La Spinalba 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...

 (dramma comico) in three acts, with music by Francisco António de Almeida

Francisco António de Almeida

Francisco António de Almeida was a Portuguese composer and organist.From 1722 to 1726 he was a royal scholar in Rome. In 1724, Pier Leone Ghezzi drew his caricature, describing him as "a young but excellent composer of concertos and church music who sang with extreme taste"...

 to an 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...

-language 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...

 whose author is unknown. It was premiered in the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 Carnival season of 1739 at the Palácio da Ribeira, Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

.

Background

Almeida studied in Rome during the 1720s before returning to Lisbon, and this opera, the only one of the three composed by him that survives intact, shows the influence of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Iesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...

, whose La serva padrona

La serva padrona

La serva padrona is an opera buffa by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi to a libretto by Gennaro Antonio Federico, after the play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. The opera is only 45 minutes long and was originally performed as an intermezzo between the acts of a larger serious opera...

 was written six years earlier. His orchestra was similar to that of Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti

Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti.-Life:Scarlatti was born in...

, and, unusually for the time, none of the male roles in the opera were sung by castrati

Castrato

A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...

.

The opera, along with other works by the composer, was thought to have been lost in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake

1755 Lisbon earthquake

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...

, but it was rediscovered in the 1960s.

Performance history

After the rediscovery of the opera, the first modern performance took place at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on July 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake...

, Lisbon, on 26 May 1965. It has since been performed in a number of other Portuguese towns and cities, including Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

 in 2004, Belém

Santa Maria de Belém

Santa Maria de Belém, or just Belém , whose name is derived from the Portuguese word for Bethlehem, is a civil parish of the municipality of Lisbon, in central Portugal...

 in 2008 and Vigo

Vigo

Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...

 in 2009. The first performance in Britain, by Phoenix Opera, took place at the Collegiate Theatre, London, and in 2010 performances were given at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, Carnival, 1739 (Conductor: )
Spinalba, a young Florentine 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....  girl	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...
Arsenio, her father, a Florentine merchant	bass
Dianora, her stepmother	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...
Ippolito, a young Florentine, Spinalba's unfaithful lover	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...
Elisa, Arsenio's niece and Spinalba's cousin	soprano
Leandro, a young nobleman, Elisa's lover and Ippolito's rival	tenor
Vespina, Elisa's servant	soprano
Togno, a gondolier and Leandro's servant	bass
Peasants, nobles, conspirators, pages, etc.

Act 1

Scene 1: Arsenio's house

Dianora asks Spinalba to explain why she had dressed up as a man and left home for two weeks. Spinalba's reply is that she wanted to spy on Ippolito, whom she had met in Florence but is now in Rome. She still loves him, but he has forgotten and abandoned her, and has fallen for her cousin Elisa. Dianora is apprehensive about the possible reaction of Arsenio when he hears Spinalba's story. Aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 (Spinalba): "Con quante lusinghe l'infido incostante". She departs.

When Arsenio arrives, Dianora tells him that her daughter was visiting Elisa on her own, and had disguised herself as a man to protect herself. Arsenio is angry - Spinalba has brought shame on the family and it is Dianora's fault. Aria (Dianora): "Quando m'avrai perduta". Dianora leaves. Elisa arrives with Vespina, and denies that Spinalba had recently visited her, whether or not in disguise. Aria (Arsenio): "Eh, t'accheta, t'accheta". He leaves.

Elisa now confesses to Vespina that she is passionate about Florindo (Spinalba in disguise) and that she feels nothing for either Ippolito or Leandro. Ippolito reaffirms his love for Elisa and tries to make Vespina an ally, but the maid refuses to do anything to help him. Aria (Vespina): "Siete voi della Signora". She departs, leaving Ippolito alone. Aria (Ippolito): "Lieve fiamma, che semplice e cheta".

Scene 2: Elisa's garden

Leandro and Togno arrive by boat. Duet (Leandro and Togno): "Dicea la Madre di me zelosa/Poscia la nonna, la vecchia accorta". Leandro, nervous about courting Elisa, instructs Togno to take a message to her. He leaves. Aria (Leandro): "Dille che'l primo oggetto fu".

Dianora arrives and asks Togno whether he has recently seen a girl dressed as a man. No, he hasn't. She leaves and Arsenio appears, asking exactly the same question. This time, Togno pretends that he has, to Arsenio's bewilderment. After Arsenio has left, Vespina arrives and Togno tells her about the trick that he has played on Arsenio. They laugh so much that Togno forgets what he was supposed to say to Elisa.

Ippolito appears, takes Togno to be a rival suitor of Elisa and challenges him. Now Spinalba (disguised as Florindo) arrives in time to save Togno, and he escapes. Recitative and Aria (Togno): "E vuoi ammazzarmi, Signor, e perché?". "Florindo" tries to convince Ippolito that Elisa is not for him - how can she love him if she discovers that he has abandoned Spinalba? Duet (Spinalba and Ippolito): "Son questi i giuramenti?".

