''I Medici'' is an opera in four acts composed by

Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs but it is his 1892 opera ''Pagliacci'' that remained his lasting co ...

, with a

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 ...

by the composer. Set in Renaissance Florence at the court of

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...

, it was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called ''Crepusculum''. The opera premiered on 6 November 1893 at the

Teatro Dal Verme The Teatro Dal Verme is a theatre in Milan, Italy located on the Via San Giovanni sul Muro, on the site of the former private theatre the ''Politeama Ciniselli''. It was designed by Giuseppe Pestagalli to a commission from Count Francesco Dal Ve ...

in Milan.

Background and performance history

''I Medici'' was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called ''Crepusculum'', with the second and third operas to be called ''Savonarola'' and ''I Borgia.'' The word "crepusculum" is Latin for "twilight", signaling the influence of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's tetralogy ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...

'' (whose fourth installment is called "Twilight of the Gods" (''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'')). The remaining two operas were never completed. Leoncavallo sought to create an "epic poem" for the stage. However, one contemporary review of the premiere stated:

In ''I Medici'' we have a historical opera like those that have been made many times before and will be hence ... utwe do not have either an epoch or a set of characters brought truthfully to life; we do not have, in a word, that human counterpart of Wagner's mythological trilogy at which Leoncavallo gazed.

It premièred at the

in Milan on 9 November 1893. It was not successful in its day and has never become part of the standard repertoire. However, it was revived at the Frankfurt

Alte Oper Alte Oper (Old Opera) is a concert hall in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It is located in the inner city, Innenstadt, within the banking district Bankenviertel. Today's Alte Oper was built in 1880 as the city's opera house, which was destr ...

in 1993 in a

concert version A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, typically without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers. Concert performances are commonly pres ...

conducted by

Marcello Viotti Marcello Viotti (29 June 195416 February 2005) was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera. Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at th ...

(the opera's first performance in Germany) and was given a fully staged performance in March 2013 at the

Theater Erfurt The Theater Erfurt is a German municipal theatre located in Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. The main stage is in a building in the Brühlervorstadt, completed in 2003. The theatre offers musical theatre and concerts, played by the Philharmonisc ...

in Erfurt, Germany, conducted by Emmanuel Joel-Hornak.Molke, Thomas (5 April 2013)
"''Die Medici'' (''I Medici'')"
''Online Musik Magazin ''. Retrieved 25 December 2016 .

Roles

Synopsis

The opera is set in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Italy and concerns intrigues centering on the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

family, and the

Pazzi conspiracy The Pazzi conspiracy () was a failed plot by members of the Pazzi family and others to displace the Medici family as rulers of Renaissance Florence. On 26 April 1478 there was an attempt to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother ...

. Giuliano de' Medici loves Simonetta Cattanei, who tries to warn him of the conspiracy against his family. But she is killed by Montesecco, a murderer hired by Pope

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

. Giuliano is killed by the conspirators, but

escapes with the help of the poet

Poliziano Agnolo (or Angelo) Ambrogini (; 14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known as Angelo Poliziano () or simply Poliziano, anglicized as Politian, was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scholars ...

. He then wins the support of the people, who lynch the conspirators.

Recordings

A recording of the opera was released in 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon featuring

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Giuliano de' Medici Giuliano de' Medici (28 October 1453 – 26 April 1478) was the second son of Piero de' Medici (the Gouty) and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of the Florentine Republic, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his broth ...

, Carlos Álvarez as

, Vitaly Kovalkov as

Francesco de' Pazzi Francesco de' Pazzi (28 January 1444 – 26 April 1478) was a Florence, Florentine banker, a member of the Pazzi, Pazzi noble family, and one of the instigators of the Pazzi conspiracy, a plot to displace the House of Medici, Medici family as rul ...

Daniela Dessì Daniela Dessì (14 May 1957 – 20 August 2016) was an Italian operatic soprano. Life and career Born in Genoa, Italy, Dessì completed her studies at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. She ...

as Simonetta Cattanei (

Simonetta Vespucci Simonetta Vespucci (; – 26 April 1476), nicknamed ("the fair Simonetta"), was an Italian noblewoman from Genoa, the wife of Marco Vespucci of Florence and the cousin-in-law of Amerigo Vespucci. She was known as the greatest beauty of he ...

née Cattaneo) and Renata Lamanda as Fioretta de' Gori. It was recorded in July 2007 at the

Teatro Comunale Florence The was an opera house in Florence, Italy. It was originally built as the open-air amphitheatre, the Politeama Fiorentino Vittorio Emanuele, which was inaugurated on 17 May 1862 with a production of Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' and which ...

, with Alberto Veronesi conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (literal English translation: 'Florence Musical May') is an annual Italian arts festival in Florence, including a notable opera festival, under the auspices of the Opera di Firenze. The festival occurs between late A ...

Notes

References

External links

Complete libretto
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, I Operas Operas by Ruggero Leoncavallo Italian-language operas 1893 operas Operas set in Italy Operas set in the 15th century Cultural depictions of Lorenzo de' Medici Operas based on real people