L'ajo nell'imbarazzo
Encyclopedia
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo is a melodramma
giocoso, or opera
, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti
. The Italian
libretto
was written by Jacopo Ferretti
, after the 1807 play by Giovanni Giraud
. At its premiere at the Teatro Valle
, Rome
on 4 February 1824, it "was greeted wild enthusiasm"...It was with this opera that....Donizetti had his first really lasting success" During revisions planned for the 1826 production in Naples, Donizetti renamed the opera Don Gregorio
, and it is under that name that most later productions were staged.
However, before the planned Naples production of 1826, Donizetti revised the opera under the title of Don Gregorio, and under that name, it premiered at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples
on 11 June 1826. That same year, it also was given at La Scala
. On 28 July 1846 it was first given in London, but "seems to have disappeared from view until it turned up again in Italy in the twentieth century". It was presented at the Teatro Donizetti
in the compopser's home town, Bergamo
, in 1959, but a successful staging by the Wexford Festival in 1973 led to it appearing in four additional European cities between 1975 and 1990. Meanwhile, an Italian TV production had been broadcast in 1964
, but a new video recording was made from live performances given by the Teatro Donizetti in November 2007.
Marquis Giulio demands that his sons, Enrico and Pippetto, grow up in complete ignorance of all matters of the flesh. Yet Enrico has secretly married Gilda, and they even have a son. Exasperated by the life he's forced to lead, the youth begs the elderly tutor Gregorio for help, and has him meet his wife. When, however, the Marquis arrives, Gilda remains trapped in Gregorio's room. She worries, for she must nurse her child: Gregorio is forced to fetch the baby and bring it to her, hidden under his cloak. Leonarda, an old servant in the household, informs the Marquis of her suspiscions; he discovers Gilda, but is convinced she must be the tutor's lover. In the tempestuous scene that follows, involving all the characters, the truth finally comes out. The Marquis realizes his error, and decides to entrust his younger son, Pippetto, to Enrico, so that he might help him learn "the ways of the world."
Melodramma
Melodramma is an Italian term for opera, used in a much narrower sense by English writers to discuss developments in the early 19th century Italian libretto...
giocoso, or 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 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 Jacopo Ferretti
Jacopo Ferretti
Jacopo Ferretti was an Italian writer, poet and opera librettist.He is most famous for having supplied the libretti for two operas by Rossiniand for five operas by Donizetti....
, after the 1807 play by Giovanni Giraud
Giovanni Giraud
Count Giovanni Giraud , Italian dramatist, of French origin, was born at Rome, and showed a precocious passion for the theatre. His first play, L'Honestà non si vince, was successfully produced in 1798...
. At its premiere at the Teatro Valle
Teatro Valle
The Teatro Valle is a theatre and former opera house in Rome, Italy.Commissioned by the Capranica family, the architect Tommaso Morelli designed the theatre which was built in 1726. It was inaugurated with the staging of the tragedy Matilde by Simon Falconio Pratoli...
, 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...
on 4 February 1824, it "was greeted wild enthusiasm"...It was with this opera that....Donizetti had his first really lasting success" During revisions planned for the 1826 production in Naples, Donizetti renamed the opera Don Gregorio
Don Gregorio (opera)
Don Gregorio is an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, adapted from his popular 1824 opera buffa L'ajo nell'imbarazzo, from a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti. While L'ajo nell'imbarazzo enjoyed success at Teatro Valle, it was not suited to the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, where Francesco Tortoli was interested in...
, and it is under that name that most later productions were staged.
Performance history
Performances were given in many Italian cities and it became the first of the composer's operas to be given outside the country, with productions mounted in Vienna, Dresden, Barcelona, and Rio di Janeiro.However, before the planned Naples production of 1826, Donizetti revised the opera under the title of Don Gregorio, and under that name, it premiered at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples
Naples
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 11 June 1826. That same year, it also was given 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...
. On 28 July 1846 it was first given in London, but "seems to have disappeared from view until it turned up again in Italy in the twentieth century". It was presented at the Teatro Donizetti
Teatro Donizetti
The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house in Bergamo, Italy. Built in the 1780s using a design by architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, the theatre was originally referred to as either the Teatro Nuovo or Teatro di Fiera. The first opera to be mounted at the theatre, Giuseppe Sarti's Medonte, re di...
in the compopser's home town, Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, in 1959, but a successful staging by the Wexford Festival in 1973 led to it appearing in four additional European cities between 1975 and 1990. Meanwhile, an Italian TV production had been broadcast in 1964
, but a new video recording was made from live performances given by the Teatro Donizetti in November 2007.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 4 February 1824 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Madama Gilda Talemanni, Enrico's wife | 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... |
Maria Ester Mombelli |
| Old Marquis Giulio | 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... |
Antonio Tamburini Antonio Tamburini Antonio Tamburini was an Italian operatic baritone.Born in Faenza, then part of the Papal States, Tamburini studied the orchestral horn with his father and voice with Aldobrando Rossi, before making his debut as a singer, aged 18, in La contessa di colle erbose . He went on to become one of the... |
| Marquis Enrico, son of Giulio | tenor | Savino Monelli |
| Marquis Pippetto, son of Giulio | 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 Puglieschi |
| Don Gregorio Cordebono | baritone | Nicola Tacci |
| Leonarda, elderly maid | 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... |
Agnese Loyselet |
| Simone, servant | bass | Luigi De Dominicis |
| Servants and waiters of the Marquis | ||
Synopsis
- Time: Early nineteenth century
- Place: An Italian city
Marquis Giulio demands that his sons, Enrico and Pippetto, grow up in complete ignorance of all matters of the flesh. Yet Enrico has secretly married Gilda, and they even have a son. Exasperated by the life he's forced to lead, the youth begs the elderly tutor Gregorio for help, and has him meet his wife. When, however, the Marquis arrives, Gilda remains trapped in Gregorio's room. She worries, for she must nurse her child: Gregorio is forced to fetch the baby and bring it to her, hidden under his cloak. Leonarda, an old servant in the household, informs the Marquis of her suspiscions; he discovers Gilda, but is convinced she must be the tutor's lover. In the tempestuous scene that follows, involving all the characters, the truth finally comes out. The Marquis realizes his error, and decides to entrust his younger son, Pippetto, to Enrico, so that he might help him learn "the ways of the world."
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Madame Gilda Talemanni, Il Marchese Enrico, Il Marchese Giulio Antiquati, Don Gregorio Cordebono) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Luciana Serra, Paolo Barbacini, Alessandro Corbelli, Enzo Dara |
Bruno Campanella Bruno Campanella Bruno Campanella is an Italian conductor and a distinguished interpreter of the Italian Opera.He studied composition under Nino Rota and Luigi Dallapiccola. He had Hans Swarowsky and Thomas Schippers as instructors in conducting.... , Teatro Regio di Torino Orchestra and Chorus |
Audio CD: Warner Fonit Cat: 3984 29178-2 |
| 2007 | Elizaveta Martirosyan, Giorgio Trucco, Giorgio Valerio, Paolo Bordogna |
Stefano Montanari, Orchestra and Chorus of the Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti (Recorded at performances at the Teatro Donizetti Teatro Donizetti The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house in Bergamo, Italy. Built in the 1780s using a design by architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, the theatre was originally referred to as either the Teatro Nuovo or Teatro di Fiera. The first opera to be mounted at the theatre, Giuseppe Sarti's Medonte, re di... in Bergamo Bergamo Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan... , 2–4 November) |
DVD: Dynamic Cat: 33579 |