''Isabella d'Aspeno'' is an opera in three acts composed by

Pavlos Carrer Pavlos Carrer (also Paolo Carrer; el, Παύλος Καρρέρ; 12 May 1829 – 7 June 1896) was a Greek composer, one of the leaders of the Ionian art music school and the first to create national operas and national songs on Greek plots, Gr ...

. The author of its Italian-language libretto is credited only with the initials "R.G.S.". The opera premiered at the Teatro San Giacomo in Corfu on 7 February 1854. The following year, the opera had its Italian premiere at Milan's

Teatro Carcano The Teatro Carcano is a theatre in Milan, Italy, located at 63 Corso di Porta Romana. Although now exclusively devoted to plays and dance, it served as an opera house for much of the 19th century and saw the premieres of several important operas. ...

where it achieved considerable success with multiple performances over two seasons. Set in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

during the 14th Century, the plot of ''Isabella d'Aspeno'' bears several thematic similarities to Verdi's later opera, ''

Un ballo in maschera ''Un ballo in maschera'' ''(A Masked Ball)'' is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The text, by Antonio Somma, was based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's 1833 five act opera, '' Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué''. Th ...

''. Both involve the assassination of a sovereign by his political and romantic rival during a masquerade ball.

Background and performance history

After early successes in his native island of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Z ...

which included a short operatic ''scena'', ''Il pellegrino di Castiglia'' (The Pilgrim of Castile), Carrer moved to Milan in 1850 where his orchestral works found considerable favour. With the patronage of the music publisher Francesco Lucca, his first full-length opera, '' Dante e Bice'', was premiered at the Teatro Carcano two years later. Carrer's second opera, ''Isabella d'Aspeno'', premiered in Corfu on 7 February 1854 and received its Italian premiere on 9 April 1855 at the Carcano.Gutierrez, Beniamino (1916)
''Il Teatro Carcano (1803-1914) glorie artistiche e patriottiche, decadenza e resurrezione''
pp. 115; 120; 122. Sonzogno The title role in the Italian premiere was sung by Adelaide Dall'Argine who was particularly known for her portrayal of Abigaille in Verdi's ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, "Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, J ...

''. The two leading male roles were taken by Antonio Ghislanzoni, a baritone who later achieved his principal fame as a literary figure and opera librettist, and his cousin Giacinto Ghislanzoni, a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

with an active operatic career in Northern Italy. The premiere evening also included what the Teatro Carcano's historian termed an "extraordinary amusement", a separate performance of songs accompanied by Johann Decker-Schenk on his newly invented pedal guitar. ''Isabella d'Aspeno'' had a notable success in Milan with multiple performances in the 1855 season and a revival in March 1856. When it was staged in Patras on 23 May 1860, it became the first opera by a Greek composer to be performed in the then

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...

. The opera's librettist, is credited only with the initials "R.G.S." on the printed libretto, although the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense attributes it to Giuseppe Sapio who would write the libretto for Carrer's third opera, '' La rediviva''. Several authors have noted thematic similarities between the plot of ''Isabella'' and Verdi's ''

'' which premiered five years later. In both operas a ruler (Arnolfo in Carrer's opera and Riccardo in Verdi's) is killed at a masked ball by his political and romantic rival. Both operas also have a mysterious gypsy fortune teller who directs the heroine to gather magic herbs in a "horrid place" to concoct a potion which will free her from her forbidden love. In Carrer's opera the place is a ruined graveyard; in Verdi's it is a hanging ground. The libretto of ''Isabella d'Aspeno'' shares several of its characters' names and its setting with ''The House of Aspen'', a play by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

written in 1799 and published in 1829. Based on a retelling of Leonhard Wächter's ''Die Heilige Vehme, oder, Der Sturtz der Aspenauer'' (The Holy Vehme, or The Fall of the House of Aspen), Scott's play recounts the aftermath of the death of the Arnolfo/Arnolf character with Isabella accused of his murder.

Roles

Recordings

The opera's prelude recorded by Byron Fidetzis conducting the Pasardjik Symphony Orchestra appears as an extra track on his complete recording of Carrer's one-act opera ''Despo'' (Lyra 0792).

Background and performance history

Roles

Recordings

References

Further reading