Act 2

Scene 1: Elisa's garden

Dianora describes Arsenio's madness to Elisa and Vespina: the loss of his daughter has led him to go away with only some food wrapped in a handkerchief. She asks Elisa to convince Arsenio that Spinalba will return soon. Aria (Dianora): "Tu'l consola, tu l'invola del sentier". Elisa asks Vespina to help, but she has nothing to say.

Leandro and Ippolito challenge each other to a duel over Elisa, but she appears and calms them down. Aria (Elisa): "Sia ver che si desti frà voi tal cimento?". Ippolito departs. Aria (Ippolito): "Volle talor per gioco". Togno joins Leandro and tries to tell him that Arsenio is coming, but Leandro ignores him and goes away. Aria (Leandro): "Detesto il momento, in cui la mirai".

Arsenio, increasingly upset, confuses Togno with Charon, the mythological boatman who transports the souls of the dead across the Styx. He goes off to dress for the journey, first drawing a magic circle around Togno to stop him running away - if he does, he will be pursued by demons. Aria (Arsenio): "Re di Cocito, grave e severo". Togno, mesmerised, thinks that Vespina, who now arrives, is one of the Furies

Erinyes

In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...

. Aria and recitative (Togno and Vespina): "Và sprofonda nell'inferno". He asks her to help him to escape from the circle, but she makes fun of him. However, she takes pity on him, and they arrange to meet in the garden in the evening.

Arsenio, still deluded, returns dressed as a sailor, and confuses Vespina with Calliope

Calliope

In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....

, a muse

Muse

The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...

 who will accompany him to the underworld

Underworld

The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...

. Aria (Vespina): "Tu sei'l desio di questo petto". Aria (Togno): "Come gira a gonfie viele".

Scene 2: the same

Elisa naively declares her love for "Florindo". The disguised Spinalba dare not reveal her secret, and urges Elisa to return to Leandro. Aria (Elisa): "Se tanto t'adoro". She departs. Aria (Spinalba): "Un cor, ch'ha per costume".

Night falls. Vespina, waiting for Togno, meets Dianora, who is looking for her husband. They hide as Togno and Arsenio arrive. Arsenio, now completely demented, mistakes Dianora for Proserpina

Proserpina

Proserpina or Proserpine is an ancient Roman goddess whose story is the basis of a myth of Springtime. Her Greek goddess' equivalent is Persephone. The probable origin of her name comes from the Latin, "proserpere" or "to emerge," in respect to the growing of grain...

, the goddess of the underworld. Quartet

Quartet

In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...

 (Dianora, Vespina, Togno, Arsenio): "Non fuggirmi, o sposo amato".

Act 3

Scene 1

Spinalba sends a message via Togno to ask Leandro not to leave the city. In due course, she will be compelled to reveal her true identity, and then Elisa will need her real suitor. Aria (Spinalba): "Quello sdegno, ch'è figlio d'amore".

Dianora, Elisa and Togno agree that the latter, disguised as a doctor, will try to cure Arsenio. Aria (Togno): "Basta porsi la gogniglia".

Elisa is still enamoured of "Florindo", but Dianora finally reveals that not only is he Spinalba in disguise but also that Spinalba loves Ippolito. Elisa decides to return to Leandro. Aria (Elisa): "Con innocente abbraccio vò stringerla al mio petto".

Ippolito and Leandro, agitated, ask Dianora about Elisa's intentions. Dianora tells them that one of them will be happy. Aria (Ippolito): "Veggio ben' io, per mia sventura". Leandro is in despair. Aria (Leandro): "M'accenni ch'io speri, mi scemi l'affanno".

Scene 2

Arsenio imagines that he is surrounded by a storm. When Togno and Dianora appear, he thinks that Togno, now disguised as a doctor, is Pluto

Pluto (mythology)

In ancient Greek religion and myth, Pluto was a name for the ruler of the underworld; the god was also known as Hades, a name for the underworld itself...

 and angrily refuses to take any medicine. Togno throws it in his face and Arsenio flees.

Vespina pretends not to recognise the disguised Togno and starts flirting with him, then tells him that Togno does not love her. Togno throws off his disguise, and a furious row develops. Duet (Vespina and Togno): "Perché così sdegnato, se l'amor mio tu sei?".

Dianora finds Arsenio and tells him that his daughter will soon arrive. Aria (Dianora): "Io farò ch'ai piedi tuoi". Togno and Vespina are reconciled. Aria (Vespina): "Io bramo il cor contento".

In the final scene, Arsenio gradually returns to his senses, and when Spinalba removes her disguise and apologises to him, he becomes his old self. Leandro is taken back by Elisa, Ippolito asks Spinalba to forgive him, and Vespina accepts Togno's marriage proposal. Ensemble (All): "Fugga il duol, regni la pace".

Recording

Year	Cast: (Spinalba, Elisa, Dianora, Vespina, Ippolito, Leandro, Arsenio, Togno)	Conductor, Orchestra, Chorus	Label
1969	Lidia Marimpietri, Laura Zannini, Rena Garazioti, Romana Righetti, Ugo Benelli, Fernando Serafin, Otello Borgonovo, Teodoro Rivetta	Gianfranco Rivoli, Orchestra da Camera Gulbenkian	3 LPs: Philips Philips Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....