''Il diluvio universale'' (''The great flood'') is an azione tragico-sacra, or

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, by

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style ...

. The

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, 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 li ...

was written by Domenico Gilardoni after

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

's '' Heaven and Earth'' and Francesco Ringhieri's tragedy ''Il diluvio'' (1788).

Performance history

19th century The opera premiered at the

Teatro San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

on 6 MarchBlack 1982, p. 25: Black notes that 28 February was the intended date, but due to illness, the premiere had to be postponed. It failed to become an instant success. It is known that for the premiere production to be accepted, it had to be given to the church censors in the form of an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

, since its planned production date was within the period of fasting. It was only allowed due to its being a biblical story. Donizetti revised the opera and a new production opened on 17 January 1834 at Genoa's

Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari. The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, and dates fr ...

. But after another staging in 1837 in Paris, it disappeared for 147 years. 20th century and beyond The opera was not presented again until 1985 in Genoa. The first production in Switzerland took place at

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

where, since 2006, an opera is presented in the open air in front of the Cathedral around the first weekend of July. The production of ''Il diluvio'' was also given at the ''St. Galler Festspiele'' 2010 when Mirco Palazzi, Majella Cullagh and Manuela Custer appeared.Pardo, Daniel
''Opera Today''
11 December 2005, online at operatoday.com. Retrieved 27 June 2010

Roles

Synopsis

The opera tells the biblical story of the great flood.

Recordings

References

Notes Cited sources *Ashbrook, William and Sarah Hibberd (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam. . pp. 224 – 247. *Black, John (1982), ''Donizetti’s Operas in Naples, 1822—1848''. London: The Donizetti Society. Other sources *Allitt, John Stewart (1991), ''Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr'', Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, MA: Element, Inc.(USA) * Ashbrook, William (1982), ''Donizetti and His Operas'', Cambridge University Press. *Ashbrook, William (1998), "Donizetti, Gaetano" in

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was pub ...

(Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', Vol. One. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. *Loewenberg, Alfred (1970). ''Annals of Opera, 1597-1940'', 2nd edition. Rowman and Littlefield * Osborne, Charles, (1994), ''The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini'', Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. *

Sadie, Stanley Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was pub ...

, (Ed.); John Tyrell (Exec. Ed.) (2004), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

''. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. (hardcover). (eBook). * Weinstock, Herbert (1963), ''Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', New York: Pantheon Books.

External links

Donizetti Society (London) website

(Italian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Diluvio universale, Il Italian-language operas Operas by Gaetano Donizetti Operas Operas set in the Levant 1830 operas Noah's Ark in popular culture Opera world premieres at the Teatro San Carlo Operas based on the Bible