Il ritorno di Don Calandrino

Il ritorno di Don Calandrino (The Return of Don Calandrino), also known as Armidoro e Laurina,[1] is an intermezzo in two acts by Domenico Cimarosa to an Italian libretto presumably written by Giuseppe Petrosellini.[2]

Il ritorno di Don Calandrino
Intermezzo by Domenico Cimarosa
Composer Domenico Cimarosa
TranslationThe Return of Don Calandrino
Other titleArmidoro e Laurina
LibrettistGiuseppe Petrosellini (?)
LanguageItalian
Premiere
1778
Teatro Valle, Rome

Performance history

The premiere took place in 1778 at Teatro Valle in Rome. Performances in Livorno (1783), Prague (1785), Vienna (1787), Barcelona (1788), Florence (1788 and 1793) and Padua (1801) followed.[3] After a long break, the opera was revived in 2007 under the musical direction of Riccardo Muti in a series of performances at the Salzburg Festival,[4][5][6][7][8][9] Teatro Pérez Galdós in Las Palmas,[10][11] Teatro Municipale in Piacenza,[12] Teatro Verdi in Pisa,[13] and the Ravenna Festival.[14]

Roles
Role Voice type
Livietta soprano castrato travesti
Don Calandrino soprano castrato[15]
Monsieur Le Blonde bass
Irene soprano castrato travesti
Valerio tenor

Synopsis

The libretto gives a humorous account of characters and actions of Don Calandrino, the son of the podestà of Monte Secco (Abruzzo, Italy),[16] who pretends he knows everything, but in fact is incapable of even thinking logically; Livietta, a haughty and rich peasant girl, who tries to act as a lady, but invariably fails both in her language and manners; Monsieur Le Blonde, a French traveler eager to talk about places he has supposedly visited, but of which he knows nothing; Irene, a simple and humble girl; and Valerio, the Mayor of Monte Secco and Irene’s brother. After several turns, the story resolves in pairing Don Calandrino with Livietta, and Le Blonde with Irene.[17]

Recordings
Year Cast
(Livietta,
Don Calandrino,
Monsieur Le Blonde,
Irene,
Valerio)		 Conductor,
Orchestra		 Label
2009 Laura Giordano,
Juan Francisco Gatell,
Marco Vinco,
Monica Tarone,
Francesco Marsiglia		 Riccardo Muti
Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini		 CD: Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso

References

Notes

  1. Rossi & Fauntleroy 1999, p. 193
  2. Rossi & Fauntleroy 1999, p. 193
  3. Rossi & Fauntleroy 1999, p. 68 and 193
  4. Corriere della Sera (2007-05-27), Il Cimarosa di Muti, una scoperta
  5. La Stampa (2007-05-27), Muti a Salisburgo porta la Napoli di Calandrino
  6. La Repubblica (2007-05-26), Muti porta Napoli a Salisburgo e Calandrino conquista tutti
  7. Die Welt (2007-05-30), Musikfrühling an der Salzach
  8. Die Presse (2007-05-28), Was Bach, Mozart von Neapel lernten
  9. Deutschlandradio Kultur (2007-05-29), Inspiriert durch Neapel
  10. El País (2007-11-11), Hipnotizados por Cimarosa y Muti
  11. La Vanguardia (2007-11-11), Muti recupera el genio operístico de Cimarosa
  12. Il Giornale della Musica, Un "ritorno" vivace e surreale
  13. Teatro.it, Il ritorno di Don Calandrino
  14. OperaClick, Ravenna - Teatro Dante Alighieri: Il ritorno di Don Calandrino
  15. The role was sung by tenors in the performances of the opera in 2007 referred to above.
  16. Giustiniani 1803, p. 141
  17. Rossi & Fauntleroy 1999, p. 193

Cited sources

  • Giustiniani, Lorenzo (1803), Dizionario geografico-ragionato del Regno di Napoli, Tomo VI
  • Rossi, Nick, and Fauntleroy, Talmage (1999), Domenico Cimarosa: His Life and His Operas, Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30112-3
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.