() is an

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 librett ...

in three acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian

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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Leopoldo Marenco Leopoldo Marenco (Nov. 8, 1831 – April 30, 1899) was an Italian dramatic poet, now known as a librettist. Life Born at Ceva, his father was Carlo Marenco. Like his father he held a government post under the Treasury Department, one which took ...

. It was originally written in four acts, and was first performed on 27 November 1897 at the Teatro Lirico in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. It was revised as a three-act opera in 1898, and a prelude was added in 1937. The opera is based on the play (1872) by

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ...

, which was itself inspired by a short story from his collection ''

Letters From My Windmill ''Letters from My Windmill'' (french: Lettres de mon moulin) is a collection of short stories by Alphonse Daudet first published in its entirety in 1869. Some of the stories had been published earlier in newspapers or journals such as ''Le Figaro' ...

'' () and is best known for the incidental music composed by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

. Three famous

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

s from this opera are the "" written for a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, 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 lo ...

, "" for a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

, and for a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

, "".

Julian Budden Julian Medforth Budden (9 April 1924 in Hoylake, Wirral – 28 February 2007 in Florence, Italy) was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the operas of Giuseppe Verdi (publishe ...

, ''L'arlesiana'', in ''

Grove Music Online ''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 theo ...

'', accessed 10 April 2007. Additionally, in 2011, the aria "" from the 4-act version was added to the present score by the publisher.

Performance history

In 2007, research at the

Università degli Studi di Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it on ...

placed the aria "" ("") in the first version of . The aria had been cut from the work after the premiere. Cilea did not want to reinsert it in the ensuing years, and it was subsequently forgotten. The Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti brought this aria to the attention of Casa Sonzogno and urged them to reinstate it. They commissioned the Italian composer Mario Guido Scappucci to re-orchestrate the aria, and it was performed for the first time since the opera's premiere in concerts and recordings with the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg in July 2012. The original Act III, scene 4 aria was included in its first staged performance with the

Wexford Festival Opera Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. The festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly gener ...

in October 2012."Breaking Dawn"
by La Cieca, Parterre Box, 11 July 2012

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

An old shepherd Baldassarre, tells a story to (a younger son of Rosa Mamai) about a little goat fighting with a hungry wolf all night long (""). At the break of dawn the goat collapses and dies. is slightly developmentally delayed and rumour has it that the child brings good fortune to the household. is neglected by everyone in the family except Baldassarre. Rosa Mamai is worried about her older son, Federico, who is madly in love with a woman from Arles. She asks her brother, Marco, to gather some information about this unknown woman. Vivetta arrives at the farmhouse. She has always loved Federico but she feels hurt knowing of Federico's obsession for . As Rosa and Vivetta are talking, she sees L'Innocente up on the edge of the window. Baldassarre pulls the child back, and Rosa shudders, "If anyone should ever fall from that height!" Federico enters, and shortly afterwards, Marco returns with news from Arles. Marco says Rosa has no choice but to consent to the marriage plans. While Baldassarre is at the farmyard, he is approached by Metifio, who asks to speak to Rosa. Metifio tells Rosa that he is 's lover and the girl's parents are aware of their relationship but rejected him when the prospect of marriage with Federico arose. He shows Rosa and Baldassarre two letters to prove his statements. When Metfio leaves, Federico enters. His mother shows him the letters and asks him to read them. Federico is devastated over the treachery of the woman he loves.

Act 2

Rosa and Vivetta search for Federico in the countryside. He has disappeared from home since the previous day. Rosa counsels Vivetta to behave more seductively with Federico and to distract him from thoughts of . Baldassarre and enter. discovers Federico has been hiding in the sheepfold. Baldassarre urges Federico to forget his sorrow by helping him with work (""). After Baldassarre has gone, Federico pulls out the letters and contemplates them bitterly. falls asleep while repeating a line from the old shepherd's story about the goat, and that leads into Federico's lament (""). Vivetta enters and awkwardly tries to follow Rosa's advice as to how to seduce Federico. She tells him that she loves him but Federico rejects her. Vivetta sobs and draws Rosa into the scene. Rosa offers her consent to his marriage with . Federico is moved by his mother's offer but he refuses, swearing that he will only give his name to a woman worthy of it. He calls for Vivetta and asks her to help him to forget about the woman he loves.

Act 3

With preparations for Federico and Vivetta's wedding beginning, Federico affirms that he now only thinks of Vivetta. Metifio enters and runs into Baldassarre. He asks him to return his letters, but Baldassarre says he had delivered the letters to Metifio's father. However, Metifio had not yet received them because he was in Arles. Metifio reveals his plans to kidnap . Federico overhears the conversation and is overcome with his old jealousy. Vivetta pleads with him to move on and go with her. Baldassarre advises Metifio not to ruin his life for the unworthy woman. In a rage, Federico attempts to assault Metifio with a sledgehammer but they are separated by Baldassarre and Rosa. When the situation has calmed down, Rosa remains alone and laments the trials of motherhood (""). awakes and tells his mother that she can go along to bed. He says he will keep watch over his brother. Rosa kisses him and caresses him as she never has before, but she sends him back to bed. Federico is half-delirious, repeating the last lines of the shepherd's story about the goat fighting with the wolf all night and falling dead at the break of dawn. He pictures how is being carried away on Metifio's horse. Rosa runs to him as Federico heads for the hayloft. He believes he hears 's cries and, as his mother tries to stop him, he climbs up to the hayloft and jumps out of the window.

Recordings

* –

Ferruccio Tagliavini Ferruccio Tagliavini (; 14 August 191329 January 1995) was an Italian operatic tenor mainly active in the 1940s and 1950s. Tagliavini was hailed as the heir apparent to Tito Schipa and Beniamino Gigli in the lyric-opera repertory due to the excep ...

Pia Tassinari Pia Tassinari (15 September 1903, Modigliana – 15 May 1995, Faenza) was an Italian soprano and later mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the Italian and French repertories. Life and career Born Domenica Tassinari, she studied in Bolo ...

, Paolo Silveri,

Gianna Galli Gianna Galli (29 April 1935 – 22 December 2010) was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active international career from the 1950s through the 1970s. She specialized in the lyric soprano repertoire and was particularly known for her portray ...

– ,

Arturo Basile Arturo Basile (16 January 1914 – 21 May 1968) was an Italian conductor. He was known mostly for his work in the Italian operatic repertoire, especially Puccini and Verdi. Basile was born in Syracuse, Sicily. When he was 12, he studied the ob ...

– Cetra (1951) Membran reissue * – Giuseppe Filianoti, Iano Tamar, Francesco Landolfi, Mirela Bunoaica – , Fribourg Philharmonic Orchestra,

Fabrice Bollon Fabrice Bollon (born Paris, 1965) is a French conductor and composer. Biography Bollon studied with Michael Gielen and Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Paris and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He subsequently continued his studies with Georges Prêtre an ...

– CPO: 7778052 (2014) * – Dmitry Golovnin, Annunziata Vestri, Stefano Antonucci, Mariangela Sicilia – "V. Bellini", ,

Francesco Cilluffo Francesco Cilluffo (born in Turin, Italy, January 1979) is an Italian conductor and composer. Education He graduated in Composition and Conducting with Gilberto Bosco from the Conservatorio G. Verdi in Turin after having completed a Music Degre ...

–

Dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics) ** Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air ** Analytical dyna ...

(2015)

References

Notes

External links

*
Arias
aria-database.com

opera.stanford.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Arlesiana Italian-language operas Operas Operas based on plays Operas by Francesco Cilea Operas set in France Adaptations of works by Alphonse Daudet