La campana sommersa 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 4 acts by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...

. Its libretto is by Claudio Guastalla, based on the play Die versunkene Glocke by German author Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.-Life and work:...

. The opera's premiere was on November 18, 1927 in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Respighi's regular publisher, Ricordi

Casa Ricordi

Casa Ricordi is a classical music publishing company founded in 1808 as G. Ricordi & Co. by violinist Giovanni Ricordi in Milan, Italy...

, was displeased by his choice of subject, and refused to publish the opera. This led to its being published by the German publisher Bote & Bock, and a German premiere.

The fairy-tale world of Hauptmann's play inspired Respighi to create his most lavishly and imaginatively orchestrated operatic score, which frequently reminds the listener of his famous symphonic poems. Since the opera's anti-hero Enrico is a bell maker, Respighi fills the music with many chiming and ringing effects.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast 18 November 1927 (Conductor: Werner Wolff)
Rautendelein, an elf 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...	Gertrud Callam
Ondino, a water spirit	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...	Josef Degler
A faun	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...	Paul Schwartz
Enrico, a bell maker	tenor	Gunnar Graarud Gunnar Graarud Gunnar Graarud was a Norwegian operatic tenor. After making his debut in 1919, he was a leading artist at the Berlin State Opera from 1924-1926 and at the Vienna State Opera from 1929-1937. In 1927 he created the role of The blind judge in the world premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Das Wunder...
An old witch, Rautendelein's grandmother	soprano	Sabine Kalter Sabine Kalter Sabine Kalter was a Polish operatic mezzo-soprano. She made her professional opera debut at the Vienna Volksoper in 1911. From 1915-1935 she was a leading artist at the Hamburg State Opera. She was then committed to the Royal Opera House in London from 1935-1939...
A priest	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...	Rudolf Bockelmann Rudolf Bockelmann Rudolf Bockelmann was a German dramatic baritone and Kammersänger. He built an international career as an outstanding Wagnerian singer but damaged his reputation during the 1930s by joining the Nazi Party.-Biography:Bockelmann, the son of a village schoolmaster, was born at Bodenteich near Celle...
A schoolmaster	baritone	Herbert Taubert
A barber	baritone	Karl Wasehmann
Magda, Enrico's wife	soprano	Emmy Land
The spectres of Enrico's two children	speaking roles

Recordings

• 2005 - Laura Aikin, Alessandra Rezza, John Daszak, Kevin Connors, Opéra et Orchestre National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, dir. Friedemann Layer
  Friedemann Layer
  Friedemann Layer is an Austrian conductor. He was assistant to Herbert von Karajan in Ulm and to Karl Böhm.-Selected Discography:* Henze - Symphony No 10; 4 Poemi; La Selva Incantata. Montpellier National Orchestra...
  
  , Accord. 4761884