Il diluvio universale
Encyclopedia
Il diluvio universale is an azione tragico-sacra, or opera
, by Gaetano Donizetti
. The Italian
libretto
was written by Domenico Gilardoni after Lord Byron's Heaven and Earth and Padre Ringhieri's Il diluvio.
on February 28, 1830, but it failed to become an instant success.
It is known that the premiere production had to be handed in as an Oratorio to the censors of the church, as its date was within the period of fasting and was only allowed due to its biblical story.
A production of a version revised by Donizetti was opened on January 17th, 1834 at the Genoa Teatro Carlo Felice
. After another staging in 1837 in Paris, the opera was not presented for 147 years before being staged in Genoa in 1985. The first production in Switzerland took place at St. Gallen
where, since 2006 an opera is produced in the open air in front of the Cathedral around the first weekend of July. This production was also presented at the St. Galler Festspiele 2010 when Mirco Palazzi, Majella Cullagh and Manuela Custer appeared.
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...
, by Gaetano Donizetti
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...
. The 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
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...
was written by Domenico Gilardoni after Lord Byron's Heaven and Earth and Padre Ringhieri's Il diluvio.
Performance history
The opera premiered at the Teatro San Carlo, 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...
on February 28, 1830, but it failed to become an instant success.
It is known that the premiere production had to be handed in as an Oratorio to the censors of the church, as its date was within the period of fasting and was only allowed due to its biblical story.
A production of a version revised by Donizetti was opened on January 17th, 1834 at the Genoa Teatro Carlo Felice
Teatro Carlo Felice
The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....
. After another staging in 1837 in Paris, the opera was not presented for 147 years before being staged in Genoa in 1985. The first production in Switzerland took place at St. Gallen
St. Gallen
St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...
where, since 2006 an opera is produced in the open air in front of the Cathedral around the first weekend of July. This production was also presented at the St. Galler Festspiele 2010 when Mirco Palazzi, Majella Cullagh and Manuela Custer appeared.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 28 February 1830 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Noè | bass | Luigi Lablache Luigi Lablache Luigi Lablache was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish heritage. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in Don Giovanni was one of his signature roles.-Biography:Luigi Lablache was born in... |
| Jafet | 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... |
Gennaro Ambrosini |
| Sem | 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... |
Giovanni Arrigotti |
| Cam | bass | Lorenzo Salvi Lorenzo Salvi Lorenzo Salvi was an Italian operatic tenor who had a major international opera career during the nineteenth century... |
| Tesbite | 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... |
Fabiani |
| Asfene | soprano | Cecilia Grassi |
| Abra | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Edvige Ricci |
| Cadmo | tenor | Berardo Winter |
| Sela, Azael's mother | soprano | Luigia Boccabadati Luigia Boccabadati Luigia Boccabadati was an Italian operatic soprano.Born in Modena, Boccabadati made her professional opera debut at the Teatro Regio di Parma in 1817. She then appeared in opera houses in Venice and Rome. She performed the roles of Giulietta in Nicola Vaccai's Giulietta e Romeo and the title... |
| Ada, Sela's friend | tenor | Maria Carraro |
| Artoo | tenor | Gaetano Chizzola |
| Azael, child | silent | |
| Chorus | ||
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Noe, Sela, Ada, Cadmo) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Mirco Palazzi, Bernadette Cullen, Manuela Custer, Colin Lee |
Giuliano Carella, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir |
Audio CD: Opera Rara Cat: ORC 31 |
External links
- Libretto (Italian)