''Adelia, o La figlia dell'arciere'' (''Adelia, or The Archer's Daughter'') is an
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
in three acts by
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...
. The Italian
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...
was written partly by
Felice Romani
Giuseppe Felice Romani (31 January 178828 January 1865) was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist betw ...
(acts 1 and 2) and by (act 3), a part-time poet who had achieved notability the previous year with
Otto Nicolai
Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy ''The Merry Wives of Wi ...
's ''
Il templario''. The opera premiered at the
Teatro Apollo
The Tor di Nona is a neighborhood in Rome's ''rioni of Rome, rione'' ''Ponte (rione of Rome), Ponte''. It lies in the heart of the city's historic center, between the ''Via dei Coronari'' and the Tiber River. Its name commemorates the Torre dell'A ...
, Rome on 11 February 1841.
Roles
Synopsis
:Time: "The past"
:Place: Burgundy
The story features the protagonist, Adelia, the daughter of Arnoldo, one of
Duke Carlo's bodyguards. The Duke returns from a successful battle to find a fellow nobleman, Count Oliviero, leaving Arnoldo's house which is on Carlo's estate. The chorus then sing rumors that Oliviero has slept with Adelia, taking her virginity. The Duke sentences Oliviero to death for this perceived transgression, but the other characters prevent this. By the end of the opera, all agree to the marriage.
Notable arias and numbers
Act 1
*Arnoldo: "Siam giunti"
*Adelia: "Fui presaga; ah, tu lo vedi"
Act 2
*Duet: Adelia and Arnoldo: "Ah, no, non posso"
*Duet: Adelia and Oliviero: "Tutto di te sollecito"
Act 3
*Oliviero: "Che fia di me!"
*Adelia: "Ah! mi lasciate"
Recordings
References
Further reading
* Allitt, John Stewart (1991), ''Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr'', Shaftesbury: Element Books (UK); Rockport, Massachusetts: Element (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 a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...
(ed.), ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes.
The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
'', vol. 1. London: Macmillan. .
* 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.
* Loewenberg, Alfred (1970). ''Annals of Opera, 1597–1940'', 2nd edition. Rowman and Littlefield
*
Sadie, Stanley, (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
*
Libretto opera.stanford.edu
{{Authority control
Operas
1841 operas
Italian-language operas
Operas by Gaetano Donizetti
Melodramas
Libretti by Felice Romani
Operas set in France
Operas set in the 15th century