Jump to content

La bella dormente nel bosco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La bella dormente nel bosco
Opera by Ottorino Respighi
Respighi in 1912
LibrettistGian Bistolfi
LanguageItalian
Based onSleeping Beauty
by Charles Perrault
Premiere
13 April 1922 (1922-04-13)
Teatro Odescalchi, Rome

La bella dormente nel bosco (The sleeping beauty in the woods) is an opera in three acts by Ottorino Respighi to a libretto by Gian Bistolfi based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty".

The first version of this opera premiered in the Teatro Odescalchi [it] in Rome on 13 April 1922, at that time, it is often claimed, entitled La bella addormentata nel bosco, an assertion denied by Giangiorgio Satragni.[1] It was a version written for the Italian marionettist Vittorio Podrecca [it], who was director of a marionette company called Teatro dei Piccoli (Theater for Children). The play was interpreted by marionettes, but it was accompanied by orchestra and singers. The cast of the première included the soprano Cisse Vaughan and the mezzo-soprano Evelina Levi.[2] The performance was a success, with "many curtain calls for the composer", and was judged as an "art jewel".[3]

A revised version was performed at the Teatro di Torino [it], Turin, on 9 April 1934, as La bella dormente nel bosco. The cast included Graziella Gazzera Valle (Princess), Magda Piccarolo (Blue Fairy, Nightingale), Angelina Rossetti (Spindle, Duchess, Cat), Maria Benedetti (Queen, Cuckoo, Old lady), Vincenzo Capponi (Prince, Jester) and Egisto Busacchi (King, Woodcutter, Ambassador).[4]

A further posthumous version, revised by Gian Luca Tocchi and by the widow of the composer, Elsa Respighi, was performed in the Teatro Rossini in Turin on 13 June 1967.[citation needed]

Roles

[edit]
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type
The blue fairy soprano
The king baritone
The queen contralto
The princess soprano
The prince tenor
The green fairy speaking role
The cuckoo mezzo-soprano
The ambassador baritone
The jester tenor
The little old lady mezzo-soprano
The spindle mezzo-soprano
The frog mezzo-soprano
The cat contralto
A woodcutter baritone
The duchess soprano
The nightingale soprano
Four doctors tenor, bass, bass, bass
Frog, fairies, courtiers, stars, mourners, spiders, woodcutters. Echoing voices. Chorus

Instrumentation

[edit]

La bella addormentata nel bosco (version 1922) is scored for the following instruments:[5]

flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, triangle, drum, cymbals, bell, handbells, celesta, harpsichord, strings.

La bella dormente nel bosco (version 1934) is instead scored for the following instruments:

flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, drum kit, strings.

Recordings

[edit]
1994: Adriano [de; it], Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, CD Marco Polo Cat. 8.223742[6]

King/Woodcutter: Richard Haan
Queen/Duchess: Denisa Slepkovská
Princess: Janas Valásková
Prince: Guillermo Dominguez
Blue fairy/Nightingale: Adriana Kohutkova

Old lady/Green fairy: Ivana Czaková
Cuckoo/Cat: Dagmar Pecková
Frog/Spindle: Henrietta Lednárová
Jester: Igor Pasek
Ambassador: Ján Durco

  • Respighi: La bella dormente nel bosco, Veta Pilipenko (La Regina/La Vecchietta/La Rana), Angela Nisi (La Principessa), Antonio Gandia (Il Principe Aprile), Vincenzo Taormina (Il Re/L'Ambasciatore), Shoushik Barsoumian (La Fata Azzurra), Lara Rotili (Il Gatto/La Duchessa/ Il Cucolo), Claudia Urru (Il Fuso/L'Usignolo), Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico Di Cagliari, Donato Renzetti 2020 Naxos DVD Blu-Ray[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Moody, Ivan. "La bella dormente nel bosco". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
  2. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "La bella addormentata nel bosco, 13 April 1922". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  3. ^ "Il successo della Bella addormentata di G. Bistolfi e Respighi a Roma". La Stampa (in Italian). Turin. 13 April 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "La bella dormiente nel bosco, 9 April 1934". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  5. ^ "Ottorino Respighi. Catalogo delle composizioni suddiviso per generi musicali: Opere liriche". l'Orchestra Virtuale del Flaminio (in Italian). Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Ottorino Respighi – La bella dormente nel bosco – Adriano (1994)". operaclass. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. ^ "RESPIGHI, O.: Bella dormente nel bosco (La) [Opera.. - 2.110655 | Discover more releases from Naxos". www.naxos.com. Retrieved 2024-01-15.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Bernardoni, Virgilio (1996). "La bella addormentata nel bosco". In Gelli, Piero (ed.). Dizionario dell'opera (in Italian). Milan: Baldini & Castoldi. ISBN 88-8089-177-4.