Zaira (opera)
Encyclopedia
Zaira is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera
in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini
set to a libretto
by Felice Romani
which was based on Voltaire
's 1732 tragedy, Zaïre
. The story takes place in the time of the Crusades
and the opera's plot involves the heroine, Zaira, struggling between her Christian
faith and her love for Orosmane, the Muslim
Sultan of Jerusalem. It was Bellini's fifth opera, and it followed quickly after his February 1829 composition and premiere of La straniera
at La Scala
.
Zaira received its first performance at the "Nuovo Teatro Ducale" in Parma (now the Teatro Regio di Parma
) on 16 May 1829. However, the opera, which had been expressly written for the theatre's inauguration, was a failure at its premiere. While Bellini's success had been swift, "it was the first serious setback of a hithto brilliant career". One critic attributes the failure to Parma's traditional love of and favouritism towards Rossini's music, while another notes that a combination of the composer being constantly seen around the city (when it was assumed that he should have been working) and the fact that Romani had noted in the printed libretto that the opera had been written in just 30 days were significant factors.
, which received its premiere in March 1830.
Except for a revival in 1836 in Florence, no performances were given for 140 years. However, Zaira was revived in 1976 in a reconstruction by Rubino Profeta at the Teatro Massimo Bellini
in Catania
with a cast including Renata Scotto
and Giorgio Lamberti, and again in 1990 with Katia Ricciarelli
and Ramón Vargas
. Both productions were recorded.
Apart from presentations in 2006 at the Musiktheater im Revier
in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and as a concert performance at the 2009 Festival de Radio France et Montpellier
in France, performances of the opera are rare.
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 Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
set to a 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 Felice Romani
Felice Romani
Felice Romani was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito.-Biography:Born Giuseppe Felice Romani to a bourgeois family in Genoa,...
which was based on Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
's 1732 tragedy, Zaïre
Zaïre (play)
Zaïre is a five act tragedy in verse by Voltaire. Written in only three weeks, it was given its first public performance on 13 August 1732 by the Comédie française in Paris. It was a great success with the Paris audiences and marked a turning away from tragedies caused by a fatal flaw in the...
. The story takes place in the time of the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
and the opera's plot involves the heroine, Zaira, struggling between her Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
faith and her love for Orosmane, the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Sultan of Jerusalem. It was Bellini's fifth opera, and it followed quickly after his February 1829 composition and premiere of La straniera
La straniera
La straniera is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, based on L'étrangère by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt...
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...
.
Zaira received its first performance at the "Nuovo Teatro Ducale" in Parma (now the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
) on 16 May 1829. However, the opera, which had been expressly written for the theatre's inauguration, was a failure at its premiere. While Bellini's success had been swift, "it was the first serious setback of a hithto brilliant career". One critic attributes the failure to Parma's traditional love of and favouritism towards Rossini's music, while another notes that a combination of the composer being constantly seen around the city (when it was assumed that he should have been working) and the fact that Romani had noted in the printed libretto that the opera had been written in just 30 days were significant factors.
Performance history
Bellini later re-used substantial parts of the music of Zaira for his next opera I Capuleti e i MontecchiI Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
, which received its premiere in March 1830.
Except for a revival in 1836 in Florence, no performances were given for 140 years. However, Zaira was revived in 1976 in a reconstruction by Rubino Profeta at the Teatro Massimo Bellini
Teatro Massimo Bellini
The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma...
in Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
with a cast including Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
and Giorgio Lamberti, and again in 1990 with Katia Ricciarelli
Katia Ricciarelli
-Biography:Born at Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music.She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in La bohème in Mantua in 1969,...
and Ramón Vargas
Ramón Vargas
Ramón Vargas is an award-winning Mexican operatic tenor. Since his debut in the early '90s, he has developed to become one of the most acclaimed tenors of the 21st century. Known for his most expressive and agile lyric tenor voice, he is especially successful in the bel canto...
. Both productions were recorded.
Apart from presentations in 2006 at the Musiktheater im Revier
Musiktheater im Revier
Musiktheater im Revier is the venue for performing opera, operetta, musical theatre and ballet in Gelsenkirchen, Germany...
in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and as a concert performance at the 2009 Festival de Radio France et Montpellier
Festival de Radio France et Montpellier
The Festival de Radio France et Montpellier is a summer festival of opera and music held in Montpellier, France created in 1985. The music festival concentrates on classical music and jazz with about 100 events, including opera, concerts, films, and talks, most of which are free and located in the...
in France, performances of the opera are rare.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast, May 16, 1829 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Ferdinando Melchiorri) |
|---|---|---|
| Zaira, favourite of Orosmane | 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... |
Henriette Méric-Lalande |
| Orosmane, Sultan of Jerusalem | 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... |
Luigi Lablache Luigi Lablache Luigi Lablache was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish heritage. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in Don Giovanni was one of his signature roles.-Biography:Luigi Lablache was born in... |
| Nerestano, brother of Zaira | 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... |
Teresa Cecconi |
| Corasmino, vizir | 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... |
Carlo Trezzini |
| Lusignano, father of Zaira e Nerestano | bass | Giovanni Inchindi |
| Castiglione | tenor | Francesco Antonio Biscottini |
| Fatima | soprano | Marietta Sacchi Marietta Sacchi Marietta Sacchi was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active career during the 1820s and 1830s. She mainly performed in comprimario and soubrette roles, and appeared at most of Italy's major opera houses and at His Majesty's Theatre in London... |
| Meledor | bass | Pietro Ansiglioni |
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Zaira, Orosmane, Corasmino, Nerestano, Lusignano) |
Conductor, Opera house and orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Renata Scotto Renata Scotto Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi... , Luigi Roni, Giorgio Lamberti, Maria Luisa (Bordin) Nave, Mario Rinaudo |
Danilo Belardinelli Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Massimo Bellini Teatro Massimo Bellini The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma... (Recording of a performance at Catania Catania Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and... , 30 March and 1 April) |
Audio CD: Opera d'Oro Cat: OPD 1442 |
| 1990 | Katia Ricciarelli Katia Ricciarelli -Biography:Born at Rovigo, Veneto, to a very poor family, she struggled during her younger years when she studied music.She studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, won several vocal competitions in 1968, and made her professional debut as Mimì in La bohème in Mantua in 1969,... , Simone Alaimo Simone Alaimo Simone Alaimo is an Italian bass-baritone. He is particularly known for his performances of the bel canto repertoire.... , Ramón Vargas Ramón Vargas Ramón Vargas is an award-winning Mexican operatic tenor. Since his debut in the early '90s, he has developed to become one of the most acclaimed tenors of the 21st century. Known for his most expressive and agile lyric tenor voice, he is especially successful in the bel canto... , Alexandra Papadjakou, Luigi Roni |
Paolo Olmi Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Massimo Bellini (Recorded at performances in Catania, 23, 25, 27 September) |
Audio CD: Nuova Era Cat: 6982/83 |