Lucrezia Borgia (opera)

Template:Donizetti operasLucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with Lelande and Pedrazzi. While not performed as regularly as Donizetti's more popular operas, Lucrezia's aria "Com'è bello", Orsino's Brindisi "Il segreto per esser felice", the tenor's "Di pescator ignobile", and the bass aria "Vieni, la mia vendetta!" are all very effective and famous melodic moments from the opera and have been performed and recorded frequently.

Performance history

The first London production was at Her Majesty's Theatre on 6 June 1839 with Giulia Grisi and Mario. When the opera was staged in Paris (Théâtre des Italiens) in 1840, Victor Hugo obtained an injunction against further productions within the domain of French copyright law. The libretto was then rewritten and retitled La rinegata, with the Italian characters changed to Turks, and the performances were resumed.

The first English-language production was in London on 30 December 1843. The English tenor Sims Reeves was a noted Gennaro. Lucrezia was first presented at New York's American Theatre on 11 May 1843 and later at the Astor Opera House in 1847: with Giulia Grisi in 1854; and with Thérèse Tietjens and Brignoli in 1876. It was given at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, in 1882, and at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1902 with Enrico Caruso as Gennaro.

Tietjens, a particularly famous 19th century Lucrezia, made her debut in the role at Hamburg in 1849, and in her day was unequalled and completely identified with the role. (She was also a superb Norma, Donna Anna, and Agathe.) In later life she became very fat, and collapsed on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre, London during her last performance, in this role, in 1877, and died soon afterwards.

A famous performance of Lucrezia Borgia presented by the American Opera Society Ensemble in 1965 at Carnegie Hall with soprano Montserrat Caballé (her American debut) was soon followed by a recording featuring Caballé, mezzo soprano Shirley Verrett, tenor Alfredo Kraus, and bass Ezio Flagello, conducted by Jonel Perlea, who led the Carnegie Hall performance.. This performance and recording helped reintroduce the work to the opera-loving public.

Lucrezia Borgia is performed from time to time as a vehicle for a star soprano, a case in point being the Fall 2008 performances at the Washington National Opera with Renée Fleming in the title role. She also appeared in the role at the San Francisco Opera in October 2011.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 26 December 1834 (Conductor: - Eugenio Cavallini)
Alfonso D'Este, Duke of Ferrara	bass	Luciano Mariani
Lucrezia Borgia	soprano	Henriette Méric-Lalande
Maffio Orsini	contralto	Marietta Brambilla
Gennaro, young nobleman in service of the Venetian Republic	tenor	Francesco Pedrazzi
Jeppo Liverotto, young nobleman in service of the Venetian Republic	tenor	Napoleone Marconi
Don Aposto Gazella, young nobleman in service of the Venetian Republic	bass	Giuseppe Visanetti
Ascanio Petrucci, young nobleman in service of the Venetian Republic	baritone	Ismaele Guaita
Oloferno Vitellozzo, young nobleman in service of the Venetian Republic	tenor	Giuseppe Vaschetti
Rustighello, in the service of Don Alfonso	tenor	Ranieri Pochini
Gubetta, in service of Lucrezia	bass	Domenico Spiaggi
Astolfo, in service of Lucrezia	tenor	Francesco Petrazzoli
Gentlemen-at-arms, officers, and nobles of the Venetian Republic; same, attached to court of Alfonso; ladies-in-waiting, Capuchin monks, etc.

Synopsis

Time: Early 16th century

Place: Venice and Ferrara

Prologue

The Palazzo Grimani in Venice

Gennaro and his friends celebrate on the brightly lit terrace, in front of which lies the Giudecca canal. The friends’ conversation turns to Don Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, to whose house they will be travelling the next day, and to his wife, the infamous Lucrezia Borgia. On hearing Lucrezia’s name, Orsini tells of how Gennaro and he, alone in a forest, were warned by a mysterious old man to beware her and the entire Borgia family. Professing his boredom with Orsini’s tale Gennaro wanders off and falls asleep nearby. His friends are invited to rejoin the festivities, and he is left alone. A gondola appears and a masked woman steps onto the terrace. She hurries over to the sleeping Gennaro and observes him with affection. (Com'è bello! Quale incanto in quel volto onesto e altero!) She kisses his hand, he wakes and is instantly struck by her beauty. He expresses his love for her and sings of his childhood as an orphan brought up by fishermen. He adds that he loves dearly the mother he has never met. (Di pescatore ignobile esser figliuol credei.) The others return and instantly recognise her as Lucrezia Borgia, listing in turn the members of their families she has killed to Gennaro’s horror.

Act 1

Ferrara

The Duke, believing Gennaro to be Lucrezia’s lover, plots his murder with his servant Rustighello (Vieni: la mia vendetta è mediatata e pronta.) Gennaro and his companions leave the house for a party and pass the Duke’s palace with its large gilded coat of arms reading ‘Borgia’. Keen to show his contempt for the Borgia family, Gennaro removes the initial ‘B’, leaving the obscene ‘Orgia’ ("orgy").

In the palace, Lucrezia is shown into the Duke’s chamber. Having seen the defaced crest, she demands death for the perpetrator, not knowing that it is Gennaro. The Duke orders Gennaro to be brought before her and accuses him of staining the noble name of Borgia, a crime to which he readily confesses. Lucrezia, horrified, attempts to excuse the insult as a youthful prank, but Don Alfonso accuses Lucrezia of infidelity, having observed her meeting with Gennaro in Venice. In a scene full of drama and tension, she denies any impropriety, but he demands the prisoner’s death and forces her to choose the manner of Gennaro’s execution. Pretending to pardon him, the Duke offers Gennaro a glass of wine and he swallows it. After a stunning trio (Guai se ti sfugge un moto, Se ti tradisce un detto!) the Duke leaves and Lucrezia hurries to Gennaro, giving him an antidote to the poison the Duke has mixed with the wine. He drinks, and in a last duet, she implores him to flee the city and her husband. (Bevi e fuggi ... te'n prego, o Gennaro!)

