Scanderbeg is an opera (dramma per musica

Dramma per musica

Dramma per musica is a term which was used by dramatists in Italy and elsewhere between the late-17th and mid-19th centuries...

) in three acts composed by Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...

 to an Italian 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 Antonio Salvi

Antonio Salvi

Antonio Salvi was an Italian physician, court poet and librettist. He was in the service of the ducal court in Florence and the favourite librettist of Prince Ferdinando de' Medici. Salvi was one of the developers of the opera seria.- Life :Salvi was a court physician in Florence for the De'...

. It was first performed at the Teatro della Pergola

Teatro della Pergola

The Teatro della Pergola is a historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name...

 in Florence

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....

 on June 22, 1718 to mark the re-opening of the theatre to public performances. While the libretto has been preserved only fragments of the original score remain.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast June 22, 1718
Doneca	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...	Francesca Cuzzoni-Sandoni, 'La Parmigiana' Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era.-Early career:Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She made her debut in her home city in 1714, singing in La virtù coronata, o Il Fernando by...
Climene	soprano	Anna Guglielmi
Asteria	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...	Agata Landi
Acomat	soprano	Rosa Venturini
Scanderbeg	alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...  castrato 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...	Giovanni Battista Carboni
Aroniz	alto castrato	Antonio Ristorini
Ormondo	alto castrato	Giovanni Pietro Sbaraglia
Amurat II	alto castrato	Gaetano Mossi

Recordings

Two arias the opera's second act, "S'a voi penso, o luci belle" (Ormondo) and "Con palme ed allori" (Scanderbeg), can be heard on Arie ritrovate sung by contralto Sonia Prina

Sonia Prina

Sonia Prina is an Italian operatic contralto who has had an active career in concerts and operas since the mid 1990s. She is particularly known for her appearances in Baroque operas and for her performances of the Baroque concert repertoire...

 with the Accademia Bizantina, conducted by Ottavio Dantone. (Naïve Records

Naïve Records

Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. It was founded in 1997 by Patrick Zelnik, Gilles Paires and Eric Tong Cuong.-Artists:* Aṣa* Asian Dub Foundation...

)

Sources

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005) "22 Giugno 1718". Almanacco Amadeus. Accessed 20 April 2011 .
• Colas, Damien and Di Profio, Alessandro (2009). D'une scène à l'autre, l'opéra italien en Europe: Les pérégrinations d'un genre. Mardaga. ISBN 2870099924
• Holmes, William (1994). Opera observed: Views of a Florentine impresario in the early eighteenth century. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226349705
• Strohm, Reinhard (2008a). The operas of Antonio Vivaldi, Volume 13, Part 1. L.S. Olschki. ISBN 8822256824
• Strohm, Reinhard (2008b). Essays on Handel and Italian Opera. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521088356