 where she flourished. She took part in a series of... -Garbin
Fioretta de' Gori	soprano drammatico	Adele Gini Pizzorni
Giambattista da Montesecco	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Giovanni Scarneo
Francesco Pazzi	bass	Ludovico Contini
Bernardo Bandini	tenor	Giovanni Pagliano
Il Poliziano	baritone	Vittorio Bellati
Archbishop Salviati Francesco Salviati (archbishop) Francesco Salviati Riario was the archbishop of Pisa in 1475. A blood-member of the Riario family, and of the Salviati family , he was also related by marriage to the Pazzi, Medici, Vettori, and other powerful families...	bass	Gaetano Biancardi
Simonetta's mother	mezzo-soprano	Federica Casali

Synopsis

The opera is set in Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and concerns intrigues centering around the Medici

Medici

The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...

 family. 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

Lorenzo de' Medici

Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...

 escapes with the help of the poet Poliziano. He then wins the support of the people, who lynch the conspirators.

Recordings

A recording of the opera was released in 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon featuring Placido Domingo

Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...

as Giuliano de Medici. It was recorded in July 2007 at Teatro Comunale in Florence.