Act 2

The palace of the Princess Negroni

Ignoring Lucrezia’s advice, Gennaro attends a party at the palace, swearing never to be parted from his friend Orsini. Orsini leads the party in a brindisi or drinking song (Il segreto per esser felici) and they drink. Lucrezia enters and announces that in revenge for their insults in Venice she has poisoned their wine and arranged five coffins for their bodies. She has hitherto believed that Gennaro fled Ferrara on her advice, and is thus dismayed when he steps forward and announces that she has poisoned a sixth. Orsini, Liverotto, Vitellozzo, Petrucci and Gazella fall dead. Gennaro seizes a dagger and attempts to kill Lucrezia, but she stops him by revealing that he is in fact her son. Once again she asks him to drink the antidote, but this time he refuses, choosing to die with his friends. In a final cabaletta (Era desso il figlio mio,) Lucrezia mourns her son and expires.

Recordings

Year	Cast (Lucrezia, Genaro, Maffio Orsini, Don Alfonso)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1965	Montserrat Caballé, Alain Vanzo, Jane Berbié, Kostas Paskalis	Jonel Perlea, New York City Opera orchestra and chorus	Audio CD: Opera D'Oro Cat: 1030815
1966	Montserrat Caballé, Alfredo Kraus, Shirley Verrett, Ezio Flagello	Jonel Perlea, RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra	Audio CD: RCA Cat: RCAG 66422RG
1972	Joan Sutherland, John Alexander, Huguette Tourangeau, Louis Quilico	Richard Bonynge, Vancouver Opera orchestra and chorus	Audio CD: Cat:
1973	Leyla Gencer, José Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Matteo Manuguerra	Nicola Rescigno, Dallas Civic Opera	Audio CD: Melodram Cat: 270109
1975	Joan Sutherland, John Brecknock, Huguette Tourangeau, Michael Devlin	Richard Bonynge, Houston Symphony Orchestra orchestra and chorus	Audio LP: MRF Records Cat:MRF-121-S
1977	Joan Sutherland, Giacomo Aragall, Marilyn Horne, Ingvar Wixell	Richard Bonynge, National Philharmonic Orchestra and London Opera Chorus	Audio CD: Decca Cat: 421497
1977	Joan Sutherland, Margreta Elkins, Robert Allman, Ron Stevens	Richard Bonynge, Opera Australia
1979	Leyla Gencer, Alfredo Kraus, Elena Zilio, Bonaldo Giaiotti	Gabriele Ferro, Teatro Comunale di Firenze orchestra and chorus	Audio CD: Living Stage Cat: LS1096
1980	Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Anne Howells, Stafford Dean	Richard Bonynge, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden orchestra and chorus	DVD: Covent Garden Pioneer Cat: B 12385-01 Audio CD: Celestial Audio Cat: CA 257
1989	Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Martine Dupuy, Michele Pertusi	Richard Bonynge, Gran Teatro del Liceo orchestra and chorus (Video recording of a performance in the Gran Teatro del Liceo, 31 May)	VHS Video Cassette: Lyric Distribution, Cat: 1842 (incomplete) & 1882 (1990)
1989	Joan Sutherland, Giacomo Aragall, Marilyn Horne	Richard Bonynge, London Opera Chorus, the National Philharmonic Orchestra	Audio CD: Decca Cat:
1998	Renée Fleming, Marcello Giordani, Sonia Ganassi, Michele Pertusi	Gianluigi Gelmetti La Scala orchestra and chorus (Recording of a performance at the Teatro Arcimboldi, 6 July)	Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CDBB 227
2000	Renée Fleming, Marcello Giordani, Stephanie Blythe, Dean Peterson	Eve Queler Opera Orchestra of New York orchestra and chorus (Recording of a performance at the Carnegie Hall, 14 February)	Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CD5908
2002	Mariella Devia, Marcelo Alvarez, Daniela Barcellona, Michele Pertusi	Renato Palumbo La Scala orchestra and chorus (Audio and video recordings of a performance at La Scala, 28 September)	DVD: Premiere Opera Ltd. Cat: DVD 5 Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CDBB 226
2008	Renée Fleming, Vittorio Grigolo, Kate Aldrich, Ruggero Raimondi	Plácido Domingo Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Recording of a performance in the Kennedy Center, Washington, 17 November)	Audio CD: Premiere Opera Ltd. Cat: 3190-2
2009	Edita Gruberova, Pavol Breslik, Alice Coote, Franco Vassallo	Bertrand De Billy Bayerisches Staatsoper (Recording of a performance in the Nationaltheater, Munich, February)	DVD Medici Arts 2072458-1
2010	Edita Gruberova, José Bros, Silvia Tro Santafé, Franco Vassallo	Andriy Yurkevych WDR Rundfunkorchester, Cologne (Recording of a performance in the Philarmonie Köln, 4 June)	Audio CD: Nightingale Classics AG. Cat: NC 000100-2

References

Notes

Sources

• Ashbrook, William, Donizetti and His Operas, Cambridge University Press, 1982, ISBN 052123526X ISBN 0-521-23526-X
• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-140-29312-4
• Kobbé, Gustav, The Complete Opera Book, English edition (London and New York 1922), 339-343.
• Osborne, Charles, The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1994 ISBN 0931340713
• Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J., Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Corrected edition) (London & Oxford 1974).
• Weinstock, Herbert, Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, New York: Pantheon Books, 1963. ISBN 63-13703

External links

• Complete libretto