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Il giuramento
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Il giuramento (The Oath) is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. The libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, is based on Victor Hugo's play Angélo, tyran de Padoue. (This is the same source as Arrigo Boito, under the pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio, was to use for his libretto for Ponchielli's La Gioconda).
The opera was first performed at La Scala, Milan on 11 March 1837 and was "quickly taken up by other theatres throughout Italy".
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Encyclopedia
Il giuramento (The Oath) is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. The libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, is based on Victor Hugo's play Angélo, tyran de Padoue. (This is the same source as Arrigo Boito, under the pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio, was to use for his libretto for Ponchielli's La Gioconda).
The opera was first performed at La Scala, Milan on 11 March 1837 and was "quickly taken up by other theatres throughout Italy". Within a year, it was staged in Vienna (April 1838) and later appeared in many European cities including London (June 1840) and Paris (1858) and in New York (February 1848).
Performance history
After the mid-1800s the opera dropped in popularity and by 1900 it had "virtually disappeared" , not to be revived until the 1950s. However, it has been noted that, before 1900, the opera received 400 performances and Mercadante's La vestale 150 performances compared to the combined total of Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco, Don Carlo (in all its versions), and Aroldo, with approximately 90 performances..
German conductor Gerd Albrecht gave a concert performance in Berlin in 1974 and three further performances in 1979, one of which was recorded. The Washington Concert Opera in the US capital will present a concert version of this opera in May 2009.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast
(Conductor: -) |
|---|
| Elaisa | soprano | Sofia Dall'Oca-Schoberlechner | | Manfredo | baritone | Giovanni Orazio Cartagenova | | Bianca | contralto | Marietta Brambilla | | Viscardo di Benevento | tenor | Francesco Pedrazzi | | Brunoro | tenor | Giuseppe Vaschetti | | Isaura | soprano | Angela Carolina Pochini | |
Synopsis
Setting: Syracuse
Time: 14th century
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Bianca has been married against her will to Count Manfredo, although she is secretly in love with an unknown knight. Elaisa, a young woman in search of the daughter of her benefactor, and Viscardo arrive in the city. The disgraced courtier Brunoro discovers that Viscardo is the knight loved by Bianca. He tells Elaisa in order to make her jealous but she finds out that Bianca was the very woman she had been looking for. The count suspects Bianca of infidelity and locks her in the family tomb, intending to poison her. But Elaisa, who is loved by the count, manages to substitute a strong narcotic for the poison. Viscardo believes that Elaisa is responsible for Bianca's death and stabs her just as Bianca wakes from her deep sleep.
Selected recordings
Sources
- Holden, Amanda, ed. The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc., 2001 ISBN 0 140 29312 4
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