Il giuramento 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 three acts by the Italian

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...

 composer 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...

. The 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 Gaetano Rossi

Gaetano Rossi

Gaetano Rossi was an Italian writer who wrote opera libretti for several composers including Mayr, Rossini, Donizetti, Mercadante, Pacini, and Meyerbeer.-Biography:...

, is based on Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....

's play Angélo, tyran de Padoue. (This is the same source as Arrigo Boito

Arrigo Boito

Arrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele...

, under the pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio, was to use for his libretto for Ponchielli's La Gioconda

La Gioconda (opera)

La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...

).

The opera was first performed at La Scala

La Scala

La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

, 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 11 March 1837 and was "quickly taken up by other theatres throughout Italy". Within a year, it was staged in Vienna (April 1838) and later appeared in many European cities including London (June 1840) and Paris (1858) and in New York (February 1848).

As has been noted, there were elements in this opera that moved Italian opera in a new direction:

"Its taut dramatic structure and vivid musical scene-painting set it apart from the operas of his day.....Not only do we hear in its music a reliable Italian lyricism, but also the early moves away from ornamentation for its own sake. Mercadante uses the orchestra not as a pale accompaniment to dramatic action, but as a full partner in the drama"

Performance history

After the mid-19th century the opera dropped in popularity and by 1900 it had "virtually disappeared", not to be revived until the 1950s. However, it has been noted that, before 1900, the opera received 400 performances and Mercadante's La vestale 150 performances compared to the combined total of approximately 90 performances for Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco

Giovanna d'Arco

Giovanna d'Arco is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera....

, Don Carlo (in all its versions), and Aroldo

Aroldo

Aroldo is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on and adapted from their earlier 1850 collaboration, Stiffelio...

.

Occasional performances have been given in modern times. The opera was presented at the Festival dei Due Mondi

Festival dei Due Mondi

The Festival dei Due Mondi ' is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958...

 in Spoleto

Spoleto

Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...

 in June 1970 with Thomas Schippers

Thomas Schippers

Thomas Schippers was an American conductor. He was highly-regarded for his work in opera.-Biography:...

 conducting. German conductor Gerd Albrecht

Gerd Albrecht

Gerd Albrecht is a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Conductors Competition in Besançon at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in...

 gave a concert performance in Berlin in 1974 and three further performances in 1979, one of which was recorded. It was also given at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, Italy in the summer of 1984, conducted by Bruno Campanella; this too was recorded and made available on CD. There were four staged performances in Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

, France, in November 1993, conducted by Giuliano Carella. It was also performed at the Wexford Festival Opera

Wexford Festival Opera

The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...

 in December 2002 under Paolo Arrivabeni. The Washington Concert Opera in the US capital presented a concert version in May 2009 with Antony Walker conducting.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast (Conductor: - Eugenio Cavallini Eugenio Cavallini Eugenio Cavallini was an Italian conductor, composer, violinist, and violist. In 1833 he became first violinist of the orchestra at La Scala, a post he held through 1855... )
Elaisa	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...	Sofia Dall'Oca-Schoberlechner
Manfredo, Bianca's husband, but smitten with Elaisa	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...	Giovanni Orazio Cartagenova
Bianca,Manfredo's wife, but secretly in love with Viscardo	contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...	Marietta Brambilla
Viscardo di Benevento, Elaisa's rescuer	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 Pedrazzi
Brunoro, Manfredo's secretary	tenor	Giuseppe Vaschetti
Isaura	soprano	Angela Carolina Pochini

Act 1

Bianca has been married against her will to Count Manfredo, although she is secretly in love with an unknown knight. Elaisa, a young woman in search of the daughter of her benefactor, and Viscardo arrive in the city. The disgraced courtier Brunoro discovers that Viscardo is the knight loved by Bianca. He tells Elaisa in order to make her jealous but she finds out that Bianca was the very woman she had been looking for.

Act 2

The count suspects Bianca of infidelity and locks her in the family tomb, intending to poison her. But Elaisa, who is loved by the count, manages to substitute a strong narcotic for the poison.

Act 3

Viscardo believes that Elaisa is responsible for Bianca's death and stabs her just as Bianca wakes from her deep sleep.

Recordings

Year	Cast (Manfredo, Bianca, Elaisa, Viscardo)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1951	Rolando Panerai Rolando Panerai Rolando Panerai Italian baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career in both comic and dramatic roles.Rolando Panerai was born in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence, Italy.... , Miriam Pirazzini Miriam Pirazzini Miriam Pirazzini was a well-known Italian mezzo-soprano. Born in Vicenza, she made her formal debut in Rome, in 1944, as Laura Adorno in La Gioconda. For the next twenty years, she was one of Italy's foremost mezzo-sopranos.... , Maria Vitale Maria Vitale Maria Vitale was an Italian operatic soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.She studied with the renowned Giannina Arangi-Lombardi in Milan. At first it was assumed that her voice was that of a coloratura soprano, however upon the recommendation of composer Riccardo... , Amedeo Berdini	Alfredo Simonetto, Chorus and Orchestra della RAI di Milano	Audio CD: Myto Cat: MCD 905 32
1975	Lajos Miller, Benedetta Pecchioli, Teresa Żylis Gara, Michele Molese	Maurizio Arena Maurizio Arena Maurizio Arena was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 78 films between 1952 and 1978.-Selected filmography:* It Happened in the Park * Siamo tutti inquilini * The Sign of Venus... , Orchestra and chorus of Radio France	Audio CD: Rodolphe Cat: RPC 32417-32418
1979	Robert Kerns, Agnes Baltsa Agnes Baltsa Agnes Baltsa is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano.Baltsa was born in Lefkada. She began playing piano at the age of six, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing... , Mara Zampieri, 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...	Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht is a German conductor. He was a first-prize winner at the International Conductors Competition in Besançon at age 22. His first post was as a repetiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. Later, he became Senior Kapellmeister at the Mainz Municipal Theatre, and Generalmusikdirektor in... , Orchestra and chorus of ther Vienna State Opera Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian... (Recording of a concert performance in Vienna, 9 September)	Audio CD: Orfeo d'Or Cat: C 680 062 1 House of Opera Cat: CDBB